Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Smith, for that question. Since we were elected, she and other members of this government have worked to stabilise the energy market, to provide electricity bill relief to those who need it most and to help Australia's energy transition. The article that Senator Smith refers to looks at data from an annual survey released by the Investor Group on Climate Change. That data shows that since the Albanese Labor government has improved policy certainty and regulatory certainty, guess what? Confidence is rallying. The confidence of investors has rallied.

Senator Cash has been interjecting since I started speaking. Those opposite really can't bear the fact that they destroyed policy certainty in this market by having in excess of 20 policies over 10 years. The same report also found that, on the list of technologies investors were looking at, guess what was last? Nuclear power. Now, for anyone actually interested in facts or evidence this doesn't come as a surprise, because nuclear energy would increase bills, would cost taxpayers billions, risk reliability of the grid and won't be delivered on time. What a wonderful policy. Those opposite continue to cling to their nuclear fantasy. This morning the SMH published an article entitled 'Not in my backyard: Liberals, Nationals go cold on nuclear.' It detailed how 12 opposition MPs had publicly backed nuclear energy but refused to commit to hosting a nuclear power plant in their own electorates. That shows the courage of their convictions, doesn't it? Even Mr O'Brien won't back a power station in his electorate. They have no plan. They delivered nothing in government, and they still have no plan.