Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my honourable friend for the question. What a champion for regional Australia the member for Bendigo is! The member for Bendigo knows that the Albanese government's coal and gas caps, together with the rebates in the budget before last, have worked to put downward pressure—real downward pressure—on prices, which we saw reflected in the default market offer just a couple weeks ago. That has been followed of course by the $300 rebates which go to every single energy bill in the country from the Treasury's budget delivered just a few weeks ago.

But we also know that renewables are the cheapest form of energy and that getting more renewable energy into the grid is good for prices. And we aren't the only ones who know that; that is understood by governments around the world. Last year, 130 countries signed a pledge to triple renewable energy by 2030—that's 130 countries tripling renewable energy by 2030.

The honourable member asked me what policies are being rejected at home and abroad. The answer is, of course, the most expensive form of energy. This is a very important point, because that is nuclear energy and we've had a lot of misinformation from honourable members opposite. The leader of the National Party is keen to say: 'Look at America. Look at what's happening in America.' Well, what's happening in America is the cancellation of a small modular reactor after a 70 per cent cost blowout; that's what's happening in America! We've had the member for Hinkler and our old friend the member for New England saying that we are the only OECD country without nuclear power. In fact there are 16 OECD countries without nuclear power—16. But the Leader of the Opposition himself says, and he says this all the time, 'Australia is the only country of the G20 which hasn't got nuclear power as part of its energy mix, or which hasn't committed to doing so as part of its domestic energy mix.' We've all heard him say it repeatedly. The G20 is a very important organisation, and a key member of the G20 is Germany—the third- or fourth-largest economy in the world, depending on the measure. They closed their last nuclear power station last year, in April. The Chancellor of Germany said, 'Nuclear energy is over; it's a dead horse.'

See this speech in context