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

This is so funny. After they've had most of the week, when they haven't dared to defend their nuclear policy, we now have the last question, from Senator McGrath, about why we're not going down the nuclear path. Put very simply, Senator McGrath: we don't think $600 billion-plus paid by taxpayers for the most expensive power you can buy, delivered in 20 years, with no plan to do anything about supply until then, is a good deal. Funny about that, isn't it? We don't think that that kind of political strategy that the wheels are already falling off of is a good deal for Australians. That's why we are not going down the nuclear path.

It is quite extraordinary, isn't it colleagues—the extent to which Mr Dutton's antirenewables obsession can lead them into this cul-de-sac, can lead them into this dead end of a policy that they know is a joke. That's why the best they can do when they are asked how much it will cost is say, 'It's a big bill.' That's it! It is extraordinary. Here we are needing to transition the Australian economy and 24 out of 28 coal-fired power stations are announcing their closure on the news and the most they can do is come up with a policy that is going to deliver a 'big bill', two decades of diminishing supply and the most expensive power there is. You couldn't make this stuff up, could you? (Time expired)