Nuclear the most credible path to low-emissions economy: Dutton
Federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton will formalise the Coalition’s official position on nuclear power, including possibly overturning the 1998 ban, to take to the 2025 election, saying Labor was putting “party interests ahead of the national interest”.
After Deutsche Bank chief economist Phil O’Donaghoe called on the Albanese government to get out of the way and let the market decide what technologies are needed to get to net zero by 2050, Mr Dutton said nuclear power provided the most credible pathway to a low-emissions economy.
Nuclear power is used in 32 other countries around the world. Bloomberg
The Coalition has yet to decide its official position to take to the next election, but recent comments suggest a pledge to overturn the 1998 ban is looking increasingly likely.
Mr Dutton said Labor was already having trouble getting the party’s Left to back the AUKUS deal — which includes nuclear submarines — at its National Conference starting in Brisbane on Thursday, which was why the option of nuclear power was being shut down so quickly by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen.
“What Chris Bowen is demonstrating is Labor is against new zero emissions nuclear because it isn’t supported by the left of his party. That is putting the Labor’s party’s interests ahead of the national interest, and it is outrageous.” he told The Australian Financial Review.
“People are paying more for their electricity bills under Labor — despite being promised a $275 cut — because of Labor’s renewables-only policy. Meanwhile, people in Canada using nuclear power are paying less for their electricity.”
Mr Dutton last month called for a “nuclear renaissance” — putting small modular reactors, known
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