Peter Dutton & The Going Nuclear Debate
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Australia is moving toward a renewable energy future – it is happening and is underway. Yes, there are challenges ahead in this major transformation, which has been inspired by the world’s need to respond to global warming. No serious energy expert or scientist has suggested the nuclear option as a viable part of this shift from fossil fuels to renewables. Peter Dutton and the going nuclear debate is a distraction from what is required within the time framework laid out to achieve net zero by 2050. The last thing that Australia needs now is further delays and time wasting, after a decade of this under Coalition rule.
Nuclear Reactors Not Feasible According to CSIRO
The CSIRO has responded to Dutton and shared its scientific view that nuclear is not a feasible option for the country. The LNP has been unrelentingly negative about renewable energy for decades. Despite this many Australian households have taken up solar panels on their homes and businesses to reduce their power bills. Indeed, we have the greatest take up of solar power per capita in relation to our homes in the world. These households are saving money and know that renewables provide a great technology. The Coalition slagging off renewables is part of a culture war and not based on real facts and figures.
Anti-Renewables Driving Coalition Culture War Stance
Political parties, invariably conservative ones, which campaign primarily on cultural values and exploit the politics of grievance, do not govern well. In the Australian experience, the LNP did little about the energy transformation and sat on its hands for nearly 10 years. The few big projects undertaken by the Coalition have been costly disasters – Snowy 2.0 was poorly planned and has been bogged down in problems which should have been considered via more in-depth consultative processes. The blowout has ballooned from an original $2 billion to now $13 billion. The inland rail project budgeted at $9.3 billion by the Coalition is now costing $31.4 billion and has met far more complex challenges than foreseen by the Coalition. Most large projects end up costing more money than initially budgeted, but these blowouts are in another league entirely. I would not be putting the building of 7 nuclear reactors in the hands of the federal Coalition, the mismanagement and economic irresponsibility would be frightening. When you get nuclear wrong it is a permanently highly dangerous problem for future Australians for generations and generations to come. Our children and their children will bear the cost for these things on so many levels. If we don’t really need these reactors why would we risk the massive expense and potential dangers unnecessarily?
“The boss of the Inland Rail freight link has insisted the trouble-plagued line “is not stalled”, as he hit back at industry concerns over the government’s lack of commitment to the second half of the overbudget megaproject.”
Dutton Playing Politics To The Detriment Of Australians
Peter Dutton is playing politics, as he always does. There are no real detailed costings in his nuclear policy. It is not a policy but a sketch or a headline. Australia is engaging with something put forward by a proven polarising force. Dutton plays politics by taking a black and white attitude to everything. He did it successfully over the Voice to Parliament for Indigenous Australians and created a divisive outcome where there had been early indications of a consensus within the population. Dutton’s fear mongering turned many people off the constitutional amendment. We have seen this Opposition strategy before under Tony Abbott and observed how his government panned out under his leadership. Negatively minded politicians do not make good governors – they are wreckers rather than creators. Donald Trump is another example of this – always talking down America under Biden and ridiculously demonising Joe Biden. In power Trump was a disaster during the pandemic, where close to a million Americans died in one of the richest nations on earth.
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump.
