Mary Doyle (Aston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. What has been the response to the latest analysis from the CSIRO, which has once again confirmed that nuclear is the most expensive form of energy?

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

I thank the honourable member, who is a fantastic member for Aston, for her question. As the honourable member knows, GenCost is a report which has been issued annually by the CSIRO and AEMO since 2018. It has consistently found nuclear energy to be the most expensive form of energy available, and slow to build as well. Between 2018 and 2022, this was an uncontroversial report. In fact, the previous government used to source and cite GenCost in their report to the Paris accord. They used to reference it.

This is no longer the case. The Leader of the Opposition was asked about GenCost in March and about its findings that nuclear is the most expensive form of energy. He said, 'It is a discredited report, not to be relied on, and it's not a genuine piece of work.' This is the alternative Prime Minister of Australia talking about Australia's premier scientific organisation. Did he reflect on his policy and say, 'Maybe we need to reconsider?' No. When the Leader of the Opposition sees a report telling him he's wrong, he attacks the CSIRO, much like when he sees a news report he doesn't like—he attacks the journalist on Twitter. That's his modus operandi. That's how he behaves as the alternative Prime Minister.

He's not alone. The architect of this policy disaster, the member for Fairfax, had something to say about GenCost. When he was asked originally about GenCost, he said, 'The CSIRO hasn't released its modelling.'

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Barker is warned.

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

He called on the CSIRO to release their modelling. There's a certain irony here. The architect of the plan says, 'We haven't seen the modelling.' We haven't seen the opposition's policy either. That takes some chutzpah. I've seen some chutzpah in my time in this place, but that takes the yellowcake! This is an opposition which is treating the Australian people with contempt. The member for Fairfax then had a little chat to the CSIRO. He gave them a little TED Talk explaining where they're wrong, which I'm sure they welcomed. I'm sure these experienced economists and scientists welcomed the member for Fairfax telling them why they've got it so wrong. The CSIRO has responded by saying:

We stand by those figures—based on the best global information and applied to local conditions—which allow a meaningful comparison of future energy costs generated by various technologies in the Australian context.

Is it any wonder, with all this chaos and the opposition attacking Australia's premier scientific organisation, that coalition backbenchers are calling their policy 'bonkers' and 'bewildering'? That is perhaps why the Leader of the Opposition hasn't had the guts to release it. He said he'd release it in a couple of weeks 12 weeks ago. He says, 'Oh, we won't be held to your timetable.' He won't be held to his own, which is just another reflection of the fact that the Leader of the Opposition is not up to the job. (Time expired)