Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Sterle. As you know, if you're serious about bringing down power bills, the best option to do so is renewables backed up by gas and batteries. That's what the independent Energy Market Operator says. We want energy to be cheaper, and that's why we're investing in renewables. In contrast, Mr Dutton and the coalition are telling Australians you can trust them to build nuclear reactors. The people who gave us 20-odd energy policies—you can trust them to get it right this time! All they need is a lazy $600 billion of taxpayers' money. 'Trust us,' they say. This is the mob that blew out the cost of Inland Rail by 600 per cent—but, don't worry, you can trust them with $600 billion for nuclear reactors! The same crew who did Snowy 2.0 and blew out the cost there, and who spent $600 million on commuter car parks in places that didn't even have a train station, now want to build nuclear reactors, but they still can't be honest about what they will cut to pay for it. You will be worse off under Mr Dutton.