Will Shackel smiled as he was introduced by Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr in a live television interview in front of Parliament House in Canberra earlier this year: “A 16-year-old from Brisbane has written a passionate letter to the prime minister setting out his solution to Australia’s energy crisis.”
Shackel, now aged 17, is the founder of “youth-led” group Nuclear for Australia which is lobbying to end federal and state bans on nuclear energy. The group says it is nonpartisan but digital breadcrumbs found on its website lead back to the Liberal Party.
In an email to Crikey, Shackel denied that neither he nor Nuclear for Australia has a “relationship or affiliation with any political party”.
Nuclear for Australia appeared online in late 2022 with a survey, promoted through paid Facebook advertising, which offered a gift card prize. It was accompanied by a sharply produced video featuring stock footage of wind farms and power plant smokestacks overlaid with text: “With global warming and energy insecurity, Australia must undergo an energy transition. Nuclear energy is part of the solution.”
Soon after, the group officially launched with a change.org petition calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen to legalise nuclear energy. This was accompanied by a website along with YouTube, TikTok and Instagram accounts sharing slick infographics and videos of Shackel.
In the middle of 2023, Nuclear for Australia was thrust into the spotlight when Shackel wrote to Albanese and appeared before a Senate committee into nuclear power. In a few weeks, the high schooler’s media tour included appearances on Sunrise, A Current Affair, 2GB, 3AW, ABC Radio, Sky News and the ABC’s Q+A (twice).
Shackel’s submission to the Senate committee stated that Nuclear for Australia is an “independent, non-registered information campaign”, but a handful of signs suggest it has links to the Liberal Party.
Until September, the group’s privacy policy said: “… The Liberal Party of Australia is exempt from the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth of Australia)”. After this was noticed by X (formerly known as Twitter) user @MSMWatchdog2013, the text was removed the same day.
Another sign suggesting a connection was Nuclear for Australia’s Google Analytics ID, a unique code included in websites that signals to Google to collect data on the web page to track metrics like page views. When two websites use the same Google Analytics ID, it suggests they have a common owner or designer. Nuclear for Australia shares a Google Analytics ID with three other websites, two belonging to NSW Liberal MP Tim James, and the third belonging to anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe. James has also liked Instagram posts from Nuclear for Australia’s Instagram account from both his personal and private accounts.
A spokesperson for James said the member for Willoughby has no connection to either Nuclear for Australia or Shackel but that his support for nuclear energy in Australia has “long been on the record”. Regarding the Google Analytics ID, they said a third party was contracted to build and maintain his website and thus was responsible for the code.
“We are advised that a Google Analytics ID used across websites in this manner is not uncommon. Tim has nonetheless requested it be removed,” they said in an email. They did not respond to a question about the identity of this third party.
Nuclear for Australia’s frequently asked questions section — which is hidden but public — lists “James Flynn” as its author. Flynn has previously worked as a campaign adviser to Liberal Party candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves and on staff for NSW MP Anthony Roberts. Flynn has repeatedly liked Nuclear for Australia’s tweets on his personal account and appeared on Sky News as a “digital political strategist” criticising Labor’s energy policy around the same time as Shackel’s media appearances.
When contacted about his involvement, Flynn blocked this reporter on LinkedIn.
Since September, more information about Nuclear for Australia has become public. The group was officially registered as a public company on November 6. Its directors include Kylie Shackel (Will Shackel’s mother), Matthew John Faint and Dr Adi Paterson. Paterson is the former CEO of Australia’s national nuclear organisation the Australian National Science and Technology Organisation, founder of energy consulting company Siyeva, and sits on the board of fusion company HB11 Energy.
He’s also been a vocal advocate of legalising nuclear power, has been repeatedly quoted by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in addresses to the Institute of Public Affairs and to the Liberal Party federal council, and has shared content from opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien on LinkedIn.
Paterson confirmed he is the chair of Nuclear for Australia, having taken up the position after discussions with Shackel and Shackel’s parents. He said he is not a member of the Liberal Party, nor are any other Nuclear for Australia board members, and said all the language on the group’s website has the “voice” of Shackel.
He said: “You can be assured that there is no link between the Liberal Party, or any other registered or unregistered party active at federal or state level, and Nuclear for Australia. That is the basis on which I accepted the offer to be the chair. Will, from my first meetings with him, has exhibited and articulated the independence of Nuclear for Australia.”
Since last year’s election, the Liberal Party has pushed the legalisation of nuclear energy as one of the main planks of its energy policy. A 2019 inquiry chaired by O’Brien recommended small modular reactors, but the Coalition failed to take any serious steps towards nuclear power during its near decade in power.
Shackel denied any relationship between himself and the group with the Liberal Party: “It is disappointing that instead of holding the politicians who banned nuclear energy to account, that you instead seek to make unfounded suggestions against a passionate high school student fighting for nuclear energy to be considered in Australia.”
Shackel did not specifically respond to Crikey’s evidence linking the group to the Liberal Party, but told Crikey it should be mindful of its deadlines as he is a Year 11 student going into exams.
Despite this, Nuclear for Australia announced this week that Shackel will visit COP28 in Dubai. It’s launched a petition to pressure Australia’s delegation to advocate for the use of nuclear energy.
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