Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has set up the next election as a showdown between nuclear and renewable energy as the key to cutting ‘s greenhouse gases.
Mr Dutton told reporters in Adelaide that the renewable energy favoured by the Albanese government will struggle to take to the bi-partisan target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
In laying the groundwork for the Coalition at the federal election in May next year to advocate for nuclear power he said countries similar to were making the switch .
‘We need to have a mature conversation about nuclear,’ Mr Dutton said.
‘It’s the latest technology that has zero emissions and it can firm up renewables in the system.
Liberal leader Peter Dutton (pictured with wife Krilly Dutton at last year’s Midwinter Ball) has backed nuclear power to reduce ‘s greenhouse gas emissions
Anthony Albanese won the 2022 election pledging to more then double the green electricity flowing into the grid to 82 per cent by 2030
‘There are 20 countries similar to ours … who have a nuclear industry or they’re committed to do so,’ Mr Dutton said.
Nuclear power has been banned in since 1998.
However, in anticipation of overturning the federal ban the Coalition has begun scouting for six potential sites to locate atomic energy and believes converting decommissioned coal power plants to go nuclear would be good option.
Mr Dutton has previously argued that nuclear was ‘cheap technology’
‘The nonsense that (Energy Minister) Chris Bowen is carrying on with about nuclear being expensive compared to wind and solar – it’s a nonsense argument,’ Mr Dutton said.
‘We have to stick to the facts instead of the emotion on this issue, and we’re going to lose industry, there are going to be smelters, and others are closed down under this government, the jobs will go offshore, and the emissions will still go into the air.
‘If we want a situation where we are going to have blackouts and brownouts and rationing like we are seeing in Germany, then keep going down the path the government is taking us.’
The Opposition leader has stated that ns have been given a negative view of nuclear power by outdated historical incidents or by depictions in pop culture.
‘Most people were influenced by the incidence of Chernobyl and elsewhere, some people in the research were influenced by The Simpsons,’ Mr Dutton said in August.
‘If you’ve watched The Simpsons, some of the research work demonstrated that people didn’t want a Springfield going up in their backyard.’
Former chief scientist Alan Finkel, who was also a special adviser to the federal government on low-emissions technology, has warned nuclear is not a quick fix to decarbonise ‘s energy supply.
‘Nuclear is an excellent source of electrical power,’ he told Nine news.
‘However, it would be costly and it unlikely we could do it before 2040.’
Mr Dutton argues that many other countries similar to are going nuclear (pictured an atomic energy plant in Belgium)
Albanese Energy Minister Chris Bowen has dismissed the Opposition’s calls to consider nuclear power
Mr Bowen has dismissed the Opposition’s calls to go nuclear as a ‘fantasy wrapped in a delusion, accompanied by a pipe dream’.
The Albanese government is banking on renewables to achieve a 43 per cent of C02 emissions 2005 levels by 2030 and to deliver net zero emissions by 2050.
As part of its ambitious plan Labor aims to increase the share of renewables in ‘s National Electricity Market to 82 per cent, up from about a third today.
Mr Albanese went to the 2022 promising to cut power bills for the average household by $275 by 2025, and $378 by 2030 based on modeling predicting that brining more renewables into the mix would make electricity cheaper.
However, since the May 2020 election electricity bills have soared with little sign of respite.