Coalition rift emerges over Dutton’s nuclear plans

The Liberals and the Nationals are at odds over the selection of six sites for proposed nuclear facilities, delaying the release of the Coalition’s signature energy blueprint.

Nationals MPs told this masthead that leader David Littleproud said at the most recent party room meeting he would not allow the Liberals to dictate the placement of facilities, several of which are likely to be in electorates held by the regional party.

Nationals leader David Littleproud and Liberal leader Peter Dutton are working on the Coalition’s energy policy.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

While refusing to comment directly on party room discussions, Littleproud emphasised the need for caution, striking a different tone to last year when he welcomed a plant in his seat.

“The last thing we want to do is make announcements before we have done the legwork,” he said, adding he remained open to a site in his electorate.

“This is a big policy setting. This is about ensuring we give confidence to everyone about the criteria and making sure the best locations are picked.”

The Nationals are arguably the key proponents of the Coalition’s plan to lift a moratorium on nuclear energy to reach net zero emissions by 2050. On Sunday, Labor stepped up its attacks on the nuclear plan, which will be central to an election fight over energy prices.

Nationals MP Darren Chester.Credit: Simon Schluter

Last month, this masthead first reported on Coalition jitters over the policy, with several MPs expressing concern about proposals that had so far failed to win the support of experts sceptical about costs and the decades-long timeline. There remains widespread Coalition support for a conversation on nuclear technology, but some MPs are concerned the opposition has not done enough to convince voters of its merits.

Littleproud’s remarks were confirmed by four senior Coalition sources speaking anonymously to detail private talks.

In another sign of the fear of voter backlash to the Coalition’s nuclear agenda, Nationals MP and former minister Darren Chester, whose electorate of Gippsland is widely considered a probable Coalition pick for a nuclear site, told party leaders he would not accept a site unless his community was handed a significant economic package. He wants more than incentives such as free energy, an idea flagged by Dutton.

Chester declined to comment on his internal advocacy but said he had an open mind for a calm policy debate about nuclear energy in his region, which suffered economic consequences due to the closure of coal and timber industries.

“As a matter of principle, you would need to be able to demonstrate to a potential host community, including Gippsland, that any safety concerns could be ameliorated and there were direct social and economic benefits,” he said.

Chester’s position is significant because his regional electorate is home to three coal sites in Victoria. The Coalition has said plants – either new-age small modular reactors or traditional large-scale ones – would be put at, or near, old coal sites so they were able to be cheaply hooked into existing transmission lines.

Queensland has many possible sites but the state’s Liberal National Party leader and likely next Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, is opposed. In NSW, some of the possible sites are owned by companies, such as AGL, that have no nuclear interests.

Dutton declined to commit to the pre-budget timeline for announcing nuclear sites when asked on the ABC’s Insiders program. He cited the Sydney stabbing incidents as having overtaken other priorities.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen.Credit: Peter Rae

“I think events just happen and you have to deal with that,” he said. “We’ll make the announcement as soon as we believe it’s, firstly, ready to go, and secondly, it’s the most opportune time for people to hear that.”

Dutton, who suggested on Sunday that coal and gas would fill the power gap as Australia waited for nuclear, said attitudes would shift as the nuclear debate in Australia matured, citing French and Canadian moves towards greater nuclear reliance.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen responded by noting Germany and Italy had shifted in the opposite direction, adding that Dutton looked like a “kangaroo in headlights” when probed on the Coalition leader’s “lies”.

Tasmanian MP Bridget Archer, a leading moderate voice in the Liberal Party, has previously warned against any plan that uses nuclear energy to diminish the role of renewables.

Dutton said he was not opposed to renewables but pointed out community opposition to some large-scale wind projects.

Member for Bass Bridget Archer.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

In a headline speech last Monday, Dutton framed the nuclear leap as an ambitious but “visionary, nation-building endeavour”.

Compared with Labor’s “renewables-only” approach, which he claimed would cost $1.3 trillion, Dutton argued a nuclear future would create a dramatically more prosperous society.

“The ‘renewables-only’ policy is already inflicting national economic self-harm,” he said at the annual Sir Robert Menzies Lecture in Melbourne.

“More than 14,500 businesses around the country have gone insolvent since the 1st of July 2022. News headlines have been filled with examples of production facilities closing, being on the verge of collapse, or moving offshore.

“I believe we can, and must, become a latest-generation nuclear-powered nation. A nation which can reduce emissions in a responsible way which doesn’t destroy our economy.”

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