Labor has criticised the Coalition’s nuclear energy plan

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Coalition has released the long-awaited costings for its nuclear power proposal which assumes a smaller energy system and higher emissions. Opposition leader Peter Dutton claims it will make electricity cheaper, but energy experts have questioned key assumptions made in the modelling.

Transcript

00:00Twas a Friday, 12 days before Christmas.

00:08When 1100 kilometres from Canberra, the Coalition's long-awaited nuclear costings were revealed.

00:15This will make electricity reliable, it'll make it more consistent, it'll make it cheaper.

00:20The cost difference is $263 billion through to 2050.

00:26This is how it has been modelled, with two pathways, lower emissions and higher emissions,

00:32both with and without nuclear in the mix.

00:35It takes Labor's renewable policy from a low-emissions scenario and uses that figure of $594 billion,

00:44then compares it with its nuclear plan of $331 billion from a high-emissions pathway,

00:51a proposal which relies on a smaller energy system that emits more carbon emissions.

00:57To compare on the basis of two different scenarios of what the world is going to look like,

01:01it's not a logical, sensible comparison.

01:06Earlier this week, the CSIRO's annual assessment of future energy again found that nuclear

01:11would be twice as expensive as renewables.

01:14Peter Dutton wants you to believe that he can introduce the most expensive form of energy

01:20and somehow that will reduce power prices.

01:23Derided by Labor, dismissed by the Greens.

01:26Peter Dutton's nuclear delusion is a dangerous con job.

01:31The life of coal-fired power plants would continue beyond 2034.

01:36Under the Coalition's model, renewable energy would still be the majority source in the energy grid.

01:43The proposal to build seven nuclear power plants around the nation would make up 38 per cent.

01:49Other sources, like gas and storage, making up the rest.

01:53Labor's renewable energy transition assumes a massive take-up of electric vehicles by 2050.

02:00Labor is assuming that 98 per cent of all new vehicle sales will be EVs.

02:08They are basically assuming that the Australian people will be forced to behave in the way

02:15that the Labor Party want them to behave.

02:17While the Coalition insists this policy will pave the way to net zero by 2050, there's

02:23no mention of medium-term climate goals.

02:26Peter Dutton has previously signalled he would scrap the government's 2030 emissions reduction target.

02:33Under this plan, emissions would be higher over the next decade.

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