Peter Dutton set to reveal nuclear costings details this week
Nearly six months after announcing the Coalition’s signature election pledge, Peter Dutton is days away from releasing the cost of his seven promised nuclear reactors.
Peter Dutton has refused to share any early costing details of the Coalition’s signature election pitch to build seven nuclear reactors, with the highly-anticipated figures set to be released this week.
The numbers come nearly six months after the Coalition first flagged the policy in June, with the Opposition Leader confirming nuclear would contribute more than 4 per cent of Australia’s energy grid once complete, despite claims put forward by Labor.
“We will release the costings, and this has been a very deliberate process in terms of putting out our policy in parts so people can consume it,” he told Sky on Sunday.
“19 of the top 20 economies in the world have nuclear power or have signed up to it. Australia is the only one that hasn’t”.
Under the Coalition’s plans, the first two reactors would come online between 2035-37, with the remaining five to follow by 2050.
The plants would also be built at the sites of retiring coal mines like Liddell Power Station in NSW’s Hunter region, and used in conjunction with gas and renewables like solar and wind.
In between nuclear plants coming online, Mr Dutton said Australia would “need to bring a significant amount of gas into the system,” adding that coal was ”going to be in the system for longer than Labor’s admitting”.
The claim follows NSW’s Minns Labor government securing a two-year extension with Origin Energy to prolong the lifespan of Eraring power station after forecasting revealed its scheduled closure in August 2025 would have led to energy reliability risks.
Mr Dutton also defended his decision to ensure the reactors were state-owned as it gave the public a “level of assurance”.
Ahead of the costings announcement, Mr Dutton called on Labor to have a “mature conversation” on lifting the moratorium on nuclear energy technology, going as far to say that he believed there could be bipartisan support “post Anthony Albanese’s leadership”.
“I don’t think the Prime Minister is up to it, but I suspect his successor, whether that’s Jim Chalmers in the next couple of months, or Tony Burke, or Tanya Plibersek, I suspect they’ll probably have a different view,” he later told reporters during a press conference in Tasmania.
“Peter Malinauskas and Chris Minns and others, I think are some of the adults in the Labor Party who will probably take control of this debate.”
Those claims were immediately scuttled by Employment Relations Minister Murray Watt, who said nuclear would increase power bills by $1000 a year.
Senator Watt said Mr Dutton was purposefully releasing the costing at the end of the year while “everyone’s packing up for the holidays,” because it wouldn’t “stand up to scrutiny”.
“There’s so many people already on holidays, and he’s finally looking at bringing up this policy. If he was actually proud of his policy and confident of it, it would have been out some time ago,” he said.
Big move 50 years on from Cyclone Tracy
Survivors of “the destructive force of nature at its very worst” have gathered with politicians to mark 50 years since the Australian tragedy.
Fresh blow for would-be homeowners
The International Monetary Fund has poured cold water on a key housing policy which would make it easier for first-home buyers to get a loan.
Albo’s tribute to Cyclone Tracy survivors
Political leaders have paid tribute to the victims and survivors of the devastating Christmas Eve cyclone that devastated Darwin and claimed 66 lives.