Business boss says it’s time for SA Premier to take up challenge of power source

Premier Peter Malinauskas’s “open-minded” nuclear energy stance will be tested in Adelaide by a key business group.

Premier Peter Malinauskas’s “open-minded” nuclear power stance will be directly tested by the nation’s peak business group, which is urging moves to overturn Australia’s ban as part of a clean energy future.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott, who will share the stage with the SA Premier at an Adelaide economic forum on Wednesday, says nuclear must be in the mix of future zero-carbon emission energy sources.

In an interview with The Advertiser, Ms Westacott highlighted South Australia’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission, which in 2016 recommended removing the existing federal legal prohibitions into nuclear power generation.

Listing her agenda for a panel discussion including the Premier at the Strong Australia Adelaide event next week, Ms Westacott insisted the time had come “for us to have a serious debate about nuclear power”.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott. Jane Dempster/The Australian.

“Crucially, let’s not have what I call these technology ideology blind spots, saying: ‘We can’t even talk about that technology’. Let’s at least be willing to stare into it and say: ‘Well, actually, let’s understand what this would mean’, because I tell you, this is not the view that other countries are going for,” she said.

“ … At least start doing the regulatory work. At least start doing the thinking. Perhaps do a green paper, white paper. South Australia’s the only state that’s been willing to talk about that.

“We’ve got to start remembering that this has got to be not about getting rid of certain technologies. This has got to be about what technologies work, what can we scale up, what can we scale up quickly?

“Most importantly, how do we guarantee reliability and affordability? And then how do we then drive new industries from that?”

Mr Malinauskas last December opened the door to nuclear power, arguing Adelaide-based submarine construction would bust “ill-founded” ideological myths about atomic safety.

But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flatly rejected the Premier’s position of being “open-minded” on nuclear power, after Mr Malinauskas said it would be “foolhardy” to dismiss nuclear as a source of baseload energy with zero carbon emissions.

Ms Westacott said the state’s proposed $593m hydrogen power plant at Whyalla would face a hurdle from the staggering amount of money being injected into clean energy by financial incentives under the United States Inflation Reduction Act.

“We don’t have those resources and certainly the state government does not have those resources.

“But you can look at all the other levers you can pull: planning approvals, payroll tax, partnerships around skilling people,” she said.

“What companies want is skilled people. What they want is an investible proposition,” said Ms Westacott.