Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Isn't it amusing? Those opposite are espousing a policy that will give us a budget black hole, will actually turn it around, but the only thing the nuclear plan will achieve is exactly that: a budget black hole. The coalition's pledge to build seven different sites with multiple nuclear reactors is part of a controversial energy plan that will cost taxpayers $600 billion plus whilst supplying just 3.7 per cent of Australia's energy mix by 2050, according to the Smart Energy Council. That's what they're suggesting: an absolutely ludicrous proposition that will not only cost hundreds of billions of dollars, be more expensive, cost every taxpayer—every energy user, every small business, every large business, those that employ people across this country—more for electricity but will also cost billions upon billions of dollars.

Let's look at some of the facts as put by the opposition just a moment ago. Mr Dutton, the opposition leader, claims that his nuclear reactor would produce waste equivalent to a can of Coke each year. Now, either he's guzzling soda by the gallon or he's ignoring the experts who warn that these reactors could churn out as much as six tonnes of radioactive waste annually, or Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe of Griffith University's School of Environment and Science, who said that it is 'safe to say that a small modular reactor would generate many tonnes of waste per year' and it is likely that 'that waste would be more radioactive than the waste from a large-scale reactor'.

Here they are, costing hundreds of billions of dollars. Here they are putting forward a proposition that will cost more for electricity for every business person and every consumer in this country. But also they're coming in with flippant comments about what the actual facts are. It's not a can of Coke; it's a guzzling opportunity for them to turn around and make an absolute mess of what's happening in nuclear energy policy in this country.

Nuclear reactors by Dutton are the only thing more mysterious than Area 51. They're proposing a whole series of policies of which they won't actually tell us the details—it's for a later date; it's for another opportunity. Meanwhile they're suppressing the opportunity for renewables. That's their intent: to cause chaos in the market. They don't care, because this is all about them winning government. This is not a policy based on facts. This is not a policy based on what's better for the community. It's not a policy about bringing energy prices down. It's a fact that they had 22 energy policies in the 10 years they were in government, and they failed to deliver and land one of them. This is purely a factional deal and a coalition deal, which they still can't get right, because they're still arguing about it. This policy is the halfway mark of trying to work out yet another energy policy. I think it's No. 23, but, heaven forbid, it could even be No. 24. This policy is a lot like swiss cheese, only it's twice as smelly and with many more holes. This policy is a leaking bucket. It's full of holes, dripping money and leaving us all high and dry.

While on this side we've been committed to delivering clean, affordable electricity, the Leader of the Opposition's fixation on his nuclear fantasy and slowing down renewables would slap Australians with an extra $1,000 a year in their energy bills. Energy analysts have told GuardianAustralia that slowing the rollout of renewables and relying more heavily on gas in the 10 to 15 years before nuclear power could be introduced could increase Australian energy bills by $1,000 a year. So they want a price hike on energy bills. The Liberals and Nationals are confused over their own lines. The Liberals and Nationals can't even nail down their own position, let alone provide crucial details for Australians. The Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Simon Birmingham, spoke in favour of renewables, saying they'd become more cost competitive in their own right and are an important part of the mix. That's while we're hearing something directly opposite from those in the National Party. The coalition can't sort their act out. This is a political stunt.