A former country cop has compared the worst horrors she saw in her police career, including domestic violence, to the toll of “industrial-scale” renewable projects on rural communities across the state.

A former long-serving Queensland country cop has compared the worst horrors she saw in her police career, including domestic violence, to the toll of “industrial-scale” renewable projects on rural communities across the state.

Anti-renewables campaigner Katy McCallum gave a passionate address to a federal parliamentary nuclear energy inquiry in Nanango on Thursday, telling MPs that lives and land were being destroyed by the rollout of solar and wind farms, pumped hydro projects and high-voltage lines.

She joined other speakers including South Burnett mayor Kathy Duff in giving qualified support for the Coalition’s hotly contentious plan to build up to seven nuclear energy plants on current coal-fired power station sites, including Callide and Tarong in Queensland, if it wins the next election.

Ms McCallum served as a police officer for 16 years on some of the state’s toughest beats including Doomadgee and Mornington Island before taking over the Kilkivan General Store near Gympie.

She told the Labor-dominated inquiry, which began sittings in Queensland this week, that renewables projects were turning her region into a “giant electrical industrial estate” and community concerns were not being listened to.

Ms McCallum said during her police career, she had “witnessed and experienced things that no civilised society should happen in them”.

“But what I have seen the government, its bureaucrats, politicians and private corporations do to the people of my community in these last two years is utterly shameful,” she said.

Ms McCallum, who stood as One Nation’s Gympie candidate in last month’s state election and attracted 22 per cent of the vote, said it was “hypocritical” that governments were seeking to stamp out domestic violence when behaviours including “bullying, intimidation, financial coercion, lying and deceit” were being used to push through renewable projects.

“I find it absolutely abhorrent,” she said.

“I have sat at kitchen tables with people from this region where they have cried to me about what the government is doing to their properties.”

Ms McCallum said barely anyone in the Gympie area supported renewable energy projects “that will obliterate productive farmland and wipe out the remaining swathes of wildlife habitat”.

She said she was “still on the fence” when it came to nuclear power but “thousands” of people she had spoken to were in favour.

Ms Duffy, an LNP member, told the inquiry that her council was “very keen to look at all options, including nuclear”.

She said the council was “very concerned” about renewable projects which were being rapidly rolled out without consultation and dividing the community.

“People are concerned about renewables because of the lack of planning around them … they’re heavy industrial in the middle of prime agriculture in many cases,” she said.

Ms Duff said there was also major concern about the 1100 direct and indirect jobs that could be lost if Tarong closed as planned in 2030.

She said while there were safety concerns about nuclear energy, there was also “a lot of scaremongering”.

But Nanango community farmer and declared ALP member Nick Holliday said he had “very, very significant” concerns about having a nuclear power plant in the area and the impact on agriculture, the environment and property values.

“Our concerns are about essentially this whole proposal being a red herring to halt the progress in terms of moving to renewable energy,” he said.

“I’ve got concerns that our community voice will not be heard through this process.”