Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australians and nuclear energy are a perfect match. Australia holds 33 per cent of the world's uranium deposits. It's the world's third-largest producer of uranium after Kazakhstan and Canada. After Glasgow, Alan Finkel, a former Chief Scientist of Australia, stated that Australia must consider nuclear energy as a part of our mix as it offers net zero emissions. Australia is perfectly placed to take advantage of this resource. There are large supplies of uranium, nuclear energy will reduce our energy costs, we will be able to supply energy to South-East Asia and we will be able to sell uranium and technology to the rest of the world.

Nuclear technology has advanced a lot in recent years. Modular reactors can fit on the back of a truck and be transported, molten salt reactors can't melt down, and built-in water cooling systems now exist. Modular reactors have many advantages. They are small, cheap, easy to establish and suitable for the Australian electrical market. Nuclear energy can use the existing poles and wires and is a great mix with coal, gas and renewables.

Polling of the Australian population revealed that 44 per cent of Aussies support nuclear power and 40 per cent of Aussies oppose nuclear power. Net zero, not taxes, is the way to go. (Time expired)

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