Coalition MP talks up triple nuclear option at COP28

Dubai: A Coalition government would sign a pledge to triple nuclear energy output when attending its first COP global climate talks after being re-elected, and overturn the Australian nuclear energy moratorium, opposition climate change and energy spokesman Ted O’Brien promised during a session at the world climate talks in Dubai on Saturday.

“Today I am happy to announce that a re-elected Coalition government will, at its first COP after being returned to office, sign the nuclear pledge and return Australia to where it belongs, standing alongside its friends and allies,” he said.

Opposition spokesman on climate change and energy Ted O’Brien delivers a speech at COP28 in Dubai.Credit: Hans van Leeuwen

“The nuclear pledge coming out of this COP to triple the world’s nuclear capacity should be a wake-up call for Australia.

“No nuclear, no net zero,” he said at one point.

The pledge, which has been signed by 22 nations including the United States, is one of a series of side agreements made at the COP, along with a pledge by 118 nations to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity, which Australia has signed at this COP.

Asked if he backed the latter pledge, O’Brien said he did not support Australia tripling its renewables capacity.

O’Brien is among a group of Coalition MPs who were brought to COP28 by the group Coalition for Conservation, led by Cristina Talacko, which supports developing nuclear energy to cut emissions. The group includes federal Coalition MP Kevin Hogan and senators Bridget McKenzie, Andrew Bragg and Dean Smith.

In a sign of just how politically divisive nuclear power can be, a second group of Coalition MPs at COP was brought by a second group focused on encouraging conservative politicians to embrace climate action, Anna Rose.

That group includes federal MP and opposition minister Paul Fletcher, Senator Maria Kovacic, NSW opposition ministers Matt Kean and Kellie Sloane, NSW upper house member Jacqui Munro, and Queensland opposition ministers Sam O’Connor and Steve Minnikin.

Matt Kean has been an outspoken advocate for measures to address climate change.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

Kean, the former NSW energy minister known for aggressive action on climate change, attended O’Brien’s presentation.

“I was thrilled to see Ted O’Brien acknowledge the need to get to net zero before 2050, and that is his motivation for the address,” Kean said.

However, he said it would not be possible to deploy nuclear power in Australia in time to replace ageing coal power plants.

Also observing the session was clean energy investor and convenor of the Climate 200 group, which backs teal independent candidates, Simon Holmes a Court.

Holmes a Court said while he backed the global pledge, he does not believe nuclear has a role in Australia’s transition because it is so expensive and takes so long to deploy.

“It is a pretty easy pledge to sign because three times zero is zero,” he said, referring to the current state of Australia’s nuclear energy sector.

Simon Holmes a Court has supported teal independents running for election.Credit: James Alcock

“As Ted O’Brien said in his presentation today, 80 per cent of Australian coal [power] will be out of the grid by 2035.

“There is no conceivable world in which Australia has any nuclear operating by 2040, which means it won’t be playing a role in the decarbonisation of the grid.

“It might play a role in the decarbonisation in other parts of the economy after 2040, but it will be competing against other technologies.”

Holmes a Court also dismissed the suggestion that small modular reactors might fill a gap in Australia’s near term energy needs.

“If we wanted to, we could throw a trillion dollars at SMRs today, and they still would not be operational by 2040,” he said.

Speaking a day earlier in Dubai, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen dismissed the opposition’s nuclear advocacy as a distraction.

“Nuclear energy is not involved in any multilateral conversations [here],” Bowen said.

“It’s a pipe dream wrapped in a fantasy accompanied by an illusion.”

Nick O’Malley’s travel was supported by Climate Action Network Australia.

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