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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has outlined the Coalition’s long-awaited nuclear energy costings, and not without controversy.
The Coalition’s modelling – provided by Frontier Economics – suggests its nuclear plan would cost $331bn over 25 years, which Dutton claimed is $263bn – or 44% – less than Labor’s renewables transition plan to deliver Australia to net zero emissions by 2050. As part of the Coalition’s proposal, wind and solar would account for 49% of the energy grid, and nuclear 38%, by 2050. Coal and gas-fired power plants would also stay open for longer.
Despite Dutton’s beliefs that bipartisan nuclear support is possible, the energy minister, Chris Bowen, highlighted “three fatal errors” with the plan including a rejection of modelling and research from experts including Aemo. Earlier in the week, a CSIRO report found nuclear energy would cost twice as much as an energy grid dominated by renewables with firming support.
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In pictures
Gorge-ous: the world’s grandest canyons
As the governor of Oregon, Tina Kotek, petitions to have the state’s Owyhee Canyonlands made a protected natural monument, we take a look at canyons across the globe.
What they said …
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“The biggest hoax since Milli Vanilli.”
If you’re struggling to get your head around the politics and science behind Labor’s response to the Coalition’s nuclear plan, the education minister, Jason Clare laid it out in some admittedly dated pop culture terms.
In numbers
According to a report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the rate of First Nations young people aged between 10 and 17 in detention increased between June 2020 and June 2024. Indigenous children were 27 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be in detention.
Before bed read
Taxi, surge pricing or tow truck: the rundown on how Australians can get home this party season
Christmas revellers will face inflated taxi and rideshare fares – but The Guardian’s Elias Visontay shares some alternatives.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: SCAR. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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