WEBVTT - Marian Wilkinson on Peter Dutton’s nuclear power plants

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<v Speaker 1>Hello, Ruby Jones here. All this week we're going to

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<v Speaker 1>bring you some of our favorite longreads from the Monthly.

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<v Speaker 1>We hope you're on holidays and can listen to these

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<v Speaker 1>on road trips or while you're lying on the beach.

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<v Speaker 1>We'll be back next week with our usual show. Peter

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<v Speaker 1>Dutton's first major promise when he became Opposition leader was

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<v Speaker 1>to build nuclear power plants. It was a curious idea

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<v Speaker 1>with no cost attached and not a lot of community

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<v Speaker 1>support according to polling. Today we have journalist Marian Wilkinson,

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<v Speaker 1>with her investigation into the conservative charity group Figures driving

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<v Speaker 1>the opposition leader's pivot to nuclear energy. Marion's whip smart

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<v Speaker 1>reporting on the nuclear lobby only becomes more relevant every

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<v Speaker 1>day we inch closer to the next federal election. Please

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<v Speaker 1>enjoy Dutton's Nuclear power Plants, read by Marion Wilkinson, first

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<v Speaker 1>published in The Monthly earlier this year. It's Monday, January sixth.

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<v Speaker 2>When Leslie Hughes agreed to lead a nocturnal wildlife tour

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<v Speaker 2>at Sydney's to Rongazoo in August last year, she didn't

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<v Speaker 2>quite realize what she was letting herself in for. As

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<v Speaker 2>the Distinguished Professor of Biology, explained the perils facing the

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<v Speaker 2>animal kingdom from climate change. A disparate group of movers

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<v Speaker 2>and shakers nodded with polite enthusiasm, among them National Party

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<v Speaker 2>leader David Little Proud, Liberal Party Climate and Energy spokesman

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<v Speaker 2>Ted O'Brien and Larry Anthony, the head of a lobbying

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<v Speaker 2>known for pushing fossil fuel clients. This was not the

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<v Speaker 2>professor's natural milieure, but like many of the guests at

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<v Speaker 2>the splendid Harbourside function Center that wintery evening, Hughes was

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<v Speaker 2>there to win heartsome minds in the fight to save

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<v Speaker 2>the planet. It was the opening night of the International

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<v Speaker 2>Climate Conference, hosted by the Coalition for Conservation, an enterprising

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<v Speaker 2>conservative charity with deep roots in the Liberal and National parties.

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<v Speaker 2>One of its aims is to reach out to environmentalists,

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<v Speaker 2>renewable energy experts and climate scientists to garner support for

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<v Speaker 2>Coalition members backing the goal of getting Australia to net

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<v Speaker 2>zero emissions. C four C, as it's known, had gathered

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<v Speaker 2>an impressive lineup of speakers, including the man who led

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<v Speaker 2>the successful Twin Pies one UN Climate Change Summitt in Glasgow,

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<v Speaker 2>former UK Minister Sir Alec Sharma and his Excellency Abdullah

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<v Speaker 2>Al Subusi, Ambassador for the United Arab Emirates, whose nation

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<v Speaker 2>was set to host the UN Climate Summit in Dubai.

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<v Speaker 2>But as the guests tucked into the opening night dinner,

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<v Speaker 2>one speaker sounded adjarring partisan note. Seaface's influential patron, Trevor

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<v Speaker 2>Saint Baker, couldn't resist taking a swipe at the Albanese

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<v Speaker 2>government's renewable energy policy. Saint Baker's intervention was telling the

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<v Speaker 2>Queensland rich lister was close to Seaface's chairman, Larry Anthony,

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<v Speaker 2>who was also a former National Party president. For years,

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<v Speaker 2>Saint Baker had employed Anthony's lobby shop sas consulting back

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<v Speaker 2>when he was in the Colfard power business. Now Saint

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<v Speaker 2>Baker was investing in the energy transition, electric vehicle charging

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<v Speaker 2>and battery technology, but his passion project was nuclear energy

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<v Speaker 2>and in particular the idea of introducing small modular nuclear

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<v Speaker 2>reactors to Australia. While Saint Baker's presence was a surprise

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<v Speaker 2>to some C four C supporters that night, his ideas

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<v Speaker 2>on nuclear energy were about to hit the zeitgeist. He

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<v Speaker 2>and his partners in a small nuclear consultancy SMR Nuclear Technology,

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<v Speaker 2>were riding the new wave of global enthusiasm for nuclear energy.

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<v Speaker 2>Influential players from former Microsoft boss Bill Gates to ex

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<v Speaker 2>UK Prime Minister Rushi Sunak were sprooking small and micromodular

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<v Speaker 2>reactors as as a game changer that would help the

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<v Speaker 2>world reach net zero emissions by twenty fifty. In climate circles,

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<v Speaker 2>it was dubbed the tech bro culture, as next generation

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<v Speaker 2>nuclear attracted bullish headlines and billions in private investment and

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<v Speaker 2>government grants. The four Sea Climate Conference was dotted with

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<v Speaker 2>speakers enthusiastic about bringing nuclear power to Australia, few more

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<v Speaker 2>so than the opposition's spokesman Ted O'Brien. The line up

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<v Speaker 2>was a clear signal that the Sea four S charity

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<v Speaker 2>had pivoted towards its patron's pro nuclear position. More importantly,

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<v Speaker 2>it reflected the big nuclear shift by Opposition leader Peter Dutton.

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<v Speaker 2>In a headline making speech a few weeks earlier, Dutton

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<v Speaker 2>had attacked what he called renewable zealotry, saying if the

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<v Speaker 2>Shulmanisi government wanted to phase out coal and gas. The

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<v Speaker 2>only feasible improven technology to back up renewable energy was

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<v Speaker 2>next generation nuclear technologies. Specifically, Dutton pushed the idea of

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<v Speaker 2>small modular reactors SMRs and micromodular reactors mmrs. Dutton released

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<v Speaker 2>more details on the opposition's coal to nuclear power plans,

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<v Speaker 2>which he argued could deliver cheaper electricity and new jobs

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<v Speaker 2>in regions where aging coal generators will be forced to close.

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<v Speaker 2>The early plans bore a striking resemblance to a policy

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<v Speaker 2>Trevesome Baker and SMR Nuclear Technology had been advocating for

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<v Speaker 2>several years in evidence and submissions to federal and state

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<v Speaker 2>parliamentary committees, in think tank and in energy forums. These

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<v Speaker 2>describe in voluminous detail how small modular nuclear reactors are

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<v Speaker 2>less costly to build than big nuclear plants, safer and

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<v Speaker 2>more flexible, allowing them to be cited at old coal

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<v Speaker 2>plants already connected to the electricity grid. Just how influential

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<v Speaker 2>Saint Baker and his partners have been in the opposition's

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<v Speaker 2>nuclear switch is unclear. O'Brien told me in an email

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<v Speaker 2>that he was quote a long way down the road

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<v Speaker 2>in assessing and promoting net zero nuclear energy before meeting

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<v Speaker 2>these highly experienced gentlemen, and that he'd spoken to many experts.

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<v Speaker 2>Smr's chairman Bob Pritchard told me that while some partners

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<v Speaker 2>had talked to O'Brien, they had no formal role in

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<v Speaker 2>Dutton's energy policy review. I wish we could say that

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<v Speaker 2>we'd had a direct impact, he said, but we only

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<v Speaker 2>had an indirect effect. It's all been done by the

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<v Speaker 2>relevant shadow ministers. But Pritchard conceded that Dutton's plan could

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<v Speaker 2>be seen as quote remarkably similar to the company's position.

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<v Speaker 2>Dutton's move to nuclear has been slammed by critics, including

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<v Speaker 2>Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen, as a nuclear fantasy. Energy experts,

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<v Speaker 2>from former Chief Scientist Alan Finkel to the CSIRO point

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<v Speaker 2>out that there are as yet no commercially operating small

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<v Speaker 2>modular nuclear reactors in the United States, Canada, the United

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<v Speaker 2>Kingdom or Europe, and the only working plants are in

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<v Speaker 2>Russia and China. While many climate scientists support nuclear power

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<v Speaker 2>in countries with a long established nuclear generation industry, they

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<v Speaker 2>question its value in Australia. In the latest gencos report

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<v Speaker 2>by CSIRO, comparing the prices of power generation, small modular

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<v Speaker 2>nuclear reactors emerged as the highest cost technology compared to

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<v Speaker 2>solar and wind by a large margin. The report also

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<v Speaker 2>cites evidence from government regulators saying it would take around

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<v Speaker 2>fifteen years to get a commercially biable small nuclear plant

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<v Speaker 2>in Australia, ruling them out of any major role in

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<v Speaker 2>getting the country to meet net zero by twenty fifty.

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<v Speaker 2>The Opposition disputes the CSIRO findings, with Dutton calling its

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<v Speaker 2>report discredited. This, in turn a prompted CSIRO's head Dr

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<v Speaker 2>Doug Hilton to publish an open letter in March the

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<v Speaker 2>oppositions attack on his scientists. For science to be useful

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<v Speaker 2>and for the challenges to be overcome, it requires the

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<v Speaker 2>trust of the community, Hilton wrote, Maintaining trust requires scientists

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<v Speaker 2>to act with integrity. Maintaining trust also requires our political

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<v Speaker 2>leaders to resist the temptation to disparage science.

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<v Speaker 1>Coming up after the break the political implications of Dutton's

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<v Speaker 1>nuclear proposition.

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<v Speaker 2>Whatever the economics of the Opposition's nuclear plan, there is

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<v Speaker 2>no doubt about its political impact. It has reignited the

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<v Speaker 2>partisan climate wars in Australia since first signaling their nuclear

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<v Speaker 2>plans in twenty twenty two. Dutton and O'Brien have kept

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<v Speaker 2>up a relentless attack on the Albanese government over what

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<v Speaker 2>they call its reckless renewables only energy plan, blaming it

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<v Speaker 2>for driving up household energy prices, threatening energy security, de

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<v Speaker 2>industrializing Australia, and trampling on the rights of farmers. Professor

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<v Speaker 2>Hughes is watching the divisive nuclear debate unfold with dismay.

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<v Speaker 2>A director of the Climate Council, Hughes has been a

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<v Speaker 2>lead author with the UN's chief scientific advisory Panel, the

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<v Speaker 2>Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and she now sits on

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<v Speaker 2>the Federal Government's Climate Change Authority, advising on its emissions

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<v Speaker 2>reduction targets. In my opinion, she says, given the l

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<v Speaker 2>of any economic rationale for nuclear one can only conclude

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<v Speaker 2>that it's a distraction to allow the fossil fuel industry

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<v Speaker 2>to keep operating with business as usual. Despite Dutton and

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<v Speaker 2>O'Brien's bullish optimism, their nuclear pivot is a big political gamble.

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<v Speaker 2>While a rash of polls suggest support for nuclear energy

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<v Speaker 2>is growing in Australia, some also show that most Australians

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<v Speaker 2>still don't want a reactor in their own region, let

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<v Speaker 2>alone a nuclear waste dump. Even Queensland's Liberal Party Premiere

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<v Speaker 2>David Chris Afooli, has ruled out any plan to replace

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<v Speaker 2>the state's old coll far power stations with small nuclear reactors,

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<v Speaker 2>saying it can't happen without bipartisan support. The issue also

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<v Speaker 2>threatens the fragile truce in the Liberal Party over climate

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<v Speaker 2>change policy. The party's most vocal renewable energy advocate, former

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<v Speaker 2>New South Wales Energy Minister Matt Keane, has launched a

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<v Speaker 2>stinging attack against the policy push. I'm not opposed to

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<v Speaker 2>nuclear power, he tells me. I was state Energy minister

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<v Speaker 2>for five years. If nuclear power was a viable pathway

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<v Speaker 2>to met zero, I would have done it, but it

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<v Speaker 2>did not stack up economically, environmentally or engineering wise. Keene

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<v Speaker 2>was speaking shortly after he resigned his role as ambassador

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<v Speaker 2>for THEFOCE environmental charity. In his frank resignation letter, he

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<v Speaker 2>told cfoc's chair Larry Anthony that he saw the advocacy

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<v Speaker 2>for nuclear power quote as an attempt to delay and

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<v Speaker 2>defer responsible and decisive action on climate change in a

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<v Speaker 2>way that seems to drive up prices in New South

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<v Speaker 2>Wales by delaying renewables. It was a bitter parting of

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<v Speaker 2>the ways. Keen had been a strong supporter of seafoc's

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<v Speaker 2>chief executive, Christina Talaco, a businesswoman with close ties to

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<v Speaker 2>the New South Wales Liberal Party. Keene's Liberal colleagues still

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<v Speaker 2>serve as SEAFOCE ambassadors, including former New South Wales Premier

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<v Speaker 2>Nick Griner and Howard Minister Philip Ruddock. Keene sees Anthony

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<v Speaker 2>and Saint Baker as having an outside influence on the

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<v Speaker 2>charity shift to a pro nuclear position. SAMT. Baker is

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<v Speaker 2>a powerful business figure in Dutton's home state. He's long

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<v Speaker 2>been a political donor to the Queensland LMP and to

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<v Speaker 2>the state's Labor Party. His support for nuclear power is

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<v Speaker 2>no secret. Tlaco denied either some Baker or Anthony influenced

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<v Speaker 2>the charity his position on nuclear energy. Our exploration of

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<v Speaker 2>this technology was thorough and impartial, and our support for

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<v Speaker 2>nuclear energy is not influenced by political agendas nor tied

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<v Speaker 2>to financial backing from the nuclear industry, she told me

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<v Speaker 2>by email, But she also said she didn't know her

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<v Speaker 2>charity's chief patron was a director and major shareholder of

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<v Speaker 2>SMR Nuclear Technology. I was not aware of Trevor's position

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<v Speaker 2>at this organization. She said, for well over a year,

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<v Speaker 2>FOURC has played a critical role in supporting and promoting

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<v Speaker 2>the coalition's push on nuclear energy. In early twenty twenty three,

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<v Speaker 2>Tlaco joined Ted O'Brien on a nuclear fact binding trip

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<v Speaker 2>to the United States and Canada. O'Brien's trip was funded

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<v Speaker 2>in part by one of C foce's donors, which one

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<v Speaker 2>he doesn't say. The group was briefed by corporate executives

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<v Speaker 2>and government officials on a range of small and medium

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<v Speaker 2>modular nuclear reactor projects. O'Brien says to Laco returned from

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<v Speaker 2>the trip convinced quote nuclear should be part of a

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<v Speaker 2>balanced mix. Tallaco posted O'Brien's upbeat story about their briefings

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<v Speaker 2>on the C four C website. None of the projects

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<v Speaker 2>O'Brien wrote about was commercially operating. Indeed, one, a much

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<v Speaker 2>anticipated small nuclear project in Idaho run by American company

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<v Speaker 2>New Scale, collapsed months later because of major blowouts in costs.

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<v Speaker 2>This was despite getting almost one billion in US government support.

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<v Speaker 2>New Scale's chief executive was blunt about the project's future prospects,

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<v Speaker 2>telling Bloomberg, once you're on a dead horse, dismount quickly.

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<v Speaker 2>That's where we are here. Neither O'Brien nor to laco's

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<v Speaker 2>enthusiasm for next gen nuclear was dented by what happened

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<v Speaker 2>to New Scale, quite the reverse. Just weeks after the collapse,

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<v Speaker 2>in November twenty twenty three, SEAFOURC funded a delegation of

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<v Speaker 2>coalition MPs as well as to LACO, to attend the

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<v Speaker 2>UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai cop twenty eight. O'Brien

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<v Speaker 2>had been invited to address a meeting that the World

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<v Speaker 2>Nuclear Association the Global Nuclear Lobby was hosting with the SEAFOURC.

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<v Speaker 2>At the summit, the SEAFOURC delegation included Liberal Senators Andrew

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<v Speaker 2>Bragg and Dean Smith, the National Party's Senate leader Bridget McKenzie,

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<v Speaker 2>Deputy Leader Peren Davy, and Shadow Trade Minister Kevin Hogan,

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<v Speaker 2>as well as Larry Anthony. Unhailed the summit for being

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<v Speaker 2>the first to recognize the importance of nuclear energy in

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<v Speaker 2>getting the world to net zero. Some twenty two countries,

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<v Speaker 2>including the United States, France and Britain, signed up in

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<v Speaker 2>Dubai to the goal of tripling global nuclear energy by

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<v Speaker 2>twenty fifty. The goal was aspirational and its signatories comprised

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<v Speaker 2>not much more than ten percent of the country's in attendance.

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<v Speaker 2>This was not surprising, cost blowouts have plagued new nuclear

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<v Speaker 2>plants and as one reason nuclear still makes up just

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<v Speaker 2>ten percent of global energy generation. But the Kop declaration

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<v Speaker 2>was a triumph for the nuclear lobby, and O'Brien vowed

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<v Speaker 2>the Coalition would sign up to the Nuclear Partnership if

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<v Speaker 2>it was re elected. Tallaco posted a glowing account on

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<v Speaker 2>Seafourc's website. Traditionally, cops have been dominated by ideological fervor,

0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:07.280
<v Speaker 2>with an emphasis on the rapid phase out of fossil fuels.

0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:11.600
<v Speaker 2>She wrote, However, this year brought a refreshing dose of

0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:16.520
<v Speaker 2>pragmatism to the table. But turning the heady nuclear promises

0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:20.439
<v Speaker 2>in Dubai into a credible climate policy at home is

0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:25.120
<v Speaker 2>proving a daunting challenge for the opposition. The first hurdle

0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:30.560
<v Speaker 2>it faces is the law. Federal environment and nuclear safety

0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:36.959
<v Speaker 2>laws effectively ban civilian nuclear power generation in Australia, Victoria,

0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:42.080
<v Speaker 2>New South Wales and Queensland also have specific laws prohibiting it.

0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:46.879
<v Speaker 2>Overturning these laws has long been on the wish list

0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:50.560
<v Speaker 2>of business lobbies such as the Minerals Council of Australia

0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.560
<v Speaker 2>as well as the National Party and senior Liberals, but

0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:59.800
<v Speaker 2>it remains politically fraught. O'Bryan admits there was no chance

0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:05.000
<v Speaker 2>of it happening in this parliament given the ideological zealotry

0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:08.919
<v Speaker 2>of Labour's all eggs in one basket approach to energy.

0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:13.520
<v Speaker 2>I do not see the current Parliament lifting the prohibition

0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:19.840
<v Speaker 2>against zero emission's nuclear energy, he said, despite Australia being

0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:23.199
<v Speaker 2>the only nation in the G twenty with such a

0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:30.080
<v Speaker 2>blanket ban. Even Bob Pritchard from SMR Technology thinks overturning

0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:33.359
<v Speaker 2>the laws will be tough, and he worries that if

0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:36.840
<v Speaker 2>Dutton goes to an election pledging to change the laws

0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:41.040
<v Speaker 2>and losers, it will put the nuclear industry in Australia

0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:46.320
<v Speaker 2>back years. The opposition's immediate problem is the lack of

0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:51.199
<v Speaker 2>social license for nuclear power in Australia. A majority of

0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:54.720
<v Speaker 2>us are still anxious that nuclear reactors and their waste

0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:58.800
<v Speaker 2>are not safe to live with. O'Brien, with help from

0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:01.840
<v Speaker 2>Sea four C and n other pro nuclear lobby groups,

0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:06.080
<v Speaker 2>is working hard to turn this around. Barely a week

0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:09.960
<v Speaker 2>goes by without an event with a panel of experts

0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:14.600
<v Speaker 2>talking up nuclear energy's role in getting to net zero emissions.

0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:20.800
<v Speaker 2>Dutton and O'Brien are also brazenly using the Orcus Defense

0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:25.440
<v Speaker 2>Agreement to bolster the case for civilian nuclear power reactors.

0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:32.080
<v Speaker 2>Under ORCUS, Australia will get submarines powered by small nuclear reactors.

0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:36.640
<v Speaker 2>As part of the agreement signed by the Albanese government,

0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:42.040
<v Speaker 2>Australia is responsible for disposing of nuclear waste from the subs.

0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:47.200
<v Speaker 2>That means Australia will be obliged to develop a responsible

0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:53.000
<v Speaker 2>nuclear waste system. The nuclear lobby hopes this will overcome

0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:58.160
<v Speaker 2>popular resistance to a civilian nuclear waste dump in Australia.

0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:02.920
<v Speaker 2>The argument goes like this, if we're willing to accept

0:22:02.960 --> 0:22:07.359
<v Speaker 2>small nuclear reactors on our subs at sea, why won't

0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:11.360
<v Speaker 2>we do it for nuclear reactors on land. It's one

0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:15.560
<v Speaker 2>O'Brien has been hammering on Sky News. You've got the

0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:19.360
<v Speaker 2>Defense Minister saying that Australia will be able to manage

0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:23.439
<v Speaker 2>the waste in spent fuel from nuclear reactors and the

0:22:23.680 --> 0:22:27.640
<v Speaker 2>Energy Minister saying Australia will not be able to manage

0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:33.360
<v Speaker 2>waste from nuclear reactors. O'Brien told Sky News, what message

0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:37.520
<v Speaker 2>is Chris Bowen sending out to orcust partners in saying

0:22:37.560 --> 0:22:42.640
<v Speaker 2>Australia has no idea how to manage nuclear technology. It's

0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:47.560
<v Speaker 2>no coincidence. Dutton reportedly met with executives from Rolls Royce

0:22:48.000 --> 0:22:52.680
<v Speaker 2>to talk about nuclear power under ORCUS. The British company

0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:56.760
<v Speaker 2>said it will supply the small nuclear reactors for Australia's

0:22:56.840 --> 0:23:02.280
<v Speaker 2>nuclear submarines. Raw's Royce was also trying to rapidly develop

0:23:02.400 --> 0:23:07.040
<v Speaker 2>small modular reactors for civilian nuclear power with the backing

0:23:07.240 --> 0:23:12.760
<v Speaker 2>of millions of dollars in UK government grants. Veteran anti

0:23:12.840 --> 0:23:18.760
<v Speaker 2>nuclear campaigner Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation sees

0:23:19.000 --> 0:23:22.479
<v Speaker 2>ORCUS as the best leg up for the nuclear lobby

0:23:22.480 --> 0:23:27.280
<v Speaker 2>in Australia. For decades, despite years of lobbying from the

0:23:27.320 --> 0:23:31.520
<v Speaker 2>mining sector and the pro nuclear advocates, there has been

0:23:31.600 --> 0:23:35.520
<v Speaker 2>no success in gaining a social license for the technology

0:23:35.640 --> 0:23:39.760
<v Speaker 2>in Australia, Sweeney tells me, But they see ORCUS as

0:23:39.800 --> 0:23:42.680
<v Speaker 2>the thin end of the wedge, the way they will

0:23:42.720 --> 0:23:48.280
<v Speaker 2>expand nuclear from a defense relationship to get domestic acceptance.

0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:52.920
<v Speaker 2>In integration of nuclear technology and nuclear power in Australia,

0:23:54.280 --> 0:23:59.320
<v Speaker 2>Sweeney is convinced Dutton's nuclear plans have little chance of success.

0:24:00.640 --> 0:24:03.320
<v Speaker 2>I think they will have their work cut out, he says,

0:24:03.960 --> 0:24:07.240
<v Speaker 2>But there is no question this is a very serious,

0:24:07.680 --> 0:24:13.760
<v Speaker 2>systematic and resourced attempt by the pro nuclear voices. Like

0:24:13.880 --> 0:24:18.920
<v Speaker 2>many activists who spent years campaigning on climate change, Sweeney

0:24:18.960 --> 0:24:23.840
<v Speaker 2>believes the overriding aim of Dutton's nuclear shift is political.

0:24:24.920 --> 0:24:31.120
<v Speaker 2>It unites the technomodernist liberals with the renewable, reculcitrant nationals

0:24:31.160 --> 0:24:35.840
<v Speaker 2>in one policy framework, he says, and it also continues

0:24:36.000 --> 0:24:39.760
<v Speaker 2>business as usual. It's no challenge to the fossil fuel

0:24:39.880 --> 0:24:45.080
<v Speaker 2>interests to talk about nuclear. Uniting the coalition on climate

0:24:45.119 --> 0:24:49.800
<v Speaker 2>and energy policy is certainly one aim of Dutton's nuclear pivot.

0:24:50.600 --> 0:24:55.200
<v Speaker 2>Before the next election, Dutton and O'Brien need to finalize

0:24:55.200 --> 0:24:58.440
<v Speaker 2>a policy that the joint party room can agree on.

0:24:59.440 --> 0:25:02.920
<v Speaker 2>This will be very difficult, with the National Party rebels

0:25:03.080 --> 0:25:09.160
<v Speaker 2>already questioning the coalition's commitment to net zero, backing nuclear

0:25:09.280 --> 0:25:12.600
<v Speaker 2>power is one thing that has wide support in the

0:25:12.640 --> 0:25:17.760
<v Speaker 2>Federal National Party and among senior Liberals. As a result,

0:25:18.280 --> 0:25:23.119
<v Speaker 2>nuclear power now looks like becoming central to the opposition's

0:25:23.160 --> 0:25:28.119
<v Speaker 2>commitment to stick with net zero. Both the government and

0:25:28.160 --> 0:25:33.440
<v Speaker 2>opposition know that Australia's transition to net zero is extremely difficult.

0:25:34.480 --> 0:25:38.359
<v Speaker 2>Greg Combay, the outgoing chair of the government's Net Zero

0:25:38.640 --> 0:25:44.879
<v Speaker 2>Economy Agency, likened it to a post war reconstruction. Labour's

0:25:44.880 --> 0:25:50.040
<v Speaker 2>plan relies heavily on making Australia's electricity system eighty two

0:25:50.119 --> 0:25:56.040
<v Speaker 2>percent renewable by twenty thirty, using wind, solar batteries, and

0:25:56.240 --> 0:26:02.280
<v Speaker 2>hydro electricity, including pumped hydro backed up by some gas

0:26:02.440 --> 0:26:07.880
<v Speaker 2>and coal generation. Right now, renewables make up less than

0:26:07.960 --> 0:26:12.720
<v Speaker 2>forty percent of energy generation that will have to more

0:26:12.760 --> 0:26:16.720
<v Speaker 2>than double in just six years, and it all needs

0:26:16.760 --> 0:26:19.960
<v Speaker 2>to be linked with a multi billion dollar roll out

0:26:20.119 --> 0:26:25.440
<v Speaker 2>of poles and wires. While Dutton calls Labour's plan reckless,

0:26:25.760 --> 0:26:28.600
<v Speaker 2>he has yet to come up with a credible alternative

0:26:28.680 --> 0:26:32.480
<v Speaker 2>to get to net zero. At the same time, Bowen

0:26:32.560 --> 0:26:37.280
<v Speaker 2>and Albanizi have boxed him in putting into law Labour's

0:26:37.320 --> 0:26:41.800
<v Speaker 2>plan to cut Australia's economy wide emissions by forty three

0:26:41.920 --> 0:26:45.240
<v Speaker 2>percent by twenty thirty in order to get to net

0:26:45.359 --> 0:26:50.400
<v Speaker 2>zero by twenty fifty. The Liberals are bound by their

0:26:50.440 --> 0:26:54.959
<v Speaker 2>promises to support net zero, but at a recent business summit,

0:26:55.600 --> 0:26:59.840
<v Speaker 2>Dutton signaled that his commitment to cleaner energy is to

0:27:00.160 --> 0:27:05.680
<v Speaker 2>pendent on going nuclear. We can meet our three national

0:27:05.760 --> 0:27:10.879
<v Speaker 2>goals of cheaper, consistent and cleaner power, he said, but

0:27:11.000 --> 0:27:14.399
<v Speaker 2>in our judgment, you can only do that with the

0:27:14.520 --> 0:27:21.040
<v Speaker 2>right energy policy, and only if Australia becomes a latest

0:27:21.200 --> 0:27:27.560
<v Speaker 2>generation nuclear powered nation. When the politicians came to Canberra

0:27:27.640 --> 0:27:31.359
<v Speaker 2>in February, the drums were once again beating in the

0:27:31.400 --> 0:27:35.480
<v Speaker 2>climate wars on the lawn in front of Parliament House.

0:27:35.840 --> 0:27:40.320
<v Speaker 2>The rally against reckless renewables was in full swing. The

0:27:40.400 --> 0:27:44.239
<v Speaker 2>National Party's Barnaby Joyce was firing up the crowd of

0:27:44.280 --> 0:27:49.520
<v Speaker 2>several hundred farmers and anti renewable activists, telling them you're

0:27:49.640 --> 0:27:55.720
<v Speaker 2>the army, this is the start. Joyce's performance enraged Dr

0:27:55.880 --> 0:28:00.919
<v Speaker 2>Matt Edwards, a prominent Australian solar scientist now working for

0:28:00.960 --> 0:28:05.360
<v Speaker 2>a Darni solar owned by the giant Indian Power Company.

0:28:06.600 --> 0:28:10.200
<v Speaker 2>Edwards was also the vice chair of Sea for C

0:28:11.160 --> 0:28:15.360
<v Speaker 2>but he clearly had enough. He belted out a stinging

0:28:15.480 --> 0:28:19.880
<v Speaker 2>op ed for the Australian Financial Review, laying into Joyce

0:28:20.280 --> 0:28:23.919
<v Speaker 2>and what he called quote the remnants of the coalition

0:28:24.560 --> 0:28:30.919
<v Speaker 2>now taking an uninspired punt on nuclear, Edwards bluntly dismissed

0:28:30.960 --> 0:28:35.200
<v Speaker 2>the opposition's plan to replace ailing coal plants with nuclear,

0:28:35.880 --> 0:28:41.040
<v Speaker 2>saying quote, given high costs, long lead times and lack

0:28:41.120 --> 0:28:46.120
<v Speaker 2>of investor appetite for nuclear, it's easy to cynically imagine

0:28:46.400 --> 0:28:50.520
<v Speaker 2>that these plans might be used to justify extending the

0:28:50.600 --> 0:28:54.560
<v Speaker 2>life of fossil fuel generation while we wait for an

0:28:54.600 --> 0:28:59.920
<v Speaker 2>atomic revolution that never comes. The fallout was a meet

0:29:00.120 --> 0:29:04.880
<v Speaker 2>yet C four c's chairman and chief executive were furious.

0:29:05.720 --> 0:29:10.240
<v Speaker 2>Doctor Edwards resigned from the C four C board. Just

0:29:10.360 --> 0:29:14.960
<v Speaker 2>one more casualty in the latest round of the climate wars.

0:29:27.840 --> 0:29:31.520
<v Speaker 1>That was Marion Wilkinson reading her story Dunn's Nuclear Plants.

0:29:32.400 --> 0:29:35.720
<v Speaker 1>For more of Australia's best one form writing, visit Themonthly

0:29:35.800 --> 0:29:39.280
<v Speaker 1>dot Com dot Au. I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven am,

0:29:39.520 --> 0:29:46.480
<v Speaker 1>se Tomorray