Peter Dutton’s nuclear power plan is slammed as ‘economic insanity’ by Jim Chalmers

Peter Dutton is forging ahead with his plan to build seven nuclear reactors across Australia, should he win the next election.

Peter Dutton declared that “nuclear energy is an idea whose time has come” in a major speech, predicting that the controversial energy option is Australia’s only chance to reach net zero by 2050.

While declining to outline the cost of his plan to build nuclear power plants in Australia, Mr Dutton has outlined why he believes it’s time to make the switch.

But he’s warned it won’t happen overnight with the Coalition’s policy, like other countries, backing an energy mix of renewables, gas and nuclear.

“We can have cheaper, cleaner and consistent energy if we adopt nuclear power. And zero-emission nuclear power is our only chance to reach net zero by 2050,” Mr Dutton said in an address to the Committee for Economic Development Australia in Sydney.

Mr Dutton said that “Labor’s energy policy train wreck is only making it more vital that we include nuclear power.”

“Nowhere in the world has a renewables-only policy worked,’’ he said.

“Labor’s plan is for 82 per cent renewables by 2030,’’ Mr Dutton said.

“In September 2022, Chris Bowen said that reaching that target would require installing 22,000 solar panels every day and 40 wind turbines every month through to 2030.

“In total, that’s more than 58 million solar panels and around 3,500 wind turbines – which have lifespans of 20 to 30 years.

Liberal leader Peter Dutton plans to build seven nuclear reactors across five states if his party wins the next election, aiming for lower power prices. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

“The energy transition will also require re-wiring the nation with 28,000 kilometres of new transmission lines.

“Under our approach, we can use the existing transmission network at those sites. With nuclear power, there’s no need to carpet our landscape and coastline with industrial-scale solar and wind farms.”

“It’s clear the Government will not reach its 2030 target. Indeed, there is zero chance of reaching net zero by 2050 using renewables alone.

“The renewables-only energy policy is an act of economic self-harm. Australia’s power prices are sometimes double and even triple what other nations pay.”

Dutton’s ‘insane’ nuclear comments slammed

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has slammed it as “economic insanity”, but Mr Dutton is forging ahead with his plan to build seven nuclear reactors across five states, should it win the next election, raising the prospect of lower power prices in the long term.

Slamming the response of Labor and union supporters as “juvenile” after critics responded to the idea with memes of three-eyed fishes as part of a scare campaign on potential safety risks, Mr Dutton has outlined more information about the proposal in a major speech to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia on Monday.

The proposed reactors would be built in areas with existing coal-fired power stations, including the Hunter Valley and Lithgow in New South Wales, Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, Collie in Western Australia and Port Augusta in South Australia.

Peter Dutton advocates for introducing nuclear power in Australia as the only viable option to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Speaking on 2GB radio earlier today, Mr Dutton said it was no surprise that countries like Indonesia and Vietnam were charging ahead with plans to explore nuclear power.

“I just think the juvenile discussion that the Prime Minister and the Treasurer and Chris Bowen have been carrying on with, they’re treating Australians like mugs,’’ he said.

“They put out the photos of the three-eyed fish and the rest of it, but that fell flat because people knew it was nonsense.

“Of the top 20 economies in the world, Australia is the only one that hasn’t embraced or signed up to nuclear.

“In Ontario (Canada), people are paying one-third the cost of electricity that they are here in Australia because they’ve got nuclear in their system. I just think we need to have a sensible debate. We can’t run a modern economy without stable electricity.”

Treasurer slams “economic insanity” of nuclear power

Labor continues to argue the Coalition’s nuclear power plant idea is just another way of putting off taking concrete action on climate change into the distant future.

“Peter Dutton’s nuclear fantasy is economic insanity,” Chalmers told Sky News on Sunday. “It costs more, it will push power prices up, it will take longer.

“He needs to come clean tomorrow in this speech: what will it cost, what will it mean for power bills, how will he pay for it, and what will Australia do for the decades it will take to build these reactors.”

“He is a big risk to energy and to power prices in this country,” he said. “The fact that he’s not prepared to release those details, I think, should ring alarm bells for every Australian.

Labor and union supporters criticise the plan, with the treasurer calling it ‘economic insanity’ and a way of delaying action on climate change. Picture: NewsWire / Christian Gilles

In the lead-up to the nuclear announcement in June, Mr Dutton told The Weekend Australian that he would oppose the legislated 2030 emissions target, a 43 per cent cut compared with 2005 levels, at the next election but remain committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

He conceded that the Coalition’s commitment to introduce nuclear power in Australia would not lead to plants being built before 2040.

Peter Dutton unveiled where he wants to build nuclear power plants in Australia in June, pledging to build two nuclear plants between 2035 and 2037.

The proposal would see the nuclear power plants owned by the government under the same set-up as entities such as the Snowy Hydro scheme.

“I want to make sure that the Australian public understands today that we have a vision for our country to deliver cleaner electricity, cheaper electricity and consistent electricity,’’ he said.

“This is a plan for our country which will underpin a century of economic growth and jobs for these communities.

“The assets will be owned by the Commonwealth, a very important point.”

What does it mean for the Paris Agreement?

Critics have claimed that Mr Dutton’s new position could break Australia’s 2015 commitment to the Paris Agreement, under which nearly 200 countries said they would aim to limit global heating to well below 2C and attempt to limit it to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Anthony Albanese then called Mr Dutton’s stance “absurd” and suggested he would be “walking away from the Paris agreement”.

This is the concept design of a zero emissions small modular reactor. The proposed reactors would be built in areas with existing coal-fired power stations.

Mr Dutton said this was not the case, and he would not be walking away from the Paris Agreement.

He later told 2GB radio: “It’s very hard in opposition – without all the modelling and the advice from government – to put an exact figure on the table.”

“I think it’s very clear that we have absolute commitment to Paris and our commitment for net zero by 2050,” he said.

“It’s important, it doesn’t need to be linear, as we’ve pointed out, and we’re not going to send the economy into free fall and families bankrupt through an ideologically based approach.”

Originally published as Peter Dutton’s nuclear power plan is slammed as ‘economic insanity’ by Jim Chalmers