Nuclear energy in Australia by the 2030s: Peter Dutton

Skills being developed through the AUKUS nuclear subs program could help pave the way for the rollout of nuclear energy, Peter Dutton says.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Australia’s first large-scale ­nuclear power plant could be up and running by the 2030s in the event the Coalition wins the next election, Peter Dutton says.

Appearing in Perth on Wednesday, the Opposition Leader said the rollout of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program would see Australia begin to develop the skills needed to pursue the development of large-scale nuclear energy.

While Mr Dutton has been tight lipped about many of the ­details around the Coalition’s ­nuclear ambitions, he said that supportive government policy could pave the way for nuclear energy in Australia. “The technology is there for us in the 2030s to adopt that,” Mr Dutton said.

The opposition has been looking at the potential to replace ageing coal-fired power plants with nuclear reactors, which would allow the new plants to tap into existing energy distribution infrastructure.

While the government has slammed nuclear as prohibitively expensive, Mr Dutton argues that installing nuclear power would negate the need for more than $1 trillion of investment in new poles and wires to integrate the solar and wind projects needed under the government’s renewables-focused plans.

“We’ve done an enormous body of work to make sure that this is a policy that we believe is in our country’s best interests,” Mr Dutton said. “I believe the public wants leaders in our country, particularly as a prime minister, who can make tough decisions even though they may not be popular.”

Many large-scale nuclear plants currently being built in the Western world have suffered massive cost and schedule overruns, with some more than four times over budget and 12 years late. The 2030s timeline flagged by Mr Dutton would appear to leave a gap in the energy grid, given many of the large coal plants will close by the end of this decade. But Mr Dutton said the Albanese government’s plans for a transition to renewables would be a “disaster”.

“Every analyst is talking about a disruption to energy supply – that means brownouts and blackouts – under Mr Albanese’s 100 per cent renewable policy,” he said. “It means that they try to turn the old system off before the new system is ready, and if you do that not only will you have that disruption to supply, you’ll have an increase in prices. Under Mr Albanese’s energy policy, the prices have gone up already for your electricity bill, but they’re going to go up much more.”

Without further action to curb energy prices, he said more Australian companies would relocate to the US where energy costs were as little as a third of those in Australia.

Mr Dutton also used his visit to WA to talk up the party’s opposition to the government’s incoming vehicle emissions standards, which the Coalition has branded as a new tax on 4WDs, utes and SUVs.

WA has one of the highest per capita uptakes of 4WDs, and Mr Dutton said the new standards could increase the cost of the most popular models by $14,000 to $18,000.

“For tradies, they go to the next election knowing that if they vote for Labor, they’re voting for an increase of $14,500 for the HiLux or for the Ford Ranger, and we also know that some of the vehicles are going to exit the market as a result of Labor’s new tax on cars,” he said.

“The choice will be limited for families and for tradies and for business people, and I just don’t think that’s what people voted for at the last election.”

Additional reporting: Joanna Panagopoulos