Dick Smith weighs in on the nuclear energy debate, saying Australia is ‘dumb’

Businessman Dick Smith labelled Australia as “dumb” for not following China’s lead as it ramps up its nuclear infrastructure.

Businessman Dick Smith has thrown his support behind an overhaul of Australia’s energy system, saying nuclear power is “the only answer.”

Mr Smith has long maintained that renewables alone could not keep electricity flowing across the country, despite independent modelling suggesting otherwise.

But in his latest comments on Wednesday, Mr Smith reasoned that Australia should switch to nuclear because China is ramping up its nuclear infrastructure and “the Chinese are smart.”

“There’s Labor saying that we can’t afford the best, the gold standard of power generation, which is nuclear,” he told 2GB.

“But there are over 32 countries that have nuclear, including Bangladesh and Pakistan, really poor countries.

“What’s more important, China, which has about a third of our GDP, has 55 nuclear reactors under existing plus 23 under construction and 150 planned.

“I mean, the Chinese are smart. We’re dumb, unfortunately.”

Businessman Dick Smith has weighed in on the nuclear energy debate, saying Australia is ‘dumb’.

China’s GDP is significantly higher than Australia’s, sitting US$17.7 trillion to Australia’s $1.7 trillion.

But per capita, Australia is about five times higher at US$61,000 compared to China’s US$12,000.

Mr Smith’s endorsement comes after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton earlier this week renewed his pledge to build seven nuclear reactors if the Coalition won next year’s election.

Mr Dutton told an economic forum on Monday that embracing nuclear was Australia’s only chance to reach the 2050 net-zero target.

But, the Liberal leader again dodged questions on cost, saying the Coalition would “release our costings in due course.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has still not released costings for the Coalition’s nuclear plan. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

The Albanese government earlier this month attached a $600bn price tag to the opposition’s nuclear energy proposal in an attack ad, after the Coalition failed to provide costings since announcing it in June.

The figure came from analysis by the Smart Energy Council, which estimated the Coalition’s plan would cost between $116n-$600bn and only provide 3.7 per cent of Australia’s energy mix in 2050.

It was based on experiences overseas and data from Australia’s science agency and the national energy operator.

In his remarks to Committee for Economic Development of Australia on Monday, Mr Dutton did acknowledge his “nuclear plan does have a significant upfront cost”.

But he said existing transmission infrastructure could be utilised and the “cost of our nuclear plants can be amortised and spread over a reactor’s 80-year lifespan.’