One Nation promises to build new coal plants and sweat old ones in energy policy pitch to state voters - Renew Economy

One Nation has pledged to build new coal-fired power plants and extend the operating life of existing coal stations as part of its energy policy pitch to state voters. The policy represents a direct counter to the renewable energy trajectory set by major parties and state governments, which have committed to coal closures and renewable deployment targets.

Where this fits

This positions coal as a firm dispatchable alternative to the renewable build-out now underway. One Nation's framing treats coal as the solution to grid reliability concerns. However, coal is not on the table in Australia's actual policy space: the closure timeline is locked in by state agreements, and new coal investment faces insurmountable financing barriers and stranded-asset risk. The fact that a major political voice reaches for coal rather than nuclear, the only firm, low-emission, domestically-controllable alternative to gas firming, shows how thoroughly the nuclear ban has narrowed the genuine options being debated. Where reliability and sovereignty matter, the choice is collapsing into gas-and-renewables or renewables-and-storage, neither of which is domestically firmed or immune to supply-chain rupture.

What it means

Coal's absence from practical policy is a sign that the energy transition is locked in, not that the reliability problem has been solved. One Nation's pitch will not shift the coal closure dates, but it reflects voter anxiety about grid cost and dependence on weather and imports. That anxiety is real. The renewables-plus-gas path now being built is the path being built precisely because coal is off the table and nuclear is banned. Australia is committing to a grid reliant on Chinese-manufactured solar, batteries, and inverters, firmed by imported gas, when a firm, low-emission, high-sovereignty alternative exists and is forbidden by law.