David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

People have to understand—and I'm very happy to explain it to the members over there how it works—that for a solar farm or a wind farm, there are short-term temporary jobs. When the construction is finished there are very few intermittent jobs, and most of the jobs in the green economy that those opposite are saying Australia will deliver won't be delivered in our country. They'll be delivered over in China or in Asia, where they make all these turbines. It's such a misdirected piece of policy, and I beg members on the other side: we'll give you tutorials free of cost to understand what you're missing on.

To the member for Watson, sitting down at the despatch box—I'm happy to come along anytime and explain to you the wonders of fission.

Another thing that many people have had some misunderstandings about is the idea that you get radiation from a nuclear power station. I'd like to let you know that I've confidently stood over Australia's nuclear facility with only fresh water in front of me. I didn't have any lead on me anywhere and I got zero radiation. The good member for Warringah, a member of the Teal association of parties, came too and didn't get irradiated, either. We have 1,200 people employed in scientific pursuit led by nuclear power, and that's ANSTO. We have been early signatories to all the International Atomic Energy Agency committees and treaties for non-proliferation. We are a very nuclear-capable nation.

In America, they have used economics to do their transition. In fact, America are seen as the big ogre dependent on oil and gas. Well, in a way, they have transformed our economy. They have transformed so many of their old, coal-fired power stations to power stations that are fired by coal-seam gas or natural gas, and they have reduced their footprint by 40 per cent in absolute terms, whereas we've had to use very dodgy accounting to see our reductions. They count all our national parks and all those other bits and pieces as what we've done. We could transition, but to exclude nuclear from it is just an absolutely futile endeavour. What we will be doing is overbuilding renewables that have a very short lifespan. We'll be destroying agriculture. In America, they are planning to transition 66 coal plants to nuclear. Their department of energy has done a study and found that bringing a nuclear power plant into an economy delivers 650 permanent jobs, gives US$275 million dollars in extra economic outcomes in that area and reduces greenhouse gases by 86 per cent, and they have cheap electricity again.

Members on the other side: open your eyes, start reading. If we want to transition away from our coal-based energy generation, we need to include nuclear. There will still be a place for the renewables that are there, because all the rules and subsidies are shutting our coal plants down, but we can't base our whole economy on it. It is absolute madness. Having an authority with government money to enable it is— (Time expired)

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