Barnaby's Bush Summit bombshell: Why ScoMo wouldn’t back nuclear

Barnaby Joyce revealed Scott Morrison rejected a push from within the Coalition to introduce nuclear power in Australia because polling showed it was unpopular.

Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected a push from within his Coalition government to introduce nuclear power in Australia because polling showed it was unpopular, the Bush Summit has heard.

Speaking in a panel on energy policy at the Summit in Orange, Barnaby Joyce revealed that when he was Deputy Prime Minister he went to Mr Morrison, the then PM, and made the case for overturning the prohibition on nuclear and building reactors.

He claimed Mr Morrison said there wasn’t enough community backing.

“He (Mr Morrison) said that the polling didn’t support that,” Mr Joyce recalled. “And so it didn’t go ahead.”

He added: “We’ve continued fighting, and … now the Opposition is taking it on. That’s what happens in politics. You just fight, fight, fight, and then you finally get there, and we’re there.”

Barnaby Joyce, left, and Matt Kean go head to heard in a fiery debate.

Later, in an interview for DTTV, Mr Joyce went further: “I’ve always been a supporter of nuclear power. So Scott Morrison didn’t pursue nuclear power because he thought it was politically untenable.

“In politics, it’s not a case of following. It’s a case of leading. And that’s what we intend to do.”

Then Prime Minister Scott Morrison with then deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce ahead of the 2022 election.

Mr Morrison told The Telegraph it was “seriously considered and discussed.

“It was determined and agreed that there was insufficient runway before the election to prosecute the case for a civil nuclear energy capability … especially given there would not be bipartisan support for the change, which had been our standing policy position on nuclear power for many years, that is, to proceed it would need to be bipartisan.

“That said, nuclear power was included in our government’s Technology Road Map.”

Mr Joyce also told the Summit that the push for renewable energy is the “most divisive thing” he has seen in his time in politics in a fiery debate with Matt Kean.

‘WHAT IS THIS, THE WIZARD OF OZ?’

“It has split communities down the middle. It has made good friends (go) for each other’s throats,” Mr Joyce said during his face-off with the former NSW treasurer and energy Minister Mr Kean – now Climate Change Authority chairman.

“We are going to be mugged by reality on this one … if we keep going down this path, the lights are going to go out,” Mr Joyce said, adding red tape would slow down building new energy such as nuclear power.

“You were the deputy Prime Minister of the country Barnaby … you could do something about it,” Mr Kean said.

Mr Kean added he wasn’t “opposed” to nuclear.

Barnaby Joyce talking to anti-wind farm protesters outside the Orange Ex-Services Club ahead of the Bush Summit. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“I’m supportive of the facts, I’m not opposed to nuclear per se, but … nuclear is three to five times more expensive than firmed renewables,” Mr Kean said, prompting a barrage of rejections from the New England MP.

“What is this? The Wizard of Oz,” Mr Joyce said.

Mr Kean said the government Mr Joyce was part of didn’t build any baseload power.

Earlier, Mr Joyce met with pro-nuclear protesters outside the summit and promised he would “fight this till the end.”

The anti-wind farm campaigners were brandishing signs saying “we do not consent” and “minimum 6km setback from our homes”.

“They’re ruining the environment and wrecking regional Australia,” one protester said of wind farms.

BUSH SUMMIT COMMUNIQUE

The Daily Telegraph’s Bush Summit has wrapped on Thursday afternoon in Orange after coming up with the 2024 Communique list of action points, read out by editor Ben English.

Issues to be tackled include crime and a key worker incentive scheme, with Mr English saying various processes to recruit key workers should be streamlined.

“We believe they should be harmonised … for police, nurses, teachers and GPs, let’s harmonise them,” Mr English said.

The communique also recommended a review of “green lawfare”.

Peter Stefanovic, left, and Telegraph editor Ben English close the Bush Summit for 2024. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“On the back of this disastrous McPhillamys decision, we call on the federal government to undertake an urgent inquiry into … green tape approvals, processes and hurdles that are delaying and derailing legitimate economic jobs generating projects,” Mr English said.

The top 10 resources and energy projects should be short-listed on a priority list and given “the saloon passage”.

Bush Sunmmit 2024 communique. Picture" Supplied

Birds in the Bush, a volunteer domestic violence advocate body founded in Orange, should also be rolled out across the state.

Indigenous pathways also “need to be respected” he said.

The Environmental Defenders Office also should be defunded, with Mr English querying “Why are taxpayers funding something fighting things that are being done for taxpayers?”

The ban on the McPhillamys gold mine should also be reviewed, with the summit “Calling on the federal government to reverse the decision”.

Also, housing and labour issues should be tackled with a targeted immigration policy.

“We should be matching (towns crying out for workers) with our immigration policy,” he said.

Originally published as Barnaby's Bush Summit bombshell: Why ScoMo wouldn’t back nuclear