Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Another colour-coded spreadsheet—you all get a nuclear reactor! In all seriousness, nuclear energy is too expensive. We've had a lot of looks at it. In fact, I was on the committee with the member for Fairfax when we had a good look at this. Along with the member for Fremantle we had a good look at what nuclear reactors would mean for Australia—

An honourable member: For the 17th time.

For the 17th time! It was a clear example that the economics don't stack up. Of course, we have a nuclear reactor in Lucas Heights, which does incredible work creating medicines. We have nothing against the technology, but the economics of this simply doesn't make sense.

We're not going to be lectured by those people who want to make energy prices go even higher. We on this side of the House are going to work on a simple energy price policy: 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030. It's going to be the most important thing so that we can bring down long-term power prices. It's going to be the most important thing so that we can have sovereignty in Australia on our electricity grid. We're not going to have an electricity grid that's so responsive to international pressures. We'll have an electricity grid where we won't have people like the member for Hume coming into this place and destroying the energy grid. The member for Hume and the member for Fairfax like to come into this place and talk about energy prices.

Just before question time today Mr Luke Yeaman, deputy secretary, in estimates gave an alarming piece of evidence when he said that the current increase in energy prices this financial year reflects increases in the default market offers published in May by the Australian Energy Regulator and associated market dynamics. In other words, electricity prices are so high because of the things that happened under their watch. Instead of Angus Taylor, the member for Hume, being free and open and honest with the Australian people, he tried to hide the regulations that keep the default market offer from the Australian people.

We are not going to be lectured by the characters who tried to destroy the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, who brought in the NEG and who ended up destroying the Malcolm Turnbull prime ministership. We're not going to be lectured by the people who, with high energy prices, want to bring in nuclear reactors, the most expensive and slowest form of energy. What we on this side of the House are going to invest in is renewable energy because it is going to be the thing that brings down power prices, the thing that powers Australian homes and the thing that creates thousands of jobs, creates five out of six jobs in Australian regions. That is exactly what we are going to do.

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