People will die this winter in struggle to keep warm - I was almost one of them

Yes, Australia has had a nuclear reactor since 1958. It has been refurbished several times and is regarded as state-of-the-art, producing medical isotopes sold world-wide. Homes have crept to its doorstep. Nuclear waste is stored onsite.

So sitting in hospital, coughing my life away while listening to the bleatings of ignorant people about nuclear power stations, I pondered that, not for the first time, my life has been saved by Australia's nuclear facility that beavers away 24 hours a day, right there amongst neighbourhood homes.

My father died in 1956, when radiation treatment for cancer was in its infancy. His whole body was blasted, while we watched on! As a kid I can remember the giant mirror being placed over his body. Today, radiation treatment is pin-sharp, incredibly accurate. Many a male reader today would have had radiation treatment for their prostate. One of my sons had pin-point radiation for a pituitary tumour.

So I have little patience with those who immediately resort to Bart Simpson images to ridicule nuclear proposals. Bart Simpson, after all, represents the epitome of ignorance and stupidity. Using Labor's logic, we should abandon energy from the sun, because one Australian dies from melanoma every six hours. (Melanoma Institute).

Australia had a nuclear waste dump already approved at Kimba in South Australia. The local community accepted the proposal by a 60 per cent margin via an AEC-conducted vote. Then the SA Premier of the time, Liberal Steven Marshall, (nicknamed the marshmallow for obvious reasons!) vetoed the approval because "SA was a nuclear free zone"! For good measure some distant Aboriginal people said they had not been consulted. The Morrison Government folded.

We always stop at Kimba on our way to Perth. Kimba is one of those neat, vibrant communities that wears its isolation as a badge of pride. On our last trip we visited the women's art and craft hub - Kimba's Creative Quarter - in a converted old garage. The ladies had refurbished the building and wonderful work was on display.

While Cheryl was chatting with the art ladies, I drank coffee and chatted about the nuclear dump, which at that time was a live proposal. Sensible, ordinary people who had been shown all the details had no hesitation in expressing their approval.

Meanwhile in Wagga Base Hospital, when a doctor asked who I would like at my bedside if I didn't respond to treatment, my immediate reaction was, "You mean, I may not pull through?"

Through fits of uncontrollable coughing my mind became very focused. Here I was, waiting while the best that modern science could muster was being pumped into me. I was not going to let pneumonia beat me.

But my mind turned to why this had happened. And what about those other coughing patients that surrounded me? The first really cold spell of winter had hit and claimed its victims. Like me, I'll bet they were battling uncontrollable electricity bills, and like us had cut back too far and paid the price.

Cold kills, much more than mythical "warming". Energy Minister Chris Bowen and his heartless Labor Government need to take clear responsibility for the deaths that will occur this winter while people struggle to keep warm. I was nearly one of them.