Speaker 1: Hello, Ruby Jones here. All this week we're going to
Speaker 1: bring you some of our favorite longreads from the Monthly.
Speaker 1: We hope you're on holidays and can listen to these
Speaker 1: on road trips or while you're lying on the beach.
Speaker 1: We'll be back next week with our usual show. Peter
Speaker 1: Dutton's first major promise when he became Opposition leader was
Speaker 1: to build nuclear power plants. It was a curious idea
Speaker 1: with no cost attached and not a lot of community
Speaker 1: support according to polling. Today we have journalist Marian Wilkinson,
Speaker 1: with her investigation into the conservative charity group Figures driving
Speaker 1: the opposition leader's pivot to nuclear energy. Marion's whip smart
Speaker 1: reporting on the nuclear lobby only becomes more relevant every
Speaker 1: day we inch closer to the next federal election. Please
Speaker 1: enjoy Dutton's Nuclear power Plants, read by Marion Wilkinson, first
Speaker 1: published in The Monthly earlier this year. It's Monday, January sixth.
Speaker 2: When Leslie Hughes agreed to lead a nocturnal wildlife tour
Speaker 2: at Sydney's to Rongazoo in August last year, she didn't
Speaker 2: quite realize what she was letting herself in for. As
Speaker 2: the Distinguished Professor of Biology, explained the perils facing the
Speaker 2: animal kingdom from climate change. A disparate group of movers
Speaker 2: and shakers nodded with polite enthusiasm, among them National Party
Speaker 2: leader David Little Proud, Liberal Party Climate and Energy spokesman
Speaker 2: Ted O'Brien and Larry Anthony, the head of a lobbying
Speaker 2: known for pushing fossil fuel clients. This was not the
Speaker 2: professor's natural milieure, but like many of the guests at
Speaker 2: the splendid Harbourside function Center that wintery evening, Hughes was
Speaker 2: there to win heartsome minds in the fight to save
Speaker 2: the planet. It was the opening night of the International
Speaker 2: Climate Conference, hosted by the Coalition for Conservation, an enterprising
Speaker 2: conservative charity with deep roots in the Liberal and National parties.
Speaker 2: One of its aims is to reach out to environmentalists,
Speaker 2: renewable energy experts and climate scientists to garner support for
Speaker 2: Coalition members backing the goal of getting Australia to net
Speaker 2: zero emissions. C four C, as it's known, had gathered
Speaker 2: an impressive lineup of speakers, including the man who led
Speaker 2: the successful Twin Pies one UN Climate Change Summitt in Glasgow,
Speaker 2: former UK Minister Sir Alec Sharma and his Excellency Abdullah
Speaker 2: Al Subusi, Ambassador for the United Arab Emirates, whose nation
Speaker 2: was set to host the UN Climate Summit in Dubai.
Speaker 2: But as the guests tucked into the opening night dinner,
Speaker 2: one speaker sounded adjarring partisan note. Seaface's influential patron, Trevor
Speaker 2: Saint Baker, couldn't resist taking a swipe at the Albanese
Speaker 2: government's renewable energy policy. Saint Baker's intervention was telling the
Speaker 2: Queensland rich lister was close to Seaface's chairman, Larry Anthony,
Speaker 2: who was also a former National Party president. For years,
Speaker 2: Saint Baker had employed Anthony's lobby shop sas consulting back
Speaker 2: when he was in the Colfard power business. Now Saint
Speaker 2: Baker was investing in the energy transition, electric vehicle charging
Speaker 2: and battery technology, but his passion project was nuclear energy
Speaker 2: and in particular the idea of introducing small modular nuclear
Speaker 2: reactors to Australia. While Saint Baker's presence was a surprise
Speaker 2: to some C four C supporters that night, his ideas
Speaker 2: on nuclear energy were about to hit the zeitgeist. He
Speaker 2: and his partners in a small nuclear consultancy SMR Nuclear Technology,
Speaker 2: were riding the new wave of global enthusiasm for nuclear energy.
Speaker 2: Influential players from former Microsoft boss Bill Gates to ex
Speaker 2: UK Prime Minister Rushi Sunak were sprooking small and micromodular
Speaker 2: reactors as as a game changer that would help the
Speaker 2: world reach net zero emissions by twenty fifty. In climate circles,
Speaker 2: it was dubbed the tech bro culture, as next generation
Speaker 2: nuclear attracted bullish headlines and billions in private investment and
Speaker 2: government grants. The four Sea Climate Conference was dotted with
Speaker 2: speakers enthusiastic about bringing nuclear power to Australia, few more
Speaker 2: so than the opposition's spokesman Ted O'Brien. The line up
Speaker 2: was a clear signal that the Sea four S charity
Speaker 2: had pivoted towards its patron's pro nuclear position. More importantly,
Speaker 2: it reflected the big nuclear shift by Opposition leader Peter Dutton.
Speaker 2: In a headline making speech a few weeks earlier, Dutton
Speaker 2: had attacked what he called renewable zealotry, saying if the
Speaker 2: Shulmanisi government wanted to phase out coal and gas. The
Speaker 2: only feasible improven technology to back up renewable energy was
Speaker 2: next generation nuclear technologies. Specifically, Dutton pushed the idea of
Speaker 2: small modular reactors SMRs and micromodular reactors mmrs. Dutton released
Speaker 2: more details on the opposition's coal to nuclear power plans,
Speaker 2: which he argued could deliver cheaper electricity and new jobs
Speaker 2: in regions where aging coal generators will be forced to close.
Speaker 2: The early plans bore a striking resemblance to a policy
Speaker 2: Trevesome Baker and SMR Nuclear Technology had been advocating for
Speaker 2: several years in evidence and submissions to federal and state
Speaker 2: parliamentary committees, in think tank and in energy forums. These
Speaker 2: describe in voluminous detail how small modular nuclear reactors are
Speaker 2: less costly to build than big nuclear plants, safer and
Speaker 2: more flexible, allowing them to be cited at old coal
Speaker 2: plants already connected to the electricity grid. Just how influential
Speaker 2: Saint Baker and his partners have been in the opposition's
Speaker 2: nuclear switch is unclear. O'Brien told me in an email
Speaker 2: that he was quote a long way down the road
Speaker 2: in assessing and promoting net zero nuclear energy before meeting
Speaker 2: these highly experienced gentlemen, and that he'd spoken to many experts.
Speaker 2: Smr's chairman Bob Pritchard told me that while some partners
Speaker 2: had talked to O'Brien, they had no formal role in
Speaker 2: Dutton's energy policy review. I wish we could say that
Speaker 2: we'd had a direct impact, he said, but we only
Speaker 2: had an indirect effect. It's all been done by the
Speaker 2: relevant shadow ministers. But Pritchard conceded that Dutton's plan could
Speaker 2: be seen as quote remarkably similar to the company's position.
Speaker 2: Dutton's move to nuclear has been slammed by critics, including
Speaker 2: Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen, as a nuclear fantasy. Energy experts,
Speaker 2: from former Chief Scientist Alan Finkel to the CSIRO point
Speaker 2: out that there are as yet no commercially operating small
Speaker 2: modular nuclear reactors in the United States, Canada, the United
Speaker 2: Kingdom or Europe, and the only working plants are in
Speaker 2: Russia and China. While many climate scientists support nuclear power
Speaker 2: in countries with a long established nuclear generation industry, they
Speaker 2: question its value in Australia. In the latest gencos report
Speaker 2: by CSIRO, comparing the prices of power generation, small modular
Speaker 2: nuclear reactors emerged as the highest cost technology compared to
Speaker 2: solar and wind by a large margin. The report also
Speaker 2: cites evidence from government regulators saying it would take around
Speaker 2: fifteen years to get a commercially biable small nuclear plant
Speaker 2: in Australia, ruling them out of any major role in
Speaker 2: getting the country to meet net zero by twenty fifty.
Speaker 2: The Opposition disputes the CSIRO findings, with Dutton calling its
Speaker 2: report discredited. This, in turn a prompted CSIRO's head Dr
Speaker 2: Doug Hilton to publish an open letter in March the
Speaker 2: oppositions attack on his scientists. For science to be useful
Speaker 2: and for the challenges to be overcome, it requires the
Speaker 2: trust of the community, Hilton wrote, Maintaining trust requires scientists
Speaker 2: to act with integrity. Maintaining trust also requires our political
Speaker 2: leaders to resist the temptation to disparage science.
Speaker 1: Coming up after the break the political implications of Dutton's
Speaker 1: nuclear proposition.
Speaker 2: Whatever the economics of the Opposition's nuclear plan, there is
Speaker 2: no doubt about its political impact. It has reignited the
Speaker 2: partisan climate wars in Australia since first signaling their nuclear
Speaker 2: plans in twenty twenty two. Dutton and O'Brien have kept
Speaker 2: up a relentless attack on the Albanese government over what
Speaker 2: they call its reckless renewables only energy plan, blaming it
Speaker 2: for driving up household energy prices, threatening energy security, de
Speaker 2: industrializing Australia, and trampling on the rights of farmers. Professor
Speaker 2: Hughes is watching the divisive nuclear debate unfold with dismay.
Speaker 2: A director of the Climate Council, Hughes has been a
Speaker 2: lead author with the UN's chief scientific advisory Panel, the
Speaker 2: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and she now sits on
Speaker 2: the Federal Government's Climate Change Authority, advising on its emissions
Speaker 2: reduction targets. In my opinion, she says, given the l
Speaker 2: of any economic rationale for nuclear one can only conclude
Speaker 2: that it's a distraction to allow the fossil fuel industry
Speaker 2: to keep operating with business as usual. Despite Dutton and
Speaker 2: O'Brien's bullish optimism, their nuclear pivot is a big political gamble.
Speaker 2: While a rash of polls suggest support for nuclear energy
Speaker 2: is growing in Australia, some also show that most Australians
Speaker 2: still don't want a reactor in their own region, let
Speaker 2: alone a nuclear waste dump. Even Queensland's Liberal Party Premiere
Speaker 2: David Chris Afooli, has ruled out any plan to replace
Speaker 2: the state's old coll far power stations with small nuclear reactors,
Speaker 2: saying it can't happen without bipartisan support. The issue also
Speaker 2: threatens the fragile truce in the Liberal Party over climate
Speaker 2: change policy. The party's most vocal renewable energy advocate, former
Speaker 2: New South Wales Energy Minister Matt Keane, has launched a
Speaker 2: stinging attack against the policy push. I'm not opposed to
Speaker 2: nuclear power, he tells me. I was state Energy minister
Speaker 2: for five years. If nuclear power was a viable pathway
Speaker 2: to met zero, I would have done it, but it
Speaker 2: did not stack up economically, environmentally or engineering wise. Keene
Speaker 2: was speaking shortly after he resigned his role as ambassador
Speaker 2: for THEFOCE environmental charity. In his frank resignation letter, he
Speaker 2: told cfoc's chair Larry Anthony that he saw the advocacy
Speaker 2: for nuclear power quote as an attempt to delay and
Speaker 2: defer responsible and decisive action on climate change in a
Speaker 2: way that seems to drive up prices in New South
Speaker 2: Wales by delaying renewables. It was a bitter parting of
Speaker 2: the ways. Keen had been a strong supporter of seafoc's
Speaker 2: chief executive, Christina Talaco, a businesswoman with close ties to
Speaker 2: the New South Wales Liberal Party. Keene's Liberal colleagues still
Speaker 2: serve as SEAFOCE ambassadors, including former New South Wales Premier
Speaker 2: Nick Griner and Howard Minister Philip Ruddock. Keene sees Anthony
Speaker 2: and Saint Baker as having an outside influence on the
Speaker 2: charity shift to a pro nuclear position. SAMT. Baker is
Speaker 2: a powerful business figure in Dutton's home state. He's long
Speaker 2: been a political donor to the Queensland LMP and to
Speaker 2: the state's Labor Party. His support for nuclear power is
Speaker 2: no secret. Tlaco denied either some Baker or Anthony influenced
Speaker 2: the charity his position on nuclear energy. Our exploration of
Speaker 2: this technology was thorough and impartial, and our support for
Speaker 2: nuclear energy is not influenced by political agendas nor tied
Speaker 2: to financial backing from the nuclear industry, she told me
Speaker 2: by email, But she also said she didn't know her
Speaker 2: charity's chief patron was a director and major shareholder of
Speaker 2: SMR Nuclear Technology. I was not aware of Trevor's position
Speaker 2: at this organization. She said, for well over a year,
Speaker 2: FOURC has played a critical role in supporting and promoting
Speaker 2: the coalition's push on nuclear energy. In early twenty twenty three,
Speaker 2: Tlaco joined Ted O'Brien on a nuclear fact binding trip
Speaker 2: to the United States and Canada. O'Brien's trip was funded
Speaker 2: in part by one of C foce's donors, which one
Speaker 2: he doesn't say. The group was briefed by corporate executives
Speaker 2: and government officials on a range of small and medium
Speaker 2: modular nuclear reactor projects. O'Brien says to Laco returned from
Speaker 2: the trip convinced quote nuclear should be part of a
Speaker 2: balanced mix. Tallaco posted O'Brien's upbeat story about their briefings
Speaker 2: on the C four C website. None of the projects
Speaker 2: O'Brien wrote about was commercially operating. Indeed, one, a much
Speaker 2: anticipated small nuclear project in Idaho run by American company
Speaker 2: New Scale, collapsed months later because of major blowouts in costs.
Speaker 2: This was despite getting almost one billion in US government support.
Speaker 2: New Scale's chief executive was blunt about the project's future prospects,
Speaker 2: telling Bloomberg, once you're on a dead horse, dismount quickly.
Speaker 2: That's where we are here. Neither O'Brien nor to laco's
Speaker 2: enthusiasm for next gen nuclear was dented by what happened
Speaker 2: to New Scale, quite the reverse. Just weeks after the collapse,
Speaker 2: in November twenty twenty three, SEAFOURC funded a delegation of
Speaker 2: coalition MPs as well as to LACO, to attend the
Speaker 2: UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai cop twenty eight. O'Brien
Speaker 2: had been invited to address a meeting that the World
Speaker 2: Nuclear Association the Global Nuclear Lobby was hosting with the SEAFOURC.
Speaker 2: At the summit, the SEAFOURC delegation included Liberal Senators Andrew
Speaker 2: Bragg and Dean Smith, the National Party's Senate leader Bridget McKenzie,
Speaker 2: Deputy Leader Peren Davy, and Shadow Trade Minister Kevin Hogan,
Speaker 2: as well as Larry Anthony. Unhailed the summit for being
Speaker 2: the first to recognize the importance of nuclear energy in
Speaker 2: getting the world to net zero. Some twenty two countries,
Speaker 2: including the United States, France and Britain, signed up in
Speaker 2: Dubai to the goal of tripling global nuclear energy by
Speaker 2: twenty fifty. The goal was aspirational and its signatories comprised
Speaker 2: not much more than ten percent of the country's in attendance.
Speaker 2: This was not surprising, cost blowouts have plagued new nuclear
Speaker 2: plants and as one reason nuclear still makes up just
Speaker 2: ten percent of global energy generation. But the Kop declaration
Speaker 2: was a triumph for the nuclear lobby, and O'Brien vowed
Speaker 2: the Coalition would sign up to the Nuclear Partnership if
Speaker 2: it was re elected. Tallaco posted a glowing account on
Speaker 2: Seafourc's website. Traditionally, cops have been dominated by ideological fervor,
Speaker 2: with an emphasis on the rapid phase out of fossil fuels.
Speaker 2: She wrote, However, this year brought a refreshing dose of
Speaker 2: pragmatism to the table. But turning the heady nuclear promises
Speaker 2: in Dubai into a credible climate policy at home is
Speaker 2: proving a daunting challenge for the opposition. The first hurdle
Speaker 2: it faces is the law. Federal environment and nuclear safety
Speaker 2: laws effectively ban civilian nuclear power generation in Australia, Victoria,
Speaker 2: New South Wales and Queensland also have specific laws prohibiting it.
Speaker 2: Overturning these laws has long been on the wish list
Speaker 2: of business lobbies such as the Minerals Council of Australia
Speaker 2: as well as the National Party and senior Liberals, but
Speaker 2: it remains politically fraught. O'Bryan admits there was no chance
Speaker 2: of it happening in this parliament given the ideological zealotry
Speaker 2: of Labour's all eggs in one basket approach to energy.
Speaker 2: I do not see the current Parliament lifting the prohibition
Speaker 2: against zero emission's nuclear energy, he said, despite Australia being
Speaker 2: the only nation in the G twenty with such a
Speaker 2: blanket ban. Even Bob Pritchard from SMR Technology thinks overturning
Speaker 2: the laws will be tough, and he worries that if
Speaker 2: Dutton goes to an election pledging to change the laws
Speaker 2: and losers, it will put the nuclear industry in Australia
Speaker 2: back years. The opposition's immediate problem is the lack of
Speaker 2: social license for nuclear power in Australia. A majority of
Speaker 2: us are still anxious that nuclear reactors and their waste
Speaker 2: are not safe to live with. O'Brien, with help from
Speaker 2: Sea four C and n other pro nuclear lobby groups,
Speaker 2: is working hard to turn this around. Barely a week
Speaker 2: goes by without an event with a panel of experts
Speaker 2: talking up nuclear energy's role in getting to net zero emissions.
Speaker 2: Dutton and O'Brien are also brazenly using the Orcus Defense
Speaker 2: Agreement to bolster the case for civilian nuclear power reactors.
Speaker 2: Under ORCUS, Australia will get submarines powered by small nuclear reactors.
Speaker 2: As part of the agreement signed by the Albanese government,
Speaker 2: Australia is responsible for disposing of nuclear waste from the subs.
Speaker 2: That means Australia will be obliged to develop a responsible
Speaker 2: nuclear waste system. The nuclear lobby hopes this will overcome
Speaker 2: popular resistance to a civilian nuclear waste dump in Australia.
Speaker 2: The argument goes like this, if we're willing to accept
Speaker 2: small nuclear reactors on our subs at sea, why won't
Speaker 2: we do it for nuclear reactors on land. It's one
Speaker 2: O'Brien has been hammering on Sky News. You've got the
Speaker 2: Defense Minister saying that Australia will be able to manage
Speaker 2: the waste in spent fuel from nuclear reactors and the
Speaker 2: Energy Minister saying Australia will not be able to manage
Speaker 2: waste from nuclear reactors. O'Brien told Sky News, what message
Speaker 2: is Chris Bowen sending out to orcust partners in saying
Speaker 2: Australia has no idea how to manage nuclear technology. It's
Speaker 2: no coincidence. Dutton reportedly met with executives from Rolls Royce
Speaker 2: to talk about nuclear power under ORCUS. The British company
Speaker 2: said it will supply the small nuclear reactors for Australia's
Speaker 2: nuclear submarines. Raw's Royce was also trying to rapidly develop
Speaker 2: small modular reactors for civilian nuclear power with the backing
Speaker 2: of millions of dollars in UK government grants. Veteran anti
Speaker 2: nuclear campaigner Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation sees
Speaker 2: ORCUS as the best leg up for the nuclear lobby
Speaker 2: in Australia. For decades, despite years of lobbying from the
Speaker 2: mining sector and the pro nuclear advocates, there has been
Speaker 2: no success in gaining a social license for the technology
Speaker 2: in Australia, Sweeney tells me, But they see ORCUS as
Speaker 2: the thin end of the wedge, the way they will
Speaker 2: expand nuclear from a defense relationship to get domestic acceptance.
Speaker 2: In integration of nuclear technology and nuclear power in Australia,
Speaker 2: Sweeney is convinced Dutton's nuclear plans have little chance of success.
Speaker 2: I think they will have their work cut out, he says,
Speaker 2: But there is no question this is a very serious,
Speaker 2: systematic and resourced attempt by the pro nuclear voices. Like
Speaker 2: many activists who spent years campaigning on climate change, Sweeney
Speaker 2: believes the overriding aim of Dutton's nuclear shift is political.
Speaker 2: It unites the technomodernist liberals with the renewable, reculcitrant nationals
Speaker 2: in one policy framework, he says, and it also continues
Speaker 2: business as usual. It's no challenge to the fossil fuel
Speaker 2: interests to talk about nuclear. Uniting the coalition on climate
Speaker 2: and energy policy is certainly one aim of Dutton's nuclear pivot.
Speaker 2: Before the next election, Dutton and O'Brien need to finalize
Speaker 2: a policy that the joint party room can agree on.
Speaker 2: This will be very difficult, with the National Party rebels
Speaker 2: already questioning the coalition's commitment to net zero, backing nuclear
Speaker 2: power is one thing that has wide support in the
Speaker 2: Federal National Party and among senior Liberals. As a result,
Speaker 2: nuclear power now looks like becoming central to the opposition's
Speaker 2: commitment to stick with net zero. Both the government and
Speaker 2: opposition know that Australia's transition to net zero is extremely difficult.
Speaker 2: Greg Combay, the outgoing chair of the government's Net Zero
Speaker 2: Economy Agency, likened it to a post war reconstruction. Labour's
Speaker 2: plan relies heavily on making Australia's electricity system eighty two
Speaker 2: percent renewable by twenty thirty, using wind, solar batteries, and
Speaker 2: hydro electricity, including pumped hydro backed up by some gas
Speaker 2: and coal generation. Right now, renewables make up less than
Speaker 2: forty percent of energy generation that will have to more
Speaker 2: than double in just six years, and it all needs
Speaker 2: to be linked with a multi billion dollar roll out
Speaker 2: of poles and wires. While Dutton calls Labour's plan reckless,
Speaker 2: he has yet to come up with a credible alternative
Speaker 2: to get to net zero. At the same time, Bowen
Speaker 2: and Albanizi have boxed him in putting into law Labour's
Speaker 2: plan to cut Australia's economy wide emissions by forty three
Speaker 2: percent by twenty thirty in order to get to net
Speaker 2: zero by twenty fifty. The Liberals are bound by their
Speaker 2: promises to support net zero, but at a recent business summit,
Speaker 2: Dutton signaled that his commitment to cleaner energy is to
Speaker 2: pendent on going nuclear. We can meet our three national
Speaker 2: goals of cheaper, consistent and cleaner power, he said, but
Speaker 2: in our judgment, you can only do that with the
Speaker 2: right energy policy, and only if Australia becomes a latest
Speaker 2: generation nuclear powered nation. When the politicians came to Canberra
Speaker 2: in February, the drums were once again beating in the
Speaker 2: climate wars on the lawn in front of Parliament House.
Speaker 2: The rally against reckless renewables was in full swing. The
Speaker 2: National Party's Barnaby Joyce was firing up the crowd of
Speaker 2: several hundred farmers and anti renewable activists, telling them you're
Speaker 2: the army, this is the start. Joyce's performance enraged Dr
Speaker 2: Matt Edwards, a prominent Australian solar scientist now working for
Speaker 2: a Darni solar owned by the giant Indian Power Company.
Speaker 2: Edwards was also the vice chair of Sea for C
Speaker 2: but he clearly had enough. He belted out a stinging
Speaker 2: op ed for the Australian Financial Review, laying into Joyce
Speaker 2: and what he called quote the remnants of the coalition
Speaker 2: now taking an uninspired punt on nuclear, Edwards bluntly dismissed
Speaker 2: the opposition's plan to replace ailing coal plants with nuclear,
Speaker 2: saying quote, given high costs, long lead times and lack
Speaker 2: of investor appetite for nuclear, it's easy to cynically imagine
Speaker 2: that these plans might be used to justify extending the
Speaker 2: life of fossil fuel generation while we wait for an
Speaker 2: atomic revolution that never comes. The fallout was a meet
Speaker 2: yet C four c's chairman and chief executive were furious.
Speaker 2: Doctor Edwards resigned from the C four C board. Just
Speaker 2: one more casualty in the latest round of the climate wars.
Speaker 1: That was Marion Wilkinson reading her story Dunn's Nuclear Plants.
Speaker 1: For more of Australia's best one form writing, visit Themonthly
Speaker 1: dot Com dot Au. I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven am,
Speaker 1: se Tomorray