Peter Dutton slams Paul Keating's 'petulant outburst' on nuclear policy

Peter Dutton has blasted Paul Keating's criticism of the Coalition's nuclear policy, saying it was sad to witness the former prime minister's 'fall from grace'.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture: NewsWire/ Monique Harmer

Welcome to The Weekend Australian's live politics blog, Politics Now, as energy continues to dominate political debate after Peter Dutton announced his nuclear plan. 

Live Updates

6:36 pm June 23, 2024

Westfield incident 'not a random attack': police

Joanna Panagopoulos

Assistant Commissioner Scott Duvall says an incident that shut down Westfield Marion in Adelaide involved three boys who instigated an attack on another group of boys.

"As I say, the incident really involved three boys approaching another group of boys," Assistant Commissioner Duvall.

"We are not clear on the intention of that at this stage but I stress it does not appear to be a random attack, and it does not appear that the three boys were intending on targeting anyone else in the centre."

Assistant Commissioner Duvall said an altercation then occurred, and some of the boys were armed with expandable batons. There were also reports a knife may have been involved.

The first group of boys chased the other group through the centre, before entering the David Jones store.

"Police responded and by the time police had got to the centre, Westfield Marion had enacted their emergency procedures and they were following their procedures that take place during the information … and we escalated our response to ensure the safety of all patrons in the centre," he said.

The three boys, who were captured on CCTV, were described as being under 18 years of age and of Caucasian appearance.

"At this stage, we know the identity of the two victims. I would say that it is clear from the vision this is not a random attack. The boys would appear to be known to each other," he said.

South Australia Ambulance Paramedics treated two patients – a woman in her 70s with shoulder injury and a person in 30s with a knee injury – who were injured in the evacuation process.

"No-one was injured as a result of the altercation with the boys but I am aware that in the evacuation process we had a female, I believe he was 77, may have fallen and suffered a fracture," he said.

"I also understand there was a young girl around the age of 14 who, again, may have been injured during the evacuation process."

Police will remain at the scene.

6:28 pm June 23, 2024 Highlight

'Petulant outburst': Dutton hits back at Keating

Rhiannon Down

Peter Dutton has hit back at former prime minister Paul Keating’s attack on his nuclear energy policy, labelling his remarks as a “petulant outburst” which further undermines the national interest.

The Opposition Leader declared there was no hope of achieving net zero emissions by 2050 without nuclear power, adding that it was sad to witness Mr Keating’s “fall from grace”.

Mr Dutton said Mr Keating’s criticism that his nuclear policy was merely a bid to “camouflage his long held denialism in an industrial fantasy” and utilised the “most lethal technology of another age”, was unfortunate in the same vein as his “ramblings on international affairs”.

“There is zero chance of reaching net zero by 2050 without zero-emission nuclear power. Mr Keating should know this,” he said.

“Under Labor’s ‘renewables only’ approach, it will cost $1.3 trillion to rewire our nation. If you think you’re paying a lot now, wait until these costs are reflected in your energy bills.

“I’ll stand up for Australian families and small businesses for cheaper, cleaner, and consistent power.

“Mr Keating can continue to be a sad and despondent character, doing Mr Albanese’s bidding, while Australian families suffer under Labor’s energy trainwreck.”

Mr Dutton invoked former Labor prime minister Bob Hawkes’ words from 2016 when he praised the merits of nuclear power in tackling global warming, and Mr Keating’s history of spouting colourful takes on politics, including China, since leaving office.

“Even Prime Minister Albanese acknowledged that Mr Keating’s recent ramblings on international affairs were ‘unfortunate’,” he said.

“Mr Keating’s statement today is no different.

“This petulant outburst from a man who criticises AUKUS just undermines our national interest.

“If only we had Labor leaders like the late great Bob Hawke who embraced nuclear power as being ‘a win for the environment and an essential part of the attacking that must be made on this grievous and dangerous global warming. It would be a win for the global environment and a win for Australia’.”

6:15 pm June 23, 2024

Food court fight sparked Westfield evacuation

Joanna Panagopoulos

SA Police have said two groups of young males, possibly armed, fighting in the food court at Westfield Marion sparked the evacuation of the shopping centre.

In a statement, SA Police said: "Police are investigating an incident at the Westfield Marion Shopping Centre today.

"Just before 3pm on Sunday 23 June, police received reports of two groups of young males fighting in the food court area of the centre. Some people in the group were reported to have weapons.

"As a result of the incident, centre management activated an audible alert and evacuation alarm, and the centre went into lockdown."

It is understood the announcement over the speaker told people to evacuate the centre due to a ‘weapon’ on level two of the centre, and screens inside the Westfield read: “Armed offender: Escape, hide, tell”.

"Numerous police resources including STAR Group officers attended the centre to commence a search for the groups involved in the initial disturbance.

"A thorough search of the centre was conducted, including rooftops, however the groups involved were not located.

"Several shoppers who sought refuge in shops were safely escorted from the centre.

"Police are satisfied that there is no ongoing threat to the community.

"Further investigations are being carried out to identify the groups involved."

Police are expected to give a live update shortly.

4:33 pm June 23, 2024 Highlight

'Wicked and cynical': Keating attacks Dutton

Joanna Panagopoulos

Former prime minister Paul Keating has launched a scathing attack on Peter Dutton's character and his nuclear energy policy, saying "only the most wicked and cynical of individuals would foist such a blight on an earnest community like Australia".

"Petter (sic) Dutton is a charlatan – an inveterate climate change denialist," Mr Keating wrote in a statement.

"A denialist now seeking to camouflage his long held denialism in an industrial fantasy – resort to the most dangerous and expensive energy source on the face of the earth – nuclear power.

"In advocating this, Dutton continues his party's manic denialism, first articulated by Tony Abbott over a decade ago – turning his back on the most debated, most discussed problem of the Industrial Age – carbon and carbon sequestration.

"Dutton, like Abbott, will do everything he can to de-legitimise renewables and stand in the way of their use as the remedy nature has given us to underwrite our life on earth.

"Only the most wicked and cynical of individuals would foist such a blight on an earnest community like Australia. A community which fundamentally believes in truth and decency and which relies on its political system to advance those ideals.

"Dutton, in his low rent opportunism, mocks the decency and earnestness which recognises that carbon must be abated and with all urgency.

"As bad as that, by his blatant opposition to renewables, Dutton calls into question and deprecates all the government has done to provide Australian business with a reliable and dependable framework for investment in renewables – the one thing, however late in the piece, the country needs to rely upon to lift the carbon menace off its back.

"No person interested in public policy – regardless of their affiliations or beliefs, should consider, let alone endorse Dutton's backwardness, his unreal world view that the most lethal technology of another age is a contemporary substitute for nature's own remedy.

"Dutton's policy, of its essence, is that human-induced climate change is a fraudulent concept propagated by environmentalists and left-leaning fellow travellers – a concept he believes should be deplored and opposed," he wrote.

11:26 am June 23, 2024

Nuclear could cost $600bn: expert

Perry Williams

The Coalition's nuclear plan could cost between $116bn and $600bn while supplying only 3.7 per cent of Australia's energy mix in 2050, the Smart Energy Council said.

The cost of building seven reactors is at least $116bn based on data from CSIRO's GenCost report and the Australian Energy Market Operator's Integrated System Plan.

However, the Council said that could balloon to $600bn based on budget and timeline blowouts, the cost of refurbishing coal-fired power stations and compensating state governments.

"At best, Peter Dutton’s nuclear proposal would deliver 3.7 per cent of the energy required at the same cost as the government’s comprehensive strategy," Smart Energy Council chief executive John Grimes said.

"In reality, current cost overruns happening right now in the UK could mean a $600 billion bill to Australian taxpayers, whilst delivering a small proportion of the energy that is actually required."

The Smart Energy Council said $116bn is the same cost as delivering 82 per cent renewables by 2030, and an almost 100 per cent renewable energy mix by 2050, including the cost of building all of the enabling transmission infrastructure.

10:35 am June 23, 2024

Littleproud backs Dutton's sledge on PM

Rhiannon Down

Nationals leader David Littleproud has backed Peter Dutton’s latest attack on Anthony Albanese, describing him as a “child in a man’s body”, saying he agreed with the characterisation.

Mr Dutton made the remarks at a Liberal event held in Sydney on Saturday, which marked an escalation in the rhetoric of his political attacks after unveiling his nuclear policy on Wednesday.

“I do, and unfortunately, the Prime Minister had an opportunity to lead and to look at this and work through the issues that we're putting forward and saying, well, if there's an alternative he's ours, but instead he's using some churlish view to put out memes," Mr Littleproud told Sky News.

“When he is leading this country, he's about to put Australian submariners and lie and sleep next to this technology every night.

“Why would you demean it in such a puerile way, when this is safe technology?

“And if that's the only, if that's rebuttal he’s got to our energy policy, then I would have thought a prime minister should be above that.

“And if that’s all he’s got, he's not fit to be Prime Minister, unfortunately, I think all he's done is diminish the office of Prime Minister and he’s diminished himself while sitting in it.”

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said it was telling Mr Dutton had gone straight to “personal attacks”.

“That was the same speech where he was calling for mature debate, and he's gone straight to the personal attacks,” she said.

“I think that speaks for itself.”

10:00 am June 23, 2024

Teals 'looking down their nose on regions'

Rhiannon Down

Nationals leader David Littleproud has denied that he is at odds with other members of the Coalition on the role of renewables, launching another attack on the Teals for looking “down their nose" on regional communities and "dripping with self-righteous sanctimony”.

In his second attack on the Teals in a week, Mr Littleproud described the inner-city independents as “entitled”, and accused them of not considering the impact of renewables on regional communities.

Mr Littleproud also denied that his concerns about renewables contradicted remarks made by opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham, who has argued that wind and solar must play a role in the energy mix.

“If you're going down an all renewables approach as this government is, but you have an alternative, where you are simply going to take some of that and put it into baseload power generated through nuclear energy," Mr Littleproud told Sky News.

“Then the maths is pretty simple. You're not going to have as much large-scale renewable energy into the system.

“And what I've also gone on to say is that what we should explore is to try to give energy independence to households and businesses, where it's possible, and piggyback off what states are doing.

“By putting renewable energy on an environment it can't destroy, on rooftops and whether that's supporting batteries, because what we're experiencing, and the real life experience I'm experiencing here, is you're seeing your fellow Australians' livelihoods being torn up because of this ideological view of all renewables .

“We've got transmission lines, solar panels and wind turbines taking up our productive landscape, tearing up remnant vegetation and what we don't count just because the Teals and Labor think that we should go down this linear pathway of an all renewables approach. “Don't your fellow Australians count? We seek to understand those Teal members of parliament, but they should seek to understand us, of the burden they're asking regional Australians to bear.

“I mean, it is so entitled for them to look down their nose dripping with self-righteous sanctimony.”

9:58 am June 23, 2024

Coalition 'won't be going to election with exact energy output'

Rhiannon Down

Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien has conceded the Coalition will not be going to the election with an exact energy output for its nuclear energy proposal, saying the opposition will be clear on what it “believes the potential capacity could be through to 2050.”

Mr O’Brien said an independent nuclear body would work out what technology is feasible for each of the seven plants, saying that “only from there can you come down to a specific number of gigawatts”.

He said the system would still need renewable energy under the nuclear plan, but declined to reveal what percent it would contribute.

“The independent bodies would look at each plant and come up with a recommendation as to what sort of technology should be used, and from there, it would be exactly what capacity based on that technology,” he told Sky News.

When asked if the Coalition would continue to pursue its nuclear policy if it loses the next election, Mr O’Brien said the plan was for the benefit of the country.

“We're doing this because it's in our national interest,” he said.

“The lights are going out, the prices are soaring. It's happening today.

“Are we doing this because it's easy? No, we're doing this because it's in the national interest.”

9:32 am June 23, 2024 Highlight

Multi-unit nuclear sites 'would keep prices down': O'Brien

Rhiannon Down

Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien. Picture: Eventive Photography

Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien says the Coalition’s energy plan could involve building multiple reactors at seven plants across the country, stressing that building multi-unit sites will keep prices down.

“Let's say the small modular reactors, there's different ones, if you say a 300 megawatt reactor, right?,” he told the ABC’s Insiders.

“When you talk about a nuclear plant, these are modularised compartments.

“You can add another 300, add another 300. You're talking about multi-unit plants.”

Mr O’Brien said an independent body would determine how many plants would be located on each site.

“In terms of exactly how many on any plant, we'll be leading that to the independent nuclear energy coordinating authority,” he said.

“It is right we want multi-unit sites. That's how to get costs down. What we're doing is based on best practice internationally.”

9:15 am June 23, 2024

$8.6bn 'in the ballpark' for cost of each nuclear reactor

Rhiannon Down

Nationals leader David Littleproud says the Coalition has accepted the CSIRO’s estimate that each reactor would cost $8.6bn to build, defending the proposal for the government to build and own the atomic plants.

“We've been more than upfront saying that is in the ballpark, but we'll be very specific about those costs and those upfront costs,” he told Sky News.

“And we've also been upfront about who owns this, not some carpetbagger from overseas comes in, takes it all and runs back for a 15 to 20-year period.

“This will be something that lasts for 80 to 100 years.

“There's a big difference in this and yes there always has been upfront costs, but it's the long term dividend that's paid back to the Australian people in their ownership, and in reliable base load power.”

Mr Litteproud has argued that the government ownership model would reassure Australians that no corners are being cut, as well as ensuring the benefit of nuclear power goes entirely to the country.

“Now this is something Peter Dutton and I both firmly believed in and we pushed to make sure that it was what was taken forward,” he said.

“And not that there was any real resistance to it, because what we're seeing, what we've experienced is many of these overseas multinationals coming in cleaning up Australian taxpayers' expense.

“But we wanted to leave a legacy particularly with a nuclear-powered site that could give even greater comfort that the Australian people would own it, but also their government would operate it and make sure there were no corners cut, even though we are very confident in the technology.”