Antinuclear scare campaign begins as Peter Dutton implores for ‘adult conversation’

Blinky the three-eyed fish, hazmat suits and radioactive waste have featured in a scare campaign pushing back against the Coalition’s nuclear proposal.

An array of antinuclear images have been shared by Labor and the union movement criticising the Coalition’s nuclear energy push. Picture: Supplied

Political battlelines are being drawn over the Coalition’s new nuclear power push, with Australians receiving the first taste of an expected scare campaign in opposition to the controversial proposal in the run-up to the next election.

Without revealing the multibillion-dollar price tag of its policy, the Coalition on Wednesday unveiled plans to build seven nuclear power plants on the sites of former coal-fired power plants by 2050, with the first reactor slated to be operational in just more than a decade should the party win power, a timeline that energy experts have criticised as unrealistic.

In response, Labor politicians and the union movement launched a wave of attack ads against the Coalition’s policy, predominantly highlighting the safety risks posed by nuclear energy.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions offered free stickers emblazoned with ‘Danger Dutton’ and Blinky, the three-eyed fish. Picture: Supplied

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese remarked that the Coalition’s nuclear plans were a ‘fantasy’. Picture: Supplied

Channelling the imagery of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant from American cartoon sitcom The Simpsons, Labor assistant minister Andrew Leigh shared a manipulated depiction of a three-eyed Blinky Bill standing in front of a nuclear reactor.

The ACTU took a similar line of attack, providing free stickers to members featuring The Simpsons character Blinky, the three-eyed fish, and emblazoned with the tag “Danger Dutton” alongside radioactive symbols.

Also using The Simpsons references was Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, sharing a doctored image of radiation-affected animals in the state’s Gippsland region, a proposed site for nuclear reactors under the Coalition’s proposal.

Speaking on Thursday morning, Anthony Albanese also rubbished the Coalition’s nuclear power plan, describing it as a “fantasy”.

“Instead of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, this is ‘Peter Dutton and the seven nuclear reactors’,” the Prime Minister told ABC Radio.

“This is just absurd to have a big build-up for an announcement and then say, ‘Oh well, we’ll give you the details (later)’.”

Mr Albanese’s comparison was circulated in picture form online by Labor backbencher Peter Khalil.

In a darker representation, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union shared pictures of individuals clothed in hazmat suits surrounded by nuclear waste.

The 1986 explosion at a reactor at Chernobyl in Ukraine and the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima power plant in Japan have heightened community concerns about the safety of nuclear power, even as the track record of such technology shows it poses minimal danger to civilians.

An antinuclear post shared by the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union. Picture: Supplied

The AMWU drew on the safety concerns over nuclear power. Picture: Supplied

Responding to Labor’s attacks, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called for a more nuanced debate into the merits of his proposed nuclear rollout.

“From the Labor Party we get them posting cartoon figures and the rest of the nonsense, so hopefully we can have an adult conversation because I honestly believe it’s in our country’s best interest,” Mr Dutton told Nine Radio.

“We have the ability to set ourselves up economically for generations to come,”

A recent report from Australia’s peak scientific body CSIRO estimated that building a large-scale nuclear power plant in Australia would cost about $8.5bn and take at least 15 years to deliver, longer than the Coalition’s 10-year timeline.

Aside from the exorbitant cost and significant rollout timeline, the Coalition faces significant hurdles in rolling out nuclear reactors, testing the policy’s viability.

Indeed, the proposal will face hostility in the Senate, where majority support would be required to overturn Australia’s moratorium on nuclear banking and development.

Mr Dutton also faces resistance from state governments to his plan, with premiers in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia all rejecting the construction of a nuclear power plant in their own state.

Securing support from communities that are anticipated to host a nuclear reactor also faces risks as does purchasing the sites from their current owners who were not consulted over the policy.

The Coalition’s proposal would still require an aggressive rollout of renewables. Indeed, the combined generation of the proposed sites would likely be no greater than 10 gigawatts, a small proportion of total electricity supply needed by 2050.