Labor ‘demonising’ nuclear power, says Nationals

Nationals leader David Littleproud has accused Anthony Albanese of ‘demonising’ nuclear energy after the PM formally rejected his push to convene a national energy summit.

Nationals leader David Littleproud. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Tracey Nearmy

Nationals leader David Littleproud has accused Anthony Albanese of “demonising” nuclear energy after the Prime Minister formally rejected his push to convene a national energy summit.

Mr Littleproud in June wrote to Mr Albanese to convene the summit to stimulate energy ­policy development amid soaring electricity and gas prices, with the Nationals pushing to reignite a discourse on nuclear power.

Mr Albanese has swiftly rejected the push, saying nuclear power was “not currently a viable energy source for Australia” in a written reply obtained by The Australian.

“My government has been clear that as reflected by CSIRO in the Gen Cost 2019-20 report, nuclear energy is not currently a viable energy source for Australia,” he wrote.

“This reflects the high cost of the technology compared to other low emissions alternatives.

“My government has committed to ensuring Australia becomes a renewable energy superpower, harnessing our natural advantages to become self-­reliant for energy and a major clean energy exporter.”

Mr Albanese’s rejection prompted a fierce rebuttal from Mr Littleproud, who labelled it a “blatant political rebuke” and suggested the Prime Minister’s promise to reshape the nation’s political dialogue was hollow.

Mr Littleproud had advocated for a national energy summit to provide a forum to bring political leaders, pre-eminent scientist, ­energy experts and economists together in a bid to pave the way to create reliable power and certainly for investors.

“The Prime Minister’s election night speech spoke of a kinder political construct but the first opportunity to bring together a constructive forum on our nation’s energy future is met with a blatant political rebuke,” he said.

“The Nationals want to lead a constructive debate on energy and lead with other parties in ­creating an environment that allows Australians to make informed decisions on their energy future.”

He also accused Mr Albanese and Energy Minister Chris Bowen of “selective quoting” from a recent CSIRO Gen Cost report to attack the cost of small-scale nuclear technology, arguing that the report identifies hydrogen power as more expensive.

Mr Littleproud pointed to an International Energy Agency report released in June that found nuclear energy could be a part of the mix to drive down emissions as a dispatchable backup to renewable energies.

“The Albanese Labor government is putting all our eggs in one basket in terms of energy mix that could cost Australians more and provide less reliable energy in the future,” he said.