In early analyses of the historic Labor election victory, commentators have tut-tutted over the Coalition’s policies that didn’t impress voters – like reduced tax on petrol, like poor housing plans, and certain Trump-like aspects. These were the things, and the “cost-of living” issues that brought down the vote for the Coalition. And a number of interviews with voters did show that these issues were important.
BUT, in the media build-up to the election, those issues were hammered, and it seemed to me, that Peter Dutton’s party was happy with that, and especially to stay OFF the topic of nuclear power.
But nuclear power was the core policy in the Opposition’s campaign. Its quiet partner policy was the drastic slowing down of solar power, and renewable energy in general. Along with this went a downgrading of climate change – Dutton coming close to climate-change denial – “I’m not a scientist” was his answer to questions about the impacts of global heating. The inevitable delay in nuclear power becoming operational would be a gift for the fossil fuel industries.
And it was a pretty amazing policy to bring in nuclear power across a very special country! Australia is the only country in the world that is a nation-continent with one federal government, and one predominant language. There is no doubt that, had the Coalition won this election, it would have been a grand coup for the global nuclear lobby.
The Labor government is also beholden to the nuclear lobby. Anthony Albanese, as Opposition leader in 2021, agreed to the then Liberal government’s AUKUS nuclear submarine deal. In 2024, his Labor government cemented its agreement by signing an updated version of the AUKUS Exchange of Naval Nuclear Propulsion Information Agreement (ENNPIA).
So no wonder that both of Australia’s major parties are playing down the significance of the nuclear issue, now that across the nation voters have rejected nuclear power. And the obedient mainstream media is playing it down, too.
Australia’s unique advantage is that it is the only nuclear-power-free nation-continent, and is also a world leader in renewable energy.
Even in 2023, 33% of Australian households had rooftop solar panels, generating their own electricity. Australia is a world leader in rooftop solar adoption, with solar panels installed on more homes per capita than any other country. This trend continues to increase, with Australians making huge savings on energy costs.
To be fair to the Albanese Labor government, it has done well on promoting renewable energy. It has not done so well on climate change action:
“The Australian government is continuing its long-standing support for fossil fuels both at home and abroad.”
Despite its two major political parties being wedded to the fossil fuel industries, and both of them sycophantic to American militarism and the nuclear lobby, Australia really does have the opportunity to lead the world in the direction of clean safe nuclear-free energy.
The AUKUS agreement, the nuclear submarine deal, is looking a bit wobbly at this moment – with the Trumpian uncertainty clouding Australia’s relationship with the USA.
All in all, it is a positive outlook for Australia and its leading role in clean energy. But don’t expect the corporate media, or the timid ABC, to genuinely emphasise the importance of this election victory over the global nuclear lobby.
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No surprise that Dutton suffered a catastrophic loss at the federal election! What intelligent, foresightful, compassionate and egalitarian Australian would EVER consider voting for a mean-spirited, racist, dangerously undemocratic, callously inhumane and nuclear-supporting political psychopath like Dutton and the rusted-on misogynists and self-serving sociopaths in the LNP?
IMO Dutton’s nuclear policy did not stack up, did not pass the pub test from day one. Everything about it was suspect.
Dutton released a nuclear policy bereft of any form of detail and just too many unanswered or unexplained questions.
1. Dutton made the big announcement and sometime later he actually announced his 7 sites, also promising community consultation and engagement. To date there has been zero consultation or engagement with anybody, and complete avoidance during the election campaign with not a single site visited.
2. Dutton brings out a 17yo kid as his “resident nuclear expert”, who offered little other than complete generalisations and very little actual detail on anything.
3. We are still waiting for anything on where the water is coming from. There is no significant water supply in the vicinity of any of the 7 sites, and what is there is nowhere near enough for nuclear.
4. When he finally released his costings all we saw was the usual Lieberal number fudging, in this case many times worse when he actually stood there with a straight face and claimed nuclear would come in cheaper than renewables. He made claims so outlandish that we were supposed to just “trust him” and believe everything he said. This was despite mountains and mountains of evidence from both previous and current nuclear builds completely debunking everything he claimed.
5. There was a lot of talk about SMRs (small modular reactors), something that is not even commercially viable at this point, and likely won’t be for quite some time.
6. Absolutely nothing was said about how the “lights would stay on” in the interim 20-30 years before the reactors could even be built. Most of the coal fired generators, including some of the gas generators will be “end of life” before the reactors are built. They would also be economically unviable to upgrade which again would take a very long time to complete. Even replacing them with “new builds” would never happen in time because they did nothing during their 9 years in power.
The simple fact is there is just no cohesive plan, nothing that even makes sense, just a mish mash of thought bubbles that would have us all in the dark in the very near future.
Excellent article and a victory worth celebrating! The world must reject dangerous and costly nuclear options and instead embrace clean, renewable energy solutions that protect people and planet. With Australia’s dollar sovereignty, there is no financial barrier—only political will stands in the way of fully funding the rapid transition to a safe, nuclear-free future. Let’s demand leadership that prioritises public good over corporate profits.