Labor marks out its election battlelines on energy

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen is sharpening Labor’s pre-election attack on nuclear. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The election battlelines on energy will be firmly set when Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen addresses Canberra’s National Press Club on Wednesday.

After a Labor and union-led campaign using memes of three-eyed fish to try to discredit Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan, Bowen is sharpening the government’s attack.

Australians will be told they can choose between “reliable renewables or risky reactors – but not both”. Voters will hear this time and again from Labor. Renewables and nuclear are “simply incompatible”.

Bowen points to an anti-renewables sentiment within the Coalition, particularly the Nationals, and says investment in renewables would be ruined if nuclear became government policy.

“Why would domestic or global investors try to compete with unlimited taxpayer subsidies for state-sponsored (nuclear) generation?” he will say. He argues nuclear will not be “fit for purpose” for the energy grid, made up of almost 40 per cent renewables.

“A baseload nuclear power plant will need to keep generating even when there are ample renewables, losing money for every watt of energy produced,” Bowen will say. “Baseload nuclear plants simply don’t stack up economically in a grid with significant renewable generation.”

Opposition climate change and energy spokesman Ted O'Brien. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman

But while the Coalition is shying away from medium-term emissions reduction targets, it’s not shying away from renewables. Opposition climate change and energy spokesman Ted O’Brien insists renewables should be embraced, but only as part of a balanced energy mix and alongside nuclear to replace the retiring fleet of coal-fired power stations.

This, he says, is a much smarter approach than Labor’s “renewables only” pursuit. It’s an argument that those living close to large-scale renewable projects are listening to closely.

As Dutton gets his troops in line to be election ready, the Coalition also is ramping up its support of gas.

O’Brien says Labor is on an anti-gas crusade while the country and Coalition want and need more of it.

With the opposition still to unveil important detail on its nuclear plan – including the cost – and the rest of its energy policy, Bowen is filling a void and has the head start.

It’s now for O’Brien to explain why and how renewables and nuclear can go hand-in-hand, and how the Coalition would secure more gas for the market.