Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate:

(a) notes that:

  (i) constructing nuclear power stations is hugely expensive, costing billions of dollars, and often far exceeding the original estimate,

  (ii) estimates indicate a typical nuclear reactor uses millions of litres of water per day,

  (iii) nuclear power is up to three times the cost of renewable energy sources backed by storage,

  (iv) the Fukushima disaster in 2011 resulted in the evacuation of 160,000 people and, some two years later, 81,000 evacuees remained displaced over concerns of radiological effects,

  (v) the Chernobyl disaster contaminated a radius of 30 km from the reactor explosion, resulting in the forced resettlement of hundreds of thousands of people, and

  (vi) Australian law prohibits the development of nuclear power; and

(b) reaffirms its support for section 140A (No approval for certain nuclear installations) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have a moratorium on nuclear power generation in Australia and the government has no plans to change that. Any decision to remove the current prohibition on nuclear power generation would require both bipartisan agreement and widespread community support.

Question agreed to.