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The Guardian - AU
National
Jordyn Beazley and Mostafa Rachwani and Amy Remeikis (earlier)

Littleproud contradicts deputy on nuclear vetoes from community – as it happened

Peter Dutton China Australia Li Qiang Coalition Cheng Lei

What we learned – Wednesday 19 June

That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. Here is a recap of the main news:

Updated

Woman shot dead and police searching for man in Mackay

We’ve now got more information on the situation unfolding in Mackay.

A woman has been fatally shot and officers are searching for a man allegedly involved in the shooting incident, police say.

Police were called to Robb Place in Mackay shortly after 4.30pm to respond to reports a woman had been shot. Upon arrival, police found a deceased woman and a man with non-life threatening injuries to his hand.

An emergency situation was declared in the area about 5.20pm.

Members of the public have been told to avoid the area – which encompasses Robb Place, Paradise Street, Archibald Street, Kindermar Street and Denton Street – and residents have been advised to stay indoors.

The police operation is continuing while they search for a man allegedly involved in the shooting incident:

Police wish to thank affected residents for their patience and understanding while this matter is ongoing.

Updated

Emergency incident unfolding in Mackay as residents told to stay indoors

Queensland police have declared an emergency in relation to an incident unfolding in Mackay.

The force haven’t yet released information on the cause for the emergency, but here’s the information they’ve released so far:

Emergency services were called just after 4.30pm to the Robb Place address.

An emergency situation was declared at approximately 5.20pm, with boundaries encompassing Robb Place, Paradise Street, Archibald Street, Kindermar Street and Denton Street.

Members of the public are advised to avoid the area and those within the exclusion zone are asked to remain indoors until further notice.

Traffic diversions are in place.

Updated

Police shoot a man allegedly wielding a knife in Queensland home

Police have shot a man allegedly wielding a knife in a Queensland home.

The 46-year-old man was taken to hospital in a critical condition after being shot in the stomach in the home north of Brisbane this morning.

Officers arrived at the home about 10.30am in relation to a warrant before the man allegedly threatened them with a knife, police said.

Det Insp Joe Zitny told reporters:

As a result of them attending that address, an altercation took place between a male occupant and the police.

This resulted in a police firearm being... discharged and a 46-year-old male has sustained an injury.

The man was taken to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital with “life-threatening abdominal injuries”, he said.

The man remains under police guard at the hospital.

Police said two other people and a baby were located at the scene but were not injured.

Updated

Bruce Lehrmann knew Brittany Higgins did not consent to sex, Lisa Wilkinson’s lawyers tell court

Bruce Lehrmann was not “indifferent” to Brittany Higgins consenting to sexual intercourse, but instead knew she was not consenting, Lisa Wilkinson’s lawyers have told the federal court in fresh arguments ahead of the former Liberal staffer’s defamation case appeal.

In April Justice Michael Lee found the former Liberal staffer was not defamed by Wilkinson and Ten when The Project broadcast an interview with Higgins on Monday 15 February 2021 in which she alleged she was raped in Parliament House.

Earlier this month Lehrmann filed an appeal claiming that he was denied procedural fairness by the judge who rejected his defamation case against Network Ten and Wilkinson.

In new arguments filed on Wednesday, Wilkinson’s lawyers said Lee was correct when he found Higgins was so heavily intoxicated and passive she was “like a log”.

More on this story here:

'I won't be negotiating': Victorian premier vows to stop Dutton's nuclear plan

Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, has told Peter Dutton that if the Coalition wins the next election she will do everything in her power to stop the party’s nuclear energy plan.

In a letter to the opposition leader, Allan wrote:

You say you will negotiate with the states. I won’t be negotiating.

I won’t allow a lurch backwards to nuclear power that sends bills skyrocketing, nor will I allow the Latrobe Valley to become your dumping ground.

Updated

‘She’s not correct’: Littleproud contradicts deputy on nuclear vetos from community

The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has contradicted his deputy’s claim that any unhappy communities earmarked for nuclear reactors under the Coalition’s energy policy would be able to veto their selection.

Littleproud told the ABC on Wednesday afternoon that his deputy, Senator Perin Davey, was wrong to suggest a future Coalition government would not proceed with planned reactors at sites where the locals objected.

“No, she’s not correct,” Littleproud said.

He said there would be consultation but no negotiation because “Peter Dutton and David Littleproud, as part of a coalition government” were “prepared to make the tough decision in the national interest”.

He continued:

We’re going to consult and we’re going to give plenty of time and that’s why we announced it today - to have two-and-a-half years to work through this, and in fact a little bit more than that, to be able to work through this with these communities, to make sure that we can ease the burden and design local solutions about not just the infrastructure but the opportunities that flow from it, not just from jobs but attracting industry.

But ultimately we need strong leadership in this country, to have the courage of its convictions, to follow through and to make the tough calls in the national interest.

Earlier on Wednesday, Davey told Sky News that the proposed reactors would only go ahead where communities were not agreeable.

“If the community is absolutely adamant, we will not proceed,” she said.

The seven sites named are the locations of current coal-fired power stations: Liddell and Mount Piper in New South Wales; Loy Yang in Victoria; Callide and Torang in Queensland; Collie in Western Australia; and Port Augusta in South Australia.

Updated

Tucker Carlson kicks off Australian tour with press conference at Clive Palmer's mansion

Tucker Carlson has kicked off a speaking tour of Australia with a press conference at Clive Palmer’s gigantic Brisbane mansion home in which the former Fox News host urged one journalist to hop the border at “Tijuana” to vote Republican, called another reporter a liar, and finished by imitating smelling a koala.

He also compared Australia’s vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany and said he would make a “big effort to vote for” Donald Trump in November because his fraud convictions were part of a conspiracy to “take out” the former president.

Palmer’s company Mineralogy is bankrolling the 10-day “Australian freedom conference” speaking tour.

Their first event kicks off in Cairns this week, before they head to Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. They’ll also be joined by Queensland GP Melissa McCann, who launched a lawsuit over Covid-19 vaccines and former Republican political adviser Dinesh D’Souza, who was incarcerated for making illegal campaign donations before being pardoned by Donald Trump.

Carlson was asked about a 1999 comment that Trump was “most repulsive person on the planet” by a reporter from channel nine. He had earlier asked about a private texts by Carlson criticising the president which were released in a lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems.

“Is your point and of course these are not questions and I’ve been around and in your profession my whole life – I think I’m older than you,” he said.

He then made the reporter tell him his age before continuing:

I understand what you’re trying to say, which is that I actually secretly hate Trump but I’m pretending to like him for the money or something … but you don’t have the balls to actually say it. I get how this works.

I’ll tell you exactly how I do feel, which is frustrated with Trump at times over the wall, affectionate for Trump, personally, always have been.

But more than anything grateful for what Trump has done which is to reveal whose lying – you, but many other people other than just you, it shows sort of like who’s on the side of entrenched power – in you and many like you – and who isn’t.

Carlson later demanded the same journalist tell whether he had spoken out when governments “put people in camps” during the pandemic.

He said another Australian journalist should enrol to vote illegally in the US to cast a ballot for the Republicans:

I’m voting against what they’re doing to my system. And I would urge all people to do the same – including you by the way. You could sneak over our border from Tijuana right now … and vote against this garbage.

He later told the press conference he “sniffed a Koala this morning”.

“I didn’t just touch it and run my hands through its luxurious fur but I went like that and inhaled its musky odour,” he said, while imitating holding the marsupial to his face.

“That was a lifelong dream for me.

“It’s not a big deal to you guys; you’ve sniffled a million koalas, but I never have.”

Updated

Nuclear plan would make power more expensive: SA premier

The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, says nuclear power is safe and has “an important role to play in the global energy mix as we pursue a decarbonised future”. But, he says, the question is whether it’s economical:

And what we know is that from report after report is that in the Australian context, it will make power more expensive. So why on Earth would we pursue it?

Malinauskas says it’s also “normal” to announce the cost of policies, which the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, failed to do:

That means one of two things. Either Peter Dutton knows how much it’s going to cost and he’s refusing to tell people. Or, he’s making a massive policy commitment without knowing how much it’s going to cost. Either way, it’s an extraordinary position.

Updated

Dutton’s nuclear plan makes ‘absolutely no sense’: WA energy minister

Western Australia’s energy, environment and climate action minister, Reece Whitby, says opposition leader Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan makes “absolutely no sense to Australia, and particularly to WA”. It would lead to “massive, massive increases in power bills”, he said.

Whitby said building a nuclear power industry would be hugely expensive and take a long time, and that WA had plentiful renewable resources in the meantime. He said:

In Australia you have no legislative or regulatory landscape or infrastructure for nuclear, you have no workforce. It’s going to take a long, long time – I think at least 20 years or more – and we don’t have time to waste. This is the worst possible case you can imagine. Peter Dutton, I think, is lacking courage … he must know this is a crazy plan. He must know that it won’t work.

Nuclear energy was a “unicorn that will never arrive” and a way for coal supporters to keep the coal industry going, Whitby said.

Updated

Pawnbrokers heightening hardship, study finds

Pawnbrokers are increasing the hardship of highly vulnerable consumers and are poorly regulated by governments, according to new research by Melbourne Law School.

Lead researcher and post-doctoral fellow Dr Lucie O’Brien said they found pawn lenders can charge extremely high interest rates – sometimes the interest on a short term loan can be equivalent to 420% a year:

We surveyed 1,472 consumers, including 582 who had used pawn loans, along with others who had used payday loans and Buy Now Pay Later products.

We found that pawn loan users were the most vulnerable group – the most likely to earn less than $25,000 a year, the least likely to own their own homes or hold credit cards, and the most likely to rely on social security.

Consumers who can’t repay their loans often lose their belongings for good, having borrowed only a fraction of their market value.

For many of those surveyed by Melbourne Law School, pawn loans made their financial problems worse, she said.

Some had to borrow from friends or family. Some said they had gone without or cut back on essentials. Others had been forced to sell a personal possession as a direct result of taking out a pawn loan.

Updated

Victoria premier shuts down nuclear in question time

The premier, Jacinta Allan, is the final member of the government to speak in question time – and you guessed it – she has reiterated her opposition to the federal opposition’s nuclear energy plan for Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, in the centre of the state’s Gippsland region. She says:

Gippsland is one of the most beautiful regions across our state. Not only that, it also produces some of the finest produce that you’ll find anywhere around the world – good milk, cheese, award-winning wine, some of the best beef and lamb you will find. But this morning, speaker, we’ve heard that there’s something else that is potentially going to be added to the list of things that are produced in Gippsland, and that is nuclear waste … There are some that want to dump not only toxic and risky nuclear sites into Gippsland, speaker, they also want to see the results that will affect households and businesses across the state, with prices skyrocketing.

She said as long as Labor were in government they would oppose nuclear energy – and criticised the state opposition for not doing the same:

We will stand up for the Gippsland community and say no to the federal Liberal National party’s plan to bring toxic, risky, expensive nuclear power to Gippsland … But there are some who are refusing to rule out building a nuclear plant in our state. There are some who we know have a secret plan … to join arm in arm with their federal Liberal National colleagues to support this nuclear plan but we will stand with Gippsland.

Updated

Coalition’s nuclear policy a ‘distraction’: mining union

The Mining and Energy Union, which is more open to nuclear energy than other unions, has said it is disappointed the Coalition announced its nuclear policy without consulting coal power regions.

In a statement on Wednesday, the union’s general secretary, Grahame Kelly, said the Coalition’s plan was a “distraction”.

“We need to be acting to deliver an orderly transition that focuses on jobs, economic activity in affected regions and positive social outcomes for affected workers while we still have the chance. We are also disappointed the Coalition has announced this policy with no consultation with these coal power regions about whether they want a nuclear future.”

Kelly pointed out the “clock is ticking” on several coal power stations the Coalition is proposing to convert to nuclear power stations will close in the next five years – such as the Collie power station in Western Australia in 2027 or Callide power station in Central Queensland in 2028 – years before the opposition says the first nuclear power plant will come online.

“Power stations in the proposed sites for nuclear would be long closed before the plants would become operational, and if no support is provided, those workers and communities will have already packed up their lives and moved on.”

Updated

Clean energy group labels Dutton a ‘vandal’

The Smart Energy Council says the Coalition’s nuclear plan threatens the renewables rollout and investment in Australia, calling the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, a “vandal” for the policy.

The group, which advocates for clean energy programs and companies, said the nuclear plan now injected uncertainty into the Australian market, at a time when renewables projects are searching for investors to back them. Smart Energy Council CEO, John Grimes, warned Australians may have to pay more for their energy, and that nuclear power would not be cheaper.

Grimes told a press conference today:

Peter Dutton is a climate investor vandal. These announcements today already have a material impact on Australia’s rateability as a destination for investment in the transition. Australians today will start paying more because of this vandalism, and this absolute nuclear fantasy.

Grimes pointed to the recent CSIRO GenCost report which stated nuclear power was more expensive than renewables – contradicting Dutton’s claims today that nuclear power would be cheaper.

Grimes also pointed out that some of the sites pencilled in by Dutton for a nuclear plant have already outlined their own plans to house renewables projects like solar manufacturing – and that the nuclear plan created uncertainty for those plans.

Grimes said:

The power companies know that the game is up for coal, coal is done and dusted … that’s why those plants have put in large energy storage facilities, big batteries, because we’ve got permanent solar and wind across the network.

The sovereign risk in this announcement today is staggering. The lack of engagement with the market and with competition is unbelievable, coming from the leader of the conservative side of politics. The damage done to jobs, but more importantly, the increased power bills that ordinary Australians will pay. This is unacceptable and has to be ruled out.

Updated

Nuclear ‘not part of our plan’: QLD opposition leader

The Queensland opposition leader, David Crisafulli, has told cameras nuclear is “not part of our plan” 10 times in a Townsville press conference.

Federal Liberal leader – and fellow Queenslander – Peter Dutton announced plans for two nuclear plants in the state.

Crisafulli said he hadn’t had any recent conversations with his commonwealth counterpart about the policy “but Peter knows my position on it … it’s not part of our plan”.

He said:

I want Queenslanders to know we’ve been consistent throughout this, it’s not part of our plan; Queenslanders need to know that we’re focused on the issues they’re talking to us about.

I understand that’ll be a debate in Canberra, that’s where it should be.

Queensland has state legislation banning nuclear power generation and connection. Yesterday, Crisafulli ruled out repealing the legislation even if presented a nuclear project that stacked up.

He said the state party had its own plan mapped out for energy, with the first priority being to reopen the Callide coal fired power station that blew up in 2021.

Dutton announced that one of the seven nuclear plants he plans to build by 2035 would be constructed at Callide.

Updated

Guardian Essential poll shows clear generational divide on Gaza war

Given the Coalition’s nuclear policy announcement was imminent, the focus of the Guardian Essential poll report yesterday was justifiably on Australians’ views on climate and energy policy.

But readers might find it of interest to dig deeper into the Gaza-related results.

The 1,181 respondents were asked about their view on Israel’s military action in Gaza. Just 15% of those surveyed said Israel was “justified” in continuing the military action, down four points since the same question was asked in April.

Some 21% supported a temporary ceasefire (up two points since April), and 38% said Israel should permanently withdraw its military action in Gaza (up six points since April). The rest were unsure.

As seen in polling in other western countries such as the US, there is a clear generational divide when it comes to views on the Israel-Gaza war. The Guardian Essential poll results suggest Australians aged over 55 are twice as likely as those aged 18 to 54 to believe that Israel is justified in continuing its military action in Gaza.

By political affiliation, 11% of Labor voters felt that Israel was justified in continuing its military operation in Gaza, compared with 25% of Coalition voters holding that view and just 6% of Greens voters.

Essential also asked a new, specific question about the Australian government’s response to the Israel-Gaza war and which of three options was closest to their view.

A majority of all respondents (53%) said they were “satisfied” with the Australian government’s response. Of the remainder, 32% said “the government’s response has been too supportive of Israel” while 16% said “the government’s response has been too harsh on Israel”.

Once more, let’s break that down by party affiliation: 62% of Labor voters were satisfied with the Labor government’s response to the conflict, 29% said it was too supportive of Israel and 9% said too harsh on Israel.

Interestingly, 55% of Coalition voters were satisfied with the Labor government’s response, while 24% thought it was too harsh on Israel, and 21% too supportive of Israel. Supporters of the Greens – a party that has been campaigning heavily against the government’s stance – were predominately dissatisfied with the government’s response. A full 48% of Greens voters thought the government had been too supportive of Israel, although 41% said they were satisfied with the government’s response (and 11% thought the government was too harsh on Israel).

(The percentages may not necessarily add up due to rounding.)

Updated

Hello, I’ll be with you until this evening.

Updated

And with that, I leave the blog with Jordyn Beazley. Thanks for reading.

Bird flu detected at NSW egg farm

The NSW government has confirmed that bird flu has been detected at a Hawkesbury egg farm.

The government has enacted its emergency biosecurity incident plan to address the detection confirmed as the High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI).

The plan includes an individual biosecurity direction to the farm and business and closing it off. A formal control order will be declared this afternoon that will extend biosecurity control to a radius of 1km to 2km around the farm site.

The HPAI detected is the H7N8 type and is not the same strain as the current Victorian outbreak. It is understood at this point to be a separate spill-over event, potentially from wild birds.

Under the individual direction the affected egg farm has implemented quarantine to prevent the movement of equipment, and animals, to stop further spread.

The government said the detection won’t affect consumers.

Updated

Question time begins in Victorian parliament

Question time has kicked off in Victoria – we’re expecting the government to go hard on the opposition, over its federal counterparts plans for nuclear energy.

First question is to the premier, Jacinta Allan, from the opposition’s education spokesperson, Jess Wilson:

Former Labor premier John Cain passed the Builders Labourers Federation Derecognition Act in 1985. John Cain was willing to take on this militant and thuggish union, the precursor to today’s CFMEU. When will the premier introduce similar laws to rein in the militant CFMEU?

Allan quips back:

We on this side of the house are very proud of the legacy of the Cain government … the minister for energy reminds me of course, that it was the Cain government that introduced the prohibition on nuclear.

Updated

Victoria’s $1.2bn tutoring program ‘did not significantly improve’ learning

The Victorian government’s $1.2bn school tutoring program, which started during the pandemic to help students at risk of falling behind to catch up, did not significantly improve the outcomes for those involved, according to the state’s auditor general.

The auditor general report on the Tutor Learning Initiative, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, found despite the significant investment, the program “did not significantly improve students’ learning compared to similar non-tutored students”.

The auditor general came to this conclusion after comparing 2022 and 2023 maths and reading test scores of students between grades 3 and 10 who received tutoring and those who didn’t. The report said:

“When we compared similar students from each group, we found that students who received tutoring learnt less than those who did not receive tutoring. Among disadvantaged students, there was no difference in learning gains between tutored and non-tutored students. There was also no significant difference in learning gains between tutored students in metropolitan, regional or rural Victoria.

The report also found the program was “not well targeted and not well enough connected to students’ classroom learning and their particular learning needs” and despite the department of education having the information it needs to improve delivery of the initiative, it has failed to do so.

It made three recommendations to the department, which have all been accepted in full or in principle.

The opposition spokesperson for education, Jess Wilson, said the program was “another example of an education investment failing to deliver greater learning outcomes”. She said:

“The minister for education must explain the incompetent management of this program and why a $1.2bn investment in student learning has resulted in no meaningful improvements at a time that learning outcomes are already at record lows.

Labor cannot manage money, cannot manage our education system and Victorian students are paying the price.

Updated

Dutton has ‘put the economy and our environment under threat’: NSW energy minister

The NSW minister for climate change and energy, Penny Sharpe, has criticised the Coalition’s nuclear policy, saying it puts the “economy and our environment under threat”.

Sharpe reiterated the NSW premier’s comments, where he said the policy would be too expensive and would take too long to build:


NSW has benefited from bipartisanship on the transition of our energy system. Peter Dutton has today shredded this and put the economy and our environment under threat.

We don’t need nuclear reactors in NSW. We have a strong renewables sector, some of the best solar and wind resources in the world and a roadmap to cheaper and affordable energy that’s well under way.

The reality is that nuclear reactors are horrendously expensive to build, take too long to construct and are too costly to run. NSW energy consumers can’t afford that.

Mr Dutton is putting at risk the $32bn of investment that is flowing into NSW to build low-cost renewable energy and provide economic benefits and jobs to regional communities.

Updated

Coalition’s nuclear policy a ‘fantasy’ and ‘dead cat strategy’: Bandt

The Australian Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has criticised the Coalition for their nuclear power policy, saying its “not going to happen”.

Bandt called the policy a “fantasy” and added that it was a “dead cat strategy” that is a “dangerous distraction”:

The battle lines for the next election are clear. Liberals are for nuclear, Labor is for more coal and gas and the Greens are for clean renewables.

Peter Dutton can talk about nuclear power as much as he wants, but it’s not going to happen.

If I wanted to tune in to a fantasy I’d watch The Lord of the Rings.

Peter Dutton can’t win government and he can’t repeal the nuclear ban in the Senate. It’s a ‘dead cat’ strategy, a dangerous distraction from Liberal and Labor’s push to open up more coal and gas.

Liberal and Labor can have a fake debate about building nuclear power stations in 30 years, but if they both keep opening more coal and gas mines in the meantime, the climate crisis will get worse and people will suffer.

Updated

More than 1m chickens and ducks to die in Victoria amid bird flu outbreak

Over 1m chickens and ducks will die in an effort to minimise the ultimate destruction caused by bird flu outbreaks on seven properties in Victoria, AAP reports.

The highly pathogenic H7N3 strain of bird flu was found at a seventh Victorian farm – already in quarantine – in the Golden Plains shire in the state’s central-west, Agriculture Victoria revealed this week.

All poultry at the farm would be humanely disposed of under veterinary supervision and movement controls were still in place near Terang, Meredith and Lethbridge, the authority said.

“We’re continuing to work with affected producers and the poultry industry to respond to these detections through ongoing testing and careful biosecurity practices,” Victoria’s chief veterinary officer, Graeme Cooke, said.

“Movement restrictions are expected to be in place for several weeks, and we’re working with industry to support poultry farmers with the logistical challenges they’re facing.”

Most of the properties affected have chickens but a duck farm in Golden Plains shire that produces eggs and meat, and was already in quarantine, was confirmed to have the virus on 13 June.

Agriculture Victoria continues to assure consumers not be concerned about eggs and duck meat products as they are safe to consume.

Six of the infected properties near Meredith are confirmed to have the H7N3 strain of avian influenza and one infected property near Terang is has the H7N9 strain.

Neither is the H5N1 strain that has infected billions of wild and farmed animals globally, raising fears of human transmission.

Updated

Locals not keen for nuclear plant, says Victorian MP

The state MP who represents Morwell, one of the proposed Coalition nuclear sites, has said that he isn’r ruling out support for his federal colleagues but locals are not keen.

Nationals MP Martin Cameron was speaking outside Victorian parliament earlier, where he said he would engage the local community in discussions on the proposal, but added that “a lot of water to go under the bridge before we get there”.

I’ve spoken with power-supply people in the Latrobe Valley and their thoughts are that they’re not set up for nuclear power.

Updated

Queensland to increase cost relief on essential goods in remote areas

The cost of living is rising nationwide – but nobody is doing it harder than remote communities.

In Queensland communities in the Cape York, Torres Strait and Gulf regions the price of a two-litre bottle of milk can reach as high as $5.40.

Detergent is about 12% higher than in Cairns, the nearest big city.

That’s largely because of freight costs, given the long distances and lack of economies of scale.

The state government already pays about 5.2% of the cost of essential goods for remote communities.

Queensland premier Steven Miles announced on Wednesday that the subsidy would increase to 20% – one-fifth of the cost of milk, bread, fruit and vegetables and detergent. It doesn’t cover alcohol, tobacco, soft drinks, confectionery, hardware, clothing, fuel, furniture or whitegoods.

He said the cost of detergent would decline from about $3.46 to $2.77, and milk would decline to about $4.32.

Miles said Queensland had some of the most remote communities in the world, so government needed to do what it could to help out.

“These communities shouldn’t be disadvantaged just because of their location,” he said.

The scheme covers about 32 retailers across the north of the state. The discount is applied at checkout.

The discount will come into effect later this year.

Updated

NSW premier says ban won’t permit nuclear reactor

I just wanted to turn back to Chris Minns, who reiterated his objections to the Coalition’s nuclear plan at a press conference earlier today.

The NSW premier said he didn’t believe it was possible to build a nuclear reactor in the Hunter Valley under the current legislation:

We’ve got our ban in place.

If there’s a constitutional way for a hypothetical Dutton government to move through the state planning powers, I’m not aware of it, but that’s probably a question for him to answer.

Minns also flagged that a switch to nuclear energy would disrupt years of investment in renewable energy infrastructure:

We’ve got $30-odd billion of private capital invested in renewable energy, encouraged by both sides of state politics and both sides of federal politics over the past 10 years.

If all of a sudden you were to introduce nuclear power, that investment is at real risk, and I think that’s a sovereign risk for energy and particularly the narrow path we have to walk to revolutionise our energy sources in this state.

Updated

Frydenberg says attack on Labor MP’s office ‘despicable and dangerous’

Former Liberal MP Josh Frydenberg has sent support to Labor MP Josh Burns, whose office was targeted in a vandalism attack this morning.

“The attack on Josh Burns’ office was despicable and dangerous and one that requires more than words of condemnation,” Frydenberg, the former treasurer, said on X just now.

What we need is more action from our political leaders and law enforcement to protect the community. Our leaders must step up and wrest control back from the mob.

Frydenberg has largely refrained from commenting on public events since he lost his seat of Kooyong at the 2022 election, but has recently spoken out more strongly about antisemitism in Australia. He helmed a Sky News documentary on antisemitism last month.

Updated

Nationals MP decries references to The Simpsons in nuclear debate

Darren Chester has welcomed the Coalition’s nuclear power policy, saying he has always had an “open mind when it comes to public debate regarding nuclear energy.”

The Nationals MP says Australians want a “calm and rational conversation” on nuclear energy, before going on to decry Labor politicians referencing The Simpsons.

He also says Australians wants a “facts campaign”, ignoring the lack of detail in the Coalitions plans.

Chester says:

It’s time for a calm and rational conversation with the Australian people based on facts, technology and environmental science, not fear campaigns and political science.

The same people who recklessly blame each severe weather event on climate change and warn of more unreliable weather in the future, now want to sign our children up to a 100% weather-dependent energy system.

No doubt they will run a scare campaign when what Australians really want is a facts campaign.

Frankly, it is juvenile and demeaning to listen to some federal Labor MPs continually joking about the The Simpsons cartoon in parliamentary debates, as if it’s an intelligent reference point for a mature conversation on an issue of inter-generational significance.

Updated

With the initial flurry of the announcement past, I will hand you back to Mostafa’s brilliant hands. Mos will keep you updated on all the news over the next few hours.

Thanks for joining me through all of that – it is a lot to get through and we will be working to bring you as much information – and facts – about the policy, the gaps and what you’re not being told, very soon. See you back on the blog next week for the last parliament sitting ahead of the winter break, and until then – take care of you.

Updated

Minerals Council backs Coalition nuclear policy

The Minerals Council of Australia IS in favour of the Coalition’s policy, though.

Chief executive officer Tania Constable said it “provides a crucial pathway for Australia’s industries to reduce emissions cost-effectively while maintaining access to reliable baseload power”.

Building a diverse energy mix that meets both environmental and economic goals is essential for keeping vital industries competitive amidst significant cost pressures and ambitious emissions targets.

High future demand for reliable and clean energy means that all energy types, including nuclear power, will be indispensable in meeting Australia’s future energy needs.

A technology-neutral approach to energy solutions is necessary to tackle the substantial challenge of decarbonising the economy while maintaining its competitiveness and productivity.

Updated

What Pesutto did and didn’t say

Back to Victoria for a moment where John Pesutto’s presser has just wrapped up. In summary, the Victorian Liberal leader:

  • Won’t say if he’ll stand in the way in of Dutton’s plan if he is elected premier in 2026.

  • Won’t say if he’ll campaign against it at the federal election, which is due before May 2025.

  • Won’t say if he’ll lift the Victorian moratorium of nuclear energy.

But he says his state party has “no plans” for nuclear power and his position on the federal opposition’s plans “will be clearer” before 2026 state election.

Updated

Back to the nuclear announcement for a moment and the Smart Energy Council has been in touch with one of the site owners from the list identified by Peter Dutton as proposed nuclear power sits.

The Port Augusta site in South Australia was one of those identified, but the owners have told the Smart Energy Council that they have never had a call from someone in the Liberal party about making it a nuclear site. And they have no plans to sell, or house a nuclear reactor in any case, as they are building a critical-minerals green iron export facility, with plans to use green hydrogen.

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Rex Patrick says whistleblower protection laws ‘broken’

Rex Patrick, a former senator and founder of the Whistleblower Justice Fund, said the court’s decision on Richard Boyle’s case (see earlier post) showed “how broken the commonwealth’s whistleblower protection laws are” and called on the federal government to drop the charges.

He said:

We’ve got a situation where someone is being prosecuted under laws the Albanese government knows are broken.

This is having an awful effect on Richard Boyle and his family and it has a chilling effect on all whistleblowers, all potential whistleblowers around the country.

Patrick said Boyle had been courageous throughout but it was obviously taking a toll on him. “There’s no good that will come from this prosecution,” he said.

Patrick said the case was now set to go to the district court but Boyle could decide to challenge it in the high court before the trial, or after it.

Kieran Pender, a senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said:

The long-running prosecution of tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle has demonstrated significant issues and uncertainties in Australian whistleblower protection legislation.

Following this decision, it is now incumbent on the Albanese government to proceed with comprehensive law reform and the establishment of a whistleblower protection authority.

Whistleblowers make Australia a better place – they should be protected, not punished.

Updated

Whistleblower Richard Boyle loses appeal over protection

Richard Boyle’s appeal against a decision that denied him whistleblower protection has been dismissed.

South Australia’s supreme court dismissed the appeal this morning, leaving Boyle facing a potential trial.

Boyle revealed in 2017 that the Australian Taxation Office was aggressively pursuing debts, traumatising debtors in the process. He raised his concerns internally first but went to the media when that failed to yield results.

He is facing 24 charges over how he allegedly gathered evidence for his claims, including using a mobile phone to record conversations and take pictures of taxpayer information.

In 2023 he tried to use whistleblower laws (the Public Interest Disclosure Act) to protect himself but that attempt failed, leaving him facing a criminal trial and potential prison term if found guilty. He then appealed to the supreme court.

The judgement is yet to be published.

Boyle’s advocates have called on the federal government to drop the charges, and warned of a chilling effect on other would-be whistleblowers.

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Corruption body welcomes investigation over robodebt probe referrals

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nacc) has welcomed an inquiry by its watchdog, the Nacc inspector, to look into why the integrity body decided not to undertake a corruption investigation into the six individuals referred to it by the robodebt royal commission.

On Wednesday, the Nacc released its usual weekly update on referrals, assessments and investigations, acknowledging the inspector’s decision last week:

The commission welcomes the inspector’s inquiries into its reasons for deciding not to conduct an investigation into the issues referred to it by the Robodebt royal commission. The commission’s decision is available on its website. The commission will cooperate with the inspector. Beyond that, it is inappropriate to comment while the inspector is making her inquiries.

The Nacc inspector, Gail Furness, said last Thursday she had received about 900 complaints about the Nacc’s decision “not to commence a corruption investigation into the referrals”.

“Many of those complaints allege corrupt conduct or maladministration by the Nacc in making that decision,” Furness said in a statement.

I also note there has been much public commentary. Accordingly, I have decided to inquire into that decision. I anticipate I will make my findings public in due course.

The Nacc had announced in early June it was “unlikely it would obtain significant new evidence” about the six referred individuals and had concluded it was “undesirable for a number of reasons to conduct multiple investigations into the same matter”.

The conduct of the six unnamed public officials had been “fully explored” by the royal commission and “extensively discussed in its final report” in July, the Nacc said.

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Andrew Bragg, the shadow assistant minister for home ownership and a leading Liberal moderate, has backed the party’s new nuclear policy.

Bragg told Guardian Australia:

It’s thoroughly unscientific to be against one form of technology used in other jurisdictions and that we send around the world in the form of uranium exports. It’s a bizarre prohibition – we have nuclear ships, nuclear medicine and uranium exports. The only people with a problem about this are Labor, teals [independents] and their donors.

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John Pesutto was asked if he’s being a fence-sitter on this issue. He replies:

Now I’ve made our priorities very clear as the alternative government of Victoria and as the alternative premier. We’re facing gas shortages. We’re facing energy shortages in this state. And that’s because of the complete ham-fisted, incompetent approach by the Allan government, and I think experts now widely acknowledged that the government has got it so wrong, not just on existing energy supply, but renewables themselves.

The Hastings fiasco is a classic example. So as an opposition, campaigning to become the next government, we’ve made clear decisions on what are our priorities. We’ve made it also very clear, because we have no plans for nuclear, a future federal government may well initiate that discussion and we’re seeing that unfold …

But there is a national moratorium in place so nothing can happen before that is broached.

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Peter Walsh is being asked about his comments to parliament in May last year, when he said he “had reservations around the safety of nuclear and that the facts show that nuclear is more expensive than all other forms of energy”. He responds:

Affordability is a contested issue. That’s part of a national discussion.

Asked if safety is still a concern of his, Walsh says:

I am really worried about the safety of our roads … I’m worried about the safety of people from crime in Victoria.

Three weeks ago, Walsh said he was “technology agnostic” when it came to nuclear. Asked about this, he answers:

Well, let’s have the discussion. Let’s hear what comes out. Let’s hear what the people of Victoria have to say. Let’s hear what the people of the La Trobe Valley have to say about this because they are the ones that will be personally impacted by this announcement this morning.

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Victorian Liberal leader says ‘no plans for nuclear’

Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto is speaking to reporters outside parliament following the announcement by his federal colleagues of plans for a nuclear reactor in the La Trobe Valley.

Pesutto says:

We have no plans for nuclear as a state opposition. It may well be that a future federal government initiates a national discussion on nuclear power noting that there is a moratorium currently in place nationally. Our focus as a state opposition and as the alternative government is on addressing the current shortfalls in energy, particularly with gas shortfalls.

The Nationals leader, Peter Walsh, reiterates this:

You wouldn’t be surprised that our [the Nationals] view is exactly the same as John … the Victorian Nationals haven’t been [campaigning for nuclear], we are very much of the view that we want to make sure that we guarantee price of power, the affordability of power, the availability of power in the short to medium term, which is why we’ve been talking about the need for more gas into the system.

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Josh Burns is asked what his message is to those who vandalised his office and says:

What has it proved other than it was a dangerous and silly act that has caused distress?

You haven’t brought about peace.

All you’ve done is set fire outside a residential building where you’ve put people’s lives at risk. How is that a peaceful act?

How? I can’t see it.

All I want to do is represent my community, to work hard for this amazing community that I live and work in. That’s all my staff want to do. And to prevent that from happening was just a callous and dangerous act and it won’t bring about peace. That’s it.

Updated

Josh Burns continues:

The Jewish community has had a really hard time over the last seven or eight months. I’ve experienced a little bit of it myself.

You know, the Australia that I grew up in was an Australia of multiculturalism, where the Jewish community could express themselves, could proudly walk down the street not thinking about where they were but just participating in Australian life.

Now you’ve got Jewish community members who think about how they present themselves in public.

Do they wear a yarmulke, wear items that show they’re Jewish, do they go to university?

That’s a terrible thing for people, for Australians to be experiencing and I’m sure the Jewish community is not the only community; any community that feels that sense of ‘should I be able to show who I am and what part of my identity can be displayed?’.

If you’re questioning that, that’s a real problem. That’s not what Australia is. That’s not the Australia that I love.

So I know that my community is hurting right now and today wouldn’t have helped, but we can’t forget what Australia is, and Australia is a proudly multicultural country and we have to keep fighting for that.

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Josh Burns is asked about Gaza and says:

I’m desperate for this war to end. This is deeply personal for me, for my family. For generations we’ve seen our family on the other side of the world being caught up in conflict and I ... you know, if I could do anything to stop this conflict from happening any longer, I would do it, but we can’t do that in Australia.

We just don’t have that sort of leverage.

What happened outside my office caused distress to my staff, my team, my community. It didn’t bring about peace in the Middle East. I wish ... If it did, I would have vandalised my own office, of course, but it didn’t.

It just vandalised an office here in Australia and caused distress. And no amount of aggression and violence here in Australia is going to change what’s happening in the Middle East.

I’m desperate for there to be a ceasefire.

I’m desperate for there to be an agreement where hostages are returned home and Palestinians can return to rebuilding their lives and getting on and living a life of dignity and respect and freedom. But it’s happening on the other side of the world and we’re here in Australia and all we’re seeing at the moment is an escalation of violence here in Australia.

And it’s going to end up in disaster.

Updated

Josh Burns:

There is coordination across Victoria police and Australian federal police.

It obviously has an extra layer because I’m a federal member of parliament and this is obviously a politically motivated attack. I’m confident in the police doing their work.

They’ve been taking me through what they’re doing this morning. This is a crime scene at the moment and they can make further statements about how they plan to conduct the investigation, but from my end it’s obviously an unacceptable event.

I’m nervous about it escalating even further. I’m nervous about someone getting hurt or worse, and the police are taking it seriously and I’m very appreciative of that.

Updated

Josh Burns:

You know, it’s a reflection of eight months, really, of my team turning up to work and being abused and being screamed at, and I’ve got really good people working for me.

They are hard-working, decent, kind people who have no role in a conflict on the other side of the world, and their place of work has been smashed in by really dangerous idiots. And it’s a reflect of the sort of conduct of political debate right now.

We are in Australia. This is St Kilda. We’re in multicultural Melbourne, where it’s such a beautiful part of our society to have people from all different melting pots coming together and political debate in Australia has always been one where we come together, we can disagree.

We can often tease each other about it but we do so respectfully. And this is not respectful right now. This is a dangerous escalation of people trying to bring a conflict on the other side of the world to our streets and it needs to end, it needs to stop, because it’s dangerous. And thankfully no one was hurt last night, but next time, you know, I’m worried for my colleagues.

I’m worried for my staff. I’m worried for people involved in political life in Australia. So it’s been a ... pretty distressing morning. This sort of vandalism, this sort of political aggression, has no place in Australia.

Updated

Labor MP describes ‘reckless and dangerous’ vandalism to his office

Josh Burns is holding a press conference addressing the vandalism and damage that was done to his electoral office overnight. The Labor MP said:

They smashed in windows with a hammer. They spray-painted on the outside of my office. They spray-painted in the inside of my office. They lit two fires, one on the left-hand side of my office and one outside the door to the residential apartments upstairs. It was a very reckless and dangerous vandalism of my office.

It was clearly politically motivated by having the graffiti on the outside of the office. This was really ugly behaviour. And it was dangerous. It put residents and lives and livelihoods at risk and the police are investigating.

They’re investigating fully. And we’ll let them do their work. I want to remind people of what the office actually is and what it’s there to do. My staff are there to look after our community, to provide access to government and government services, whether it be the NDIS, whether it be immigration, visa issues, Centrelink, whatever it is. My team are here to help. And at the moment, obviously, they’re at home. They can’t be in the office. It’s not safe in the office.

Updated

Coalition MPs have now been handed an 15-page info booklet on the plan, which is said to include a little more detail of the research that went into the proposal.

There are some questions over whether this research is new, or part of a parliamentary research pact that was developed (and shelved) while the Morrison government was in power.

Updated

GetUp’s chief campaigns officer, Amy Gordon, is also against the proposal:

Peter Dutton’s nuclear fantasy is a sinister distraction from the real solutions we need to address the climate crisis.

His plan hinges on his anti-renewables disinformation and pro-nuclear lies gaining popular support so the Coalition can win the next election and overturn the national ban on nuclear power, a ban that was hard-won through decades of resistance led by traditional owners.

Nuclear is slow to build, so coal and gas will continue to burn for decades to come and Dutton’s mining billionaire mates will continue to profit as they destroy Country, water, culture and our climate.

Our people-powered movement stands united against any moves towards risky nuclear energy.

Updated

Before the official announcement had been made, Anthony Albanese spoke to ABC radio Melbourne about the Coalition’s nuclear “plan”.

The prime minister was asked what was his number one message to the people in the Latrobe Valley about the Coalition’s announcement and said:

A nuclear reactor is 15 years away and will drive up power prices, lead to more energy insecurity and lead to less jobs being created.

But what if the CSIRO suddenly thought it was a good idea?

Albanese says:

But they don’t. Every scientific analysis has said that it doesn’t stack up. Every economic analysis says it doesn’t stack up, and that’s why it’s extraordinary that they continue to go down this track in spite of all the advice of all of the experts, including the business community.

One of the things that we have provided is a serious plan going forward with the safeguard mechanism, which was designed by Greg Hunt originally.

With our capacity investment scheme is that business certainty. That is what they were looking for in order to invest and that is what the Coalition are seeking to take away. It’s like they want Australia to not succeed. And in all of their approaches, just as they’ve opposed every cost-of-living measure that we have put forward, they’ve now opposed that investment certainty that business are crying out for.

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Dutton’s nuclear policy ‘a recipe for delay and skyrocketing energy bills’

You can add the Clean Energy Council to the list of critics of the Coalition’s energy proposal.

Chief executive Kane Thornton said:

The Coalition’s nuclear policy is a recipe for delay and skyrocketing energy bills.

Australia has no nuclear power industry, so building new reactors would take at least 20 years and cost six times more. This is a policy that would deliver nothing for at least 20 years, result in much higher power prices and risk the lights going out as coal power stations continue to close.

No Australian community wants a nuclear reactor on its doorstep and no Australian family wants to share communities and roads with truckloads of nuclear waste.

As ageing and increasingly costly coal-fired power stations exit our energy system, only renewables firmed by storage is capable of preventing blackouts and power price spikes no family or business can afford.

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Coalition stance designed ‘to keep fossil fuels in play’ – investor group

The climate capital forum, which is a group representing investors, climate finance experts and philanthropists in the energy space, has also responded to the Coalition’s plan.

Founder Blair Palese said: “The call for nuclear energy in a country with no existing infrastructure or expertise is a distraction designed for one thing: to keep fossil fuels in play; extend the life of damaging and polluting coal and gas; and attract funding support from the fossil fuel industry to the Coalition.”

With state governments and Liberals around the country ruling it out of hand, it’s a road to nowhere.

Investors in the energy transition need certainty. The opposition Coalition’s nuclear distraction is foolhardy and fraught with risk – it’s risky on financing, risky on the impossibly long delivery time and risky on skills capacity.

Updated

The Coalition has released its nuclear policy (what there is of it) here: australianeedsnuclear.org.au

It is a lot of the talking points we have heard from the Coalition, but does not appear to include any more detail.

Updated

Voices for Monash independent group reject Coalition nuclear policy

The community group behind the Voices for Monash independent push have responded to the Coalition announcement as well.

Voice for Monash is one of the groups Climate 200 will be backing from its community accelerator fund. Monash is currently held by Russell Broadbent, who resigned from the Liberal party after losing preselection, but the community group behind Voices for Monash think it is ripe for the picking as an independent seat. And they think the nuclear announcement will help their cause:

As much as the neo-liberals espouse choice as a mantra, the public often receive worse services for more money as a result. Energy is an essential service, on this Mr Dutton is correct.

The fact is nuclear power is so ridiculously expensive compared to renewables, per kWh, is the elephant in the room. Of course, the Liberal party donors have an interest in nuclear and that is why it is being pushed, nothing else. I’m sure the people of Monash aren’t keen on turning Loy Yang into a nuclear wasteland.

Updated

State member for potential Loy Yang nuclear site says ‘let’s see what the facts are’

The state member for Morwell, Nationals MP Martin Cameron, is speaking to reporters following Peter Dutton announcing his electorate as a possible site of a nuclear reactor. He says:

I live in Traralgon. So I’m right in the heart of it and, we do need other sources of energy to secure our power supply. What that makeup is at the moment no one knows. I see that the feds have said that they’re going down the path of nuclear and it looks like that it’s going to be set for Loy Yang part of my community. I’ll make sure that everyone in Latrobe Valley and especially in and around Traralgon, Morwell and Moe, that we are kept up to date with how it all works. And how it is going to run before we sort of jump into any decisions but we will make sure that everyone is fully informed.

Cameron says he wasn’t given a heads up by his federal counterparts but had a “brief chat” with Darren Chester today. He said:

He’s fairly pragmatic about it. It needs to be based on scientific facts. We have a lot of people that are talking doomsday scenarios. That’s not how I work. Let’s see what the facts are. Let’s see how it works. And let’s make sure that we can secure our energy supply.

It’s a far cry from Cameron’S comments in parliament in May, when he said:

I am not going to be putting the people in my community at any risk at all – none whatsoever.

Updated

Solutions for Climate Australia says nuclear reactors ‘a fantasy’ and a ‘failure of leadership’

Solutions for Climate Australia’s director, Dr Barry Traill, had similar thoughts:

Let’s be clear – nuclear reactors are not a plan for climate, they’re a fantasy that serves to delay and distract from getting on with climate action.

This shows a huge failure of leadership by Mr Dutton to come up with a plan to keep Australians safe.

Nuclear reactors are the most expensive energy source for Australia, produce toxic waste, and would take literally decades to build, during which coal and gas giants would continue to produce billions of tonnes of additional climate emissions.

Our recent report showed that conservatively at least 2.3bn tonnes of additional climate pollution would be released if this nuclear reactor fantasy was pursued.

Updated

Climate Council says Coalition’s nuclear proposal ‘a smokescreen’

The reaction from climate groups to the nuclear policy has been swift.

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said the Coalition’s proposal “is a smokescreen for its commitment to climate pollution, a clear case of radioactive greenwashing and a scheme for more climate pollution, it’s that simple”.

The winners from this scheme are the multinational coal and gas corporations who will keep polluting until well past mid-century. On the other hand, as a result of this scheme, Australians will suffer from worsening unnatural disasters due to climate pollution.

Communities are being pummelled by heatwaves and dangerous bushfires one week, and extreme rainfall and flooding the next. Dutton’s scheme is: let the climate burn, let the mega fires burn, let the sea levels rise, let the heat become unbearable.

Later is too late – we need clean energy now to slash climate pollution and keep our kids safe. With no workforce, no industry and no waste facilities, nuclear is a generation away in Australia. Nuclear reactors are a dangerous delay tactic that would mean climate pollution explodes in the next two decades.

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What would the Coalition actually need to win the next election?

While everyone is absorbing the Coalition’s nuclear policy – or what little we know of it – it is also worth remembering that for the Coalition to win the next election in its own right, it would have to win an additional eighteen seats.

Our election analyst goes through some of the numbers here.

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Adam Bandt condemns attack on Josh Burns’ office

Stepping outside of nuclear for a moment, Greens leader Adam Bandt has condemned the vandalism at Labor MP Josh Burns’ office:

I condemn the incident in St Kilda overnight. Violence has no place in our community & vandalism and damage like this are completely unacceptable. My thoughts are with Josh Burns, his team, and the local community. They have the right to feel safe.

Updated

Victoria’s energy minister calls Coalition plan ‘an absolute fantasy’

Victoria’s energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, is speaking to reporters about the federal opposition’s nuclear policy. She says:

Now, what we’ve heard this morning from Peter Dutton is not a plan. What it is, is an absolute fantasy. We know that renewable energy delivers the cheapest form of new electricity that you can build in this country.

The facts are very clear, the evidence is clear. The only person who seems to dispute that is Peter Dutton. And you really have to wonder why. Now, it’s probably not hard to answer why, when the fact is, he’s never supported renewable energy. He’s always been very skeptical about climate change and the need to take action to protect our environment … and getting that transition done.

D’Ambrosio says she spoke to the chief executives of both coal-fired plants in the La Trobe Valley this morning and neither of them have heard from Dutton or his office. She says:

Neither of them have been approached, let alone consulted about the adequacy of this site to be used as a home for a future nuclear reactor. So, you know, let’s be factual and let’s not make things up, but it seems very clear that Peter Dutton has been has been very happy to make make it up as he goes to deliver on this nuclear announcement.

D’Ambrosio reiterates comments from the premier, Jacinta Allan, that the state government will not repeal its nuclear prohibition ban, even if Dutton is elected at the next federal poll.

We know what Victorians support our move towards renewable electricity – 95% by 2035, the other 5% will be supported by peaking gas electricity generation, that is the plan and that is what we’re delivering now.

Updated

Bowen says Colaition nuclear plan ‘a joke’ that threatens Australia’s renewable transition

Energy minister Chris Bowen will hold a press conference very soon, but he has given his first take:

It’s not really an announcement. We know Mr Dutton wants to slow down the rollout of renewables and he wants to introduce the most expensive form of energy that’s slow to build. To date, we’ve seen no costs, no gigawatts, no detail.

This is a joke but it’s a serious joke because it threatens our transition.

Updated

Dutton releases pre-visualisation for ‘zero emissions small modular reactor’

We do have a very pretty mock up of what a nuclear reactor would look like from Peter Dutton:

Updated

Victorian Labor minister says state Liberals need to come out against Coalition nuclear policy

The Victorian government minister Danny Pearson unloaded on the state’s Liberal opposition leader, John Pesutto, who is yet to form a position on the federal Coalition’s nuclear plan.

Pearson said Pesutto faces a “test of leadership” to come out and oppose the plan.

This is an absolute test of leadership to John Pesutto and Peter Walsh. They have an opportunity to say very clearly that we do not want nuclear power here in Victoria … I reckon they won’t want to upset Mr Dutton.

Pearson described Pesutto and Walsh - the Nationals leader in Victoria – as “snivelling, weak, mean”:

They’ve made a career out of flying beneath the radar. And they hope that this time, they’ll be able to get away with it … They need to grow some spine, step up, and be honest, and turn around and agree with us and say, no, this is just not on … leadership is about leading, not about hiding. It’s about leading. It’s about being honest and upfront, and owning it.

So now’s the time. You know, Mr Pesutto has got 24 hours to some spine, show some leadership and be really speak up on the side of Victorians, or is he you know, sucking up to his mates in Canberra, hoping that they might put him on the speaking list at the next Liberal party function? What a joke.

Updated

Queensland premier negative on Coalition plan for nuclear power

The Queensland premier, Steven Miles, has slammed nuclear power as “four to six times more expensive” than the alternatives.

Peter Dutton announced plans for two nuclear plants for the sunshine state this morning, in Tarong and Callide, both near existing coal plans. Miles:

We know that nuclear reactors are four to six times more expensive. So think about that. That means your electricity bill could go up four to six times to fund these nuclear reactors that the LNP wants to build in Queensland.

And that is not to mention how future generations - my kids, your kids - will need to manage dangerous radioactive nuclear waste, forever. That’s what that plan means.

The state has a legislated plan to transition to 80% renewables by 2035, when Dutton says the first nuclear plant would come online. Queensland also has state legislation banning nuclear power generation.

Updated

And that’s that

The LNP press conference ends – we’ll be taking you through some of the reactions now.

Updated

Amy’s analysis: what have we actually learned about the Coalition’s nuclear policy?

Will the Coalition release its costings before the election? They will make “other announcements in due course”.

So so far:

  • We don’t know how much it would cost;

  • We don’t know what reactors they would use;

  • We don’t know how they would purchase the privately owned coal stations;

  • We don’t know how they would overcome state objections;

  • We don’t know where the waste would go;

  • We don’t know how they plan on building two of the reactors within the 2035-37 timeline;

  • We don’t know where the funding would come from;

  • There has been no serious consultation with communities; and

  • There has been no serious research undertaken with the sites.

Updated

Dutton says nuclear policy provides cleaner, cheaper and consistent energy

Peter Dutton continues with the election messaging:

I can’t stand the thought that in a country with an abundance of national resource we’re paying the highest electricity prices in the world. If we want to be competitive with nations competing against us with different commodities, we’ve got to have cheaper energy and we must have cleaner and consistent energy and this proposal provides that.

When you look at it intellectually, it’s why 19 of the 20 countries have signed up to it or utilised it. Do you think the collective intellectual might of Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese outweighs that of 19 of the top 20 economies in the world? Their leaders? Is that a serious proposition? I don’t think so.

Updated

Dutton says power prices would be higher under a Albanese-Greens minority government

Peter Dutton then turns to the next election:

If the Greens are in alliance with the prime minister after the election – would he still be committed to Aukus? Would Adam Bandt agree to that? I don’t know.

You wouldn’t know what would happen in a Albanese-Bandt government. Look at what happened the last time that they were in coalition with the Greens. It was reckless then.

It’s dangerous to watch the Greens in operation but the prime minister is happy to form a minority government with them*. It would be a disaster for the economy. And if you think your power prices are high now – wait for a second term of the Albanese government.

*There has been no suggestion from Labor that it would form a minority government with the Greens. There is a strong possibility of a minority government in the next term, but the government has ruled out a coalition with the Greens on multiple occasions. There would be other independents on the crossbench, so the Greens would not be the only option either.

Updated

Dutton positions himself as offering ‘mature conversation’ versus Labor and ‘green millionaires’

Peter Dutton again returns to the line you’ll be hearing from the Coalition between now and the election.

Of course, the Labor party and those green millionaires we were talking about before, who have made their money off the backs of electricity prices going up and people paying more – they’ll come out with a scare campaign. I want a mature conversation in our country, because this is the best way to deliver our vision to have cheaper electricity, cleaner electricity and consistent, reliable electricity.

We need cheaper power prices in our country. It’s unacceptable that under the prime minister and his energy policy, which is a train wreck - we’re paying the highest power prices in the world … and now, we know that there is the risk of the lights going out. Business won’t stay here and the jobs won’t remain in that sort of an environment.

He still won’t say how much it would cost, or where the money would come from.

It comes from the same place that the Snowy Hydro funds come from or the subsidies around solar and wind now. It comes from the Australian taxpayer. The Australian government doesn’t have any money without the Australian taxpayer. So that’s a decision for the government of the day as to whether it is a wise investment and we believe that it is.

He then turns to the “environmental impact” of renewables like wind turbines.

Adam Morton, our environment editor will have quite a bit to say later today.

Updated

Dutton says Labor should be determining where nuclear waste is stored

What happens to the waste?

Still to be decided.

Peter Dutton:

If you look at a 470MW reactor, it produces waste equivalent to the size of a can of coke each year. It’s stored on site under our proposal and then at the end of the life of that asset, it’s a move to a permanent home. And our argument is that that should be where the government decides for the waste from the submarines to be stored. Australia is a very safe country in that regard, as you know.

He says the government has yet to announce where to store medical nuclear waste, so it is a question for the government to answer.

Updated

Strategic thinktank say nuclear increases defence risk

While this press conference is ongoing, it is also worth pointing out that defence hawks Aspi think that nuclear power in Australia would make Australia less safe, from a strategic point of view.

You can read that piece, here.

Updated

Littleproud says party is for renewables in the right places but not ‘linear pathway’ to net zero

David Littleproud:

What I’m saying is that we are obviously all for renewables in the right place.

… [but] why wouldn’t we look at all of the options?

… This is a great move for regional Australia to give us the jobs. But we’re not turning our back on the opportunities, but we’re just saying - understand our lived experience.

Because you know what, we count, too.

And your food security depends on us. And if we can’t produce it, your food prices go up. So, we’ve been pragmatic.

The National party have made this commitment to net zero by 2050. But [this] linear pathway is not just hurting metropolitan families. It’s hurting our wallets but our lifestyles and our capacity to make a living.

And I’m saying to everybody – please, understand that every Australian should be given a go through this and we can do it together if we back ourselves to do this with the know-how, and adopt it here in this country and regional Australia will come with you and continue to deliver for you.

Updated

Littleproud dismisses Keith Pitt as ‘backbencher’

The nationals leader, David Littleproud, delivers a little smack down to LNP MP and former resources minister Keith Pitt who this morning said that Queensland power should stay in Queensland. Is this a dismantling of the national energy market (at least for the east coast?)

Littleproud:

No, and Keith Pitt is a backbencher and we respect diverse views in our party room. That makes us a stronger Coalition. But we are a national energy grid and we all contribute right up and down the east coast and that will be shared through this plan again today.

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Dutton says he is happy for the election to be a referendum on energy

Peter Dutton thinks that Australians will be comfortable living in nuclear sites and is happy to fight the election on energy:

I’m very happy for the election to be a referendum on energy, on nuclear, on power pries, on lights going out, on who has a sustainable pathway for our country going forward.

As I said before, this prime minister has no vision for our country, because he can’t manage the government from a day-to-day basis. And we have been very honest, open and transparent with the Australian public.

This technology operates around the world and it is safe. Or the government wouldn’t have signed up to it under Aukus.

I would just say this - would a Prime Minister sign up to an Aukus deal using this nuclear technology to propel the submarines and to have our members of the Australian Navy on those submarines 24/7 if he thought or she thought that the technology was unsafe? No.

So you don’t even hear the Labor Party talking about technology being unsafe. Would the prime minister have signed an agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom which requires Australia to dispose of the waste from the submarines and the reactors at end of life if he thought or she thought that it wasn’t safe to do so? No.

And so, the government has signed up in that circumstance, and the premiers have agreed to those submarines being constructed and worked on maintenance cycles in South Australia, in Western Australia. So let’s have a mature debate about each element.

And ours includes not just nuclear, but renewables and gas, and that’s the modern reality of how our energy system should operate. And without a credible energy policy, you have no economy.

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Amy’s analysis: can the Coalition fulfil the Paris agreement without emissions reduction targets?

Without an interim target, the Coalition is not meeting the Paris agreement obligations. It was more than just a net-zero commitment for 2050 – there were also steps along the way.

Peter Dutton has said that the Coalition will not have interim targets, or at least not announce it until after the next election.

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Dutton says ‘we’ll meet our international obligations’ regarding climate emissions

What about the breach of the Paris agreement, by not having any interim targets?

Peter Dutton:

My concern is with residents here in Australia. We’ll meet our international obligations. We’re committed to Paris.

But I’m not going to sign up to the prime minister’s plan to force up electricity prices when Australians can’t afford to pay their bills now. I’m not going to sign up to a plan that sees industry leave our shore, manufacture in Malaysia or somewhere else and re-import it.

The prime minister is out there talking about Australia Made. It will never happen - it will never happen on his watch. Because if you don’t have secure, affordable, cleaner energy, you don’t have a modern economy. And our proposal, again, as I say, is about helping Australians.

The prime minister’s looking at a 65% to 75% target for 2035. What does that mean? I mean, why is it not 85%? Why not 95%? Why is it not 62%?

Where is the modelling?

And how much will it drive up electricity prices? Anthony Albanese will go to the next election guaranteeing you that Labor will force up electricity prices, and put unreliability into the system.

That means blackouts and brownouts. So if you’re paying a lot for your groceries now - wait to see where Labor has us in two or three years.

Because it’s not just your bill that’s going through the roof under Labor. It’s the local IGA, it’s the farmer with the cold rooms, it’s everybody in the supply chain. And that cost is passed on to you through higher grocery prices and higher prices across the economy. It contributes to inflation now. And that’s why we have to have a responsible plan, and that’s our announcement today.

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Dutton draws comparisons to green hydrogen or Aukus when talking about non-existent nuclear technology

What about the fact that the technology doesn’t exist?

Peter Dutton:

Again, green hydrogen doesn’t exist in the world at the moment. Here in our country, the prime minister is proposing that that will be a replacement*.

At the moment, the Aukus submarine doesn’t exist. But we know that the technology is there, and we know that the technology that exists in the nuclear propulsion systems on those submarines, posed to be used by our country, but already used by others, is there and it’s able to be translated.

That’s why you look at the 2035 and not … 2028 or whatever it might be. So you give yourself plenty of room and that’s the sensible approach to it. We’ve taken a prudent approach, but it is all about bringing down electricity prices and keeping the lights on and that’s what we’re doing.

*Snowy Hydro 2.0 – which includes the Kurri Kurri green hydrogen plant – was established under the Turnbull Coalition government.

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Dutton can’t say which countries have deployed nuclear technology during proposed similar timeframe

What is the timeline?

Peter Dutton:

So in terms of the first two ... we say between 2035 and 2037, depending on which technology you use. And then, out into the 2040s. So ahead of 2050.

And that is achievable. It’s a sensible rollout. And given capacity constraints within infrastructure providers etc, that is a reasonable runway for them over the 2040s as well.

What other countries have done it in that timeline? Dutton can’t say:

There are 450 ... How many reactors around the world? About 450.

And the fact that is you can look at different factors in each environment. I mean, some will roll out more quickly than others. In some cases, they’re going for a bespoke build, which is of no interest to us, whatsoever.

The technology is available. When you look at products that Westinghouse has, or Hitachi or GE, and you look at the Canadian experience, there’s the ability to roll out and we’ve spoken with a number of companies in the infrastructure space about the timelines that we’re proposing and people feel comfortable with those.

Updated

Dutton says gas and coal will be relied on during scale up to nuclear

Peter Dutton says there will be a strong reliance on gas in the lead up to this policy (which is also the government plan through the renewables transition):

Through gas. There’s a very significant part of the mix. As coal phases out and as we know, 90% of baseload goes by 2034. A lot of that coal and whilst the government didn’t want to acknowledge that 12 months ago, they, too, admit that coal will play a very significant part, and we’ll have that in our system for a long time to go. We’ve got an abundance of gas in our country and we’ve got the ability to use that …and that will be an important part of the transition.

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Coalition says nuclear drives prices down but dodges questions on cost

The Coalition continue to dodge the questions about cost.

Ted O’Brien says:

When it comes to all households and all businesses benefitting from zero emissions in the mix, we will have plenty of time in due course to talk about the costings once we release them here in the Australian context.

… We are putting Australians at the centre. When it comes to doing the modelling [we are] putting consumers at the centre. There is no reason why – as you scan the rest of the world, nuclear drives prices down – that it wouldn’t be the same here in Australia. And, indeed, I believe that that is precisely what is going to happen.

Updated

Dutton continues attack lines on ‘green billionaires’

You can see Peter Dutton sharpening up those lines here:

The job that I have and that the prime minister, frankly, should be stepping up to, is - how do we deliver a reliable system that will underpin economic growth and jobs for decades and generations to come? How do we reduce electricity prices instead of increasing them so there can be greater profits for the billionaires?

I’m not interested in those people. I’m interested in the Australian public and how we can help them with the cost of living crisis that Labor has created. And this is a very significant step towards that outcome.

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Dutton says Coalition will work with owners of privately-owned sites identified as part of nuclear policy

On the question of the identified sites being privately owned, Peter Dutton says:

We’ve identified the sites. We want to utilise the end of life coal fired power sites because the poles and wires already exist. When Labor talks about the 28,000km of poles and wires, they won’t tell you where they’re going.

But they go through national parks, they go through prime farming land. And we don’t propose that as feasible. Frankly, I don’t think that Chris Bowen has the capacity to roll it out.

So in terms of that part of your question, [we] will work with the companies, the owners of the sites, and if we find a situation where we apply a national interest test and we require that site to be part of the national grid, then the legal advice that we have is that the Commonwealth has ample power [to] compulsorily acquire that with ample compensation.

But our desire is to work with the company and we will. These companies are pragmatic. These companies are heavily invested into renewables, so their task – look, when you look at some of the millionaires pretending to be billionaire green investors, their job is to take taxpayer money and increase prices for electricity and turn that into a bottom-line profit for them and for their families.

Updated

Amy’s analysis: is NSW a nuclear state?

Peter Dutton is talking about Lucas Heights there. That site manufactures radioactive medicine. It is at a very different scale to a nuclear reactor which would power the energy sector.

He also says, correctly, that Aukus will involve nuclear. But again, that is for a submarine reactor, which is still much smaller than a nuclear reactor used for power.

Dutton does not go into those differences:

Since 1958 Lucas Heights has operated successfully, I saw talk the other day, what will happen to house prices? What happened to house prices in Lucas Heights? They went up similarly to other suburbs here in New South Wales.

What will happen in Osborne where Premier Malinauskas signed up to the Aukus deal? A reactor will be there … Australian uniforms will sleep in the submarine alongside the reactor in a safe way.

Osborne is a matter of kilometres from local communities. In Henderson, WA, then premier McGowan signed up to the Aukus deal, [where] nuclear reactors in the submarines will be there alongside residential and industrial areas.

So those premiers have shown a level of pragmatism before we signed up to Aukus, nobly believed it could happen. Everyone said the premiers would not agree, but they did.

We will work with the premiers because it is in our national interest.

Updated

Peter Dutton attacks ‘green millionaires’ and claims nuclear will drive down power costs

Peter Dutton continues, this time with an attack on “green millionaires”.

A lot of the sites that the Coalition have identified are coal-fired power plants which are privately owned. Dutton gives the line which will shape a lot of this campaign:

I’m not interested in lining the pockets of rich green millionaires, I want to bring down the price of electricity for average mums and dads.

If we look at the international experience, let me answer that question because if international experience as we know, electricity is cheaper where there is a presence of nuclear energy.

That is the fact. So we can rely on the international experience.

In relation to the issues around the Senate, we are going to the next election seeking a mandate from the Australian people, very clear mandate that we want support to modernise our energy system, we want [to] support you and add … economic growth and jobs for decades and generations to come.

That’s the mandate that we seek and that’s the mandate that I believe that we will act on the parliament and we will work with the premiers in a constructive way as we know in New South Wales that is already a nuclear state.

That’s a reference to Lucas Heights – more on that in a second.

Updated

Dutton says Labor critiques on nuclear locations ‘childish’

Asked again about the cost, in light of previous Coalition attacks on Labor announcing policy while in opposition (you may still have an eye twitch from “show us the modelling”), Peter Dutton says any criticism is juvenile:

We will deal with cost and the next stage of our policy announcements but today I want the clear focus to be on the fact that the sites we are proposing, and [we] have used coal-fired power stations sites, so when you hear Labor go up to it going to be in this part, will it be on this beach, all of that childish behaviour that will expect from the prime minister, the cartoon characters … it is time for an adult conversation about keeping the lights on and pushing power prices down.

We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis that Labor has made in this country.

We have a plan to our country forward to reduce electricity prices and make sure we get our emissions down and as we know ... in the top 20 economies in the world, Australia is the only one that does not have or has not signed up to nuclear energy.

In those markets we know that electricity is much cheaper than what it is here, and I want to make sure that when we talk to pensioners who this winter under this government will either heat or eat but not both. That’s not acceptable in our country.

Updated

Coalition says more to say on nuclear policy costs 'in due time'

Now to the questions. Peter Dutton is asked about the cost.

The CSIRO has said one nuclear reactor could be up to $8bn. So how much would this cost?

They don’t have one. Dutton:

As we know the government’s transition [will cost] about $1.2tr [to] $1.5tr and that will be passed to consumers.

Our proposal will cost a fraction of that, we will have more to say in relation to the cost in due course and as you know we’ve done this in a step-by-step process.

The focus today is on the sites and as of the second part of your question, we have done analysis on each of the sites and we will work with continue to work with experts in this field to identify the best technology for those sites.

This is a huge win for those local economies, let’s be clear about it. A

… In terms of the small modular reactor or AP 1,000 or whatever it might be that we believe would be the best for those sites, will have those discussions in due course and there are some limitations in terms of what you can do from the opposition as opposed to government but it will be a fraction of the government’s cost but it will be a big bill, there is no question.

But it’s about modernising our energy system and making sure we have cheaper electricity, making sure we had appeared economic growth and jobs growth for generations to come

Updated

Angus Taylor says Jim Chalmers ‘does not understand basic economics’

We have heard from Sussan Ley, Ted O’Brien and now Angus Taylor. Everyone is saying pretty much the same thing. As Taylor says:

We need for our strong economy, reliable, affordable emissions energy and that’s the pathway that we are laying out today.

Taylor also includes a little swipe at the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, who earlier called the policy “laughable”:

The treasurer was very confused about this this morning, he does not understand return on capital, but this is a treasurer who is a doctor of spin, not economics.

Understandably he does not understand basic economics but that’s the reality of what we are facing with the pathway he is taking us down.

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Littleproud says it is time for the Coalition to ‘lead our nation away from this madness of renewables’

Nationals leader David Littleproud is introduced by Peter Dutton as ‘DLP’ and Littleproud responds “thanks Dutto’.

… Under the Coalition we will change not only the culture of this country but leave a legacy for this country. The legacy of a change of culture [from] why not to do things rather than how to do it and get on and do it.

The leadership that Peter Dutton and David Littleproud intend to bring to the Australian people. We’re going to give them hope and when all seems lost, it’s time for strength and leadership, time for the Coalition to take over to lead our nation away from this madness of renewables approach.

Littleproud has been fully behind the anti-renewables push. But it is worth noting that in 2021, he was well behind it, saying it was the “pragmatic” answer to ensure that Australia, as a trading nation, did not get burdened with tariffs.

In 2021, Littleproud had told Sky News that the “world had changed” and Australia must change with it.

The world has changed and if we don’t change with it, the financial burden is going to be borne on your mortgage, your business loans … and your commodity (agricultural trade) is going to receive less.

Updated

Dutton says Coalition would be able to negotiate with state premiers on nuclear policy

Peter Dutton then addresses the issue of the state premiers not being on board with the policy. He says that’s easily fixed:

We’ll work with the state premiers, there is some debate about that I see, as you know, somebody famously said ‘I would not stand between a Premier and a bucket of money’, and we’ve seen the premiers in different debates before where they’ve been able to negotiate with the Commonwealth and will be able to address those issues.

Updated

Dutton says existing power infrastructure can be used from existing sites

Peter Dutton continues:

Labor has promised 28,000kms of new poles and wires. There is no transparency about where that will go.

And we’ve been very clear about the fact that we don’t believe in that model.

We want to utilise existing assets that we have got … new poles and wires that are used at [the] moment on the coal-fired power station sites can be utilised to distribute the energy generated from the latest generation nuclear reactors.

We have the ability to do that in a way that renewables can’t.

Updated

Peter Dutton announces Coalition's nuclear energy plan

Peter Dutton has opened his press conference with some of the same talking points the joint party room just heard:

The future of our country is important and when plan for the economy and jobs and cheaper electricity. The prime minister has no vision for our country because he can’t manage the government day-to-day.

We’ve done an enormous amount of work and I pay tribute to everyone who has looked at the international experience, why Australians pay the highest electricity prices in the world; the expert advice from the regulator, he was telling us that under Labor’s renewables policy there is a greater likelihood of blackouts and brownouts.

We know the government has [a] renewables-only policy which is not fit for purpose. No other country in the world can keep the lights on 24/7 with the renewables-only policy. We need to ensure hospitals can stay on 24/7, we need to ensure that cold rooms can stay on 24/7, we need to make sure that our economy could function 24/7 and we can only do that with a strong baseload power.

(It is worth keeping in mind that the government has announced a gas strategy that goes to “2050 and beyond” as its baseload power plan.)

Updated

Dutton to hold nuclear policy presser in Sydney shortly

The journalists are in the room awaiting Peter Dutton’s press conference where the official nuclear policy will be announced.

Updated

Keith Pitt says Queensland LNP has supported proposals for nuclear power before

The former LNP resources minister Keith Pitt (who is often introduced as the shadow energy minister, despite Ted O’Brien holding that portfolio) spoke to ABC radio RN Breakfast a little earlier today, where he was asked about the party’s nuclear policy and how that would work with his state colleague’s stated position that they will not change the nuclear laws in Queensland if elected in October (a prospect that looks all but guaranteed):

Q: The Queensland opposition, who could form government if you believe the opinion polls and they’re pretty emphatic, they’re not great fans and they are on your side of politics. So how are you going to get them on board?

Pitt:

Well a couple of points, firstly the Queensland LNP, their members and at multiple state conferences and state councils have supported proposals for nuclear-powered electricity generator[s] …

(Interjection from host): Their opposition leader doesn’t.

Pitt:

….literally, for years. And look, I can understand David Crisafulli’s concerns. He is trying to take the LNP to the government for, you know, only the second term in more than 30 years in Queensland. So a cat on a hot tin roof, I get all that.

Updated

Katy Gallagher demands ‘true costs’ of Coalition nuclear policy

For those who missed it a little earlier, the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, held a doorstop where she responded to the Coalition’s nuclear policy announcement (which will be coming in the next few minutes)

Gallagher wants the detail. Which is a familiar refrain, but this time, it’s against the Coalition, who are usually the ones demanding detail from Labor:

I would expect it, certainly on the fiscal side as the finance minister, that the true costs of this would be outlined. We know from history, with Snowy Hydro, the first cost of that was … less than half what it’s actually going to cost.

So, there will be some scepticism, I imagine, about the cost.

We know this is the most expensive form of energy. We don’t have it in Australia. And we’ve got this incredible resource of sun and wind in Australia to take, you know, to seize the opportunity of, that’s just being ignored.

So … we’ll see what Mr Dutton comes up with, but it sounds very risky, economically irresponsible and fiscally irresponsible as well.

Updated

A snap Coalition party room meeting on Wednesday heard the opposition will propose that Tarong and Callide in Queensland; Mount Piper and Liddell in New South Wales; Collie in Western Australia; Loy Yang in Victoria; and the Northern power station in South Australia could play host to nuclear power plants.

Coalition MPs were told the power plants would be owned by a government corporation, with a similar model to the National Broadband Network and Snowy 2.0 hydro power.

The sites were chosen on the basis of water availability, capacity of connection to the grid and the closure date of existing coal power plants. None of the seven sites are currently owned by the commonwealth.

The CSIRO-Gencost report advised a “15+ year development time” should be expected for nuclear in Australia, meaning if a decision to pursue the technology was made next year then a plant would be deployed “no sooner than 2040”. Coalition MPs were told the aim would be to start two plants by 2035-37.

Updated

For those who missed some of the morning’s earlier news, here is what the damage and vandalism to Josh Burns office in St Kilda looks like:

Benita Kolovos reports Victorian premier Jacinta Allan has condemned the vandalism attack:

It is simply acceptable to vandalise to destroy property in this way, but it’s even more unacceptable when you think there were people there … their personal safety was put at risk by this violent and disruptive behaviour and it is just acceptable. Certainly we can have a difference of opinion on local and global current affairs that should never bring violence and destruction of this sort to the streets of Melbourne and Victoria. I Absolutely and utterly condemn this behaviour.

Updated

Jacinta Allan says ‘we will not stand’ for nuclear energy in Victoria

Victorian premier Jacinta Allan is now being asked about the federal Coalition’s nuclear plan, which is being announced by Peter Dutton at a press conference at 10am.

She said while she is premier there will not be nuclear energy in the state of Victoria:

This is the Liberal party solutions to the challenges of transitioning our energy mix in this country. They want to bring more expensive, more risky, more toxic energy solutions to the people of this country. We won’t stand for that. We absolutely will not stand for that.

Because we know what works. What works is exactly what we’re doing now … investing in renewable energy, solar in wind and battery storage.

Allan said she’d stand with the La Trobe Valley community, to oppose the federal opposition’s plans.

My message to the Latrobe Valley in the community is that Labor governments will always stand with you, stand with you through the challenges that this community has experienced in recent decades with an industry that is in transition … So unlike the Liberal and National parties who have abandoned time and again the Gippsland community, we will stand with them, we will support them in fighting against this proposal to bring toxic and risky nuclear reactors to the beautiful Gippsland community. The question is will their state Liberal National party representatives also do this?

Allan also said the Victorian Liberal leader, John Pesutto, must now make his position on the plan clear. So far, he has said he was waiting for more detail.

The premier said:

We’ve been absolutely clear on behalf of the Victorian government our position on … the proposed federal Liberal-National’s proposition to bring toxic, risky, expensive nuclear energy reactors to the state or indeed to a country.

We haven’t heard from the [state] leader of the Liberal party [about] what he would do. Would he stand up for Victorians? Does he support more expensive, more risky, more toxic energies solutions for the state? Or should he just get on board with what we’re doing now and be part of that renewable energy future? Because we know it works.

Updated

Issues identified with Coalition choices of nuclear sites

From what I am hearing from the teleconference joint party room meeting Peter Duton called to tell the party room about the nuclear policy, there was not unanimous support for the policy, but no formal vote.

That has been described as a “crazy brave” way to launch a hallmark election policy.

There are already issues being identified with the sites – first, the sites would need to be purchased from private operators. There will need to be some pretty major changes to legislation, both state and federally. The Queensland LNP, as recently as yesterday, said it would not lift the nuclear ban for the state, which is a problem given two Queensland reactor sites have been identified by Dutton’s team.

Tarong in Queensland is a particular issue as it doesn’t have a secure water source. In 2006, the then premier Peter Beattie had to propose a waste water pipeline as a last ditch measure to save the plant during a drought.

Updated

Hello and a very big thank you to Mostafa for taking us through this morning.

You have Amy Remeikis with you for the next few hours as we go through the Coalition’s nuclear announcement.

There is a lot to cover off, so let’s get into it.

Updated

Jacinta Allan accepts all reccomendations from report into child abuse at state schools

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, is today releasing the government response to a special inquiry into child abuse at Beaumaris primary and other state schools.

The report, tabled in parliament in March, found the education department “woefully failed” to protect children between 1960 and 1994, because it had not policies in place to deal with perpetrators.

The inquiry identified 109 alleged victims of the four teachers at the centre of the allegations, across 24 schools.

It made nine recommendations for reform, including an apology and establishing a statewide “truth-telling and accountability process” for victim-survivors of historical child sexual abuse in all Victorian government schools.

Allan on Wednesday said the government had accepted all the recommendations, with her to make the apology in parliament in 2026.

Today, the Victorian government accepts each of its recommendations and in doing so, we make a very clear acknowledgement that we failed.

We failed to keep these children safe.

We failed to listen when they spoke out who failed to act to ensure that it did not happen again. As the board of inquiries report puts so plainly it was a failure that was both serious and systematic. It was also a failure of morality.

Because what else can it possibly be when the reputation of the education system was given higher regard than the safety of children?

Young, bright, beautiful children for whom school should have been a place of joy, a place of joy and education instead for many that became a place of horror and fear.

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Smart Energy Council on nuclear: '‘all you get is high power bills’

The acting CEO of the Smart Energy Council, Wayne Smith, has slammed the Coalition’s nuclear policy, saying it won’t benefit Australians. Speaking on ABC Radio National, Smith said the policy would cost billions but wouldn’t provide any obvious benefits and wouldn’t affect energy bills:

We’re talking about $20bn to $25bn per nuclear reactor. And guess what? There’s no tax deduction for that. All you get is higher power bills.

What will happen is that we’re not going to see nuclear power plants before 2040, probably at the earliest. What’s likely to be announced today is an extension of coal-fired power stations.

[Under a nuclear policy] coal-fired power stations will continue to probably about 2040 at taxpayers’ expense … that’s the reality of what’s being announced today.

Updated

Coalition names seven proposed sites for nuclear reactors

Peter Dutton has called a press conference for 10am, so it is all official – nuclear is go.

The Coalition teleconference meeting has wrapped up, and the seven sites have been named and it is as we thought: Collie in Western Australia, Mt Piper and Liddell in New South Wales, Callide and Tarong in Queensland, Northern Energy in South Australia and Loy Yang in Victoria.

An info pack is going out to MPs very soon.

Updated

Chris Minns rejects Coalition’s nuclear energy policy as potential ‘pipe dream’

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has rejected the idea of nuclear energy powering his state.

Minns was on ABC News Brekfast this morning, and said the transition to nuclear energy would be too expensive and would take too long.

It would cost maybe $200bn for small-scale nuclear reactors to replace existing coal-fired power stations in the state.

I don’t know where that money’s going to come from. It certainly can’t come on the backs of hard-working taxpayers in New South Wales, they just can’t afford it.

We’ve got a prohibition on nuclear power in the state, and my government’s not going to waive it. My understanding is that the Queensland opposition and government won’t waive it either, so I think there’s a few questions about whether this is a fantasy or a pipe dream or a legitimate energy policy.

Updated

Chalmers attacks coalition nuclear plans

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking at the the Australian Energy Nation this morning, where he has called the Coalition’s nuclear policy the “dumbest policy ever put forward by a major party”.

He says the policy is a “road to nowhere” and that “nothing could be more economically irrational or fiscally irresponsible”:

Our plan for net zero is mainstream and middle-of-the-road. It recognises a role for gas in supporting the transition to renewables. It relies heavily on mining and resources, especially critical minerals.

It works with, not against, the ambitions and aspirations of private investors and employers. It relies on better informed and designed markets for capital, and tax breaks for production, more than it relies on grants.

In all these ways it couldn’t be more different to the economic madness peddled by our opponents.

Today we’re expecting to hear a bit more about the Coalition’s nuclear road to nowhere. With Australia’s advantages and opportunities, nothing could be more economically irrational or fiscally irresponsible.

Nuclear takes longer, costs more, and would waste Australia’s unique combination of geological, geographical, geopolitical and meteorological advantages.

This might be the dumbest policy ever put forward by a major party. It is the worst combination of economic and ideological stupidity.

Updated

Coalition's nuclear policy 'doesn't stack up': Gallagher

The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, has called the Coalition’s nuclear policy “laughable,” arguing on ABC Breakfast this morning that it doesn’t stack up. She said the plan would cost more money than necessary and would delay any progress on addressing climate change:

They’ve got some plan, which is going to cost more money, delay any progress on addressing climate change and the stability of our energy grid, I think is just laughable.

It simply doesn’t stack up.

The former government’s history of under-costing this type of infrastructure is a real worry and a real risk for the budget, but also it would do nothing to put downward pressure on energy bills in the short term, which is what households are needing right now.

Updated

Coalition nuclear policy meet kicks off but locations still under wraps

The teleconference joint party meeting of Coalition MPs is underway and so far it seems Liberal-National members have heard a lot about “new eras” but not actually the sites where this new era will abound.

Peter Dutton, David Littleproud and Ted O’Brien have kept all the details very close to their chest in a bid to stop leaks.

Almost half an hour into the meeting and MPs have heard about what details have been assessed, which apparently includes water availability, capacity of connection to the grid and the closure date of existing coal assets. But the confirmed sites remain a mystery, at least at this point of the meeting.

Updated

Sussan Ley says Coalition nuclear policy will be a ‘sensible proposition’

I just wanted to return to Sussan Ley’s appearance on Sky News this morning, where she was asked how a potential future Coalition nuclear policy would circumvent nuclear bans:

We’ll work through all that. We have a sensible proposition to put to the Australian people and I know that when we talk about nuclear people are starting to tune in, understanding that if 19 of the 20 biggest economies in the world are using nuclear, if it makes sense for cleaner baseload power, because it’s zero emissions, if it helps us get to 2050 net zero, if it does all of the things that we want it to do in terms of emissions, and in terms of securing affordable cheaper power for Australians … why would people not consider it? And I believe they will.

She also questioned the government’s energy policy, claiming it won’t be able to meet power demands in the future and that the renewable-only policy is “actually not going to happen”:

Now, the government says it’s renewables only. We can see that that’s actually not going to happen. The government talks about hydrogen, it’s not at scale. It’s not even something they can demonstrate works in that short timeframe and they talk about batteries that aren’t going to provide the storage for their renewables.

So, they are in a complete mess over this, and they need to be put on the sticky paper and asked what they are going to do for families, households and manufacturing businesses.

Because for the prime minister to run around his country and talk about a ‘future made in Australia’. How can you do that with energy costs where they are?

Updated

Zoe Daniels condemns attack on fellow MP’s office

Independent MP Zoe Daniel has condemned the vandalisation of Josh Burns’ office.

Daniels said the vandalism wasn’t “protest, it is dangerous criminal behaviour.”

Updated

Human remains located at Coffs Harbour beach

NSW police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the discovery of human remains at Jetty Beach in Coffs Harbour yesterday.

Police were called to the beach at around 10am on Tuesday, after reports human remains were located. Upon arrival, officers attached to Coffs-Clarence police district located the remains.

Strike Force Osbox has been established to investigate the incident. Anyone with information is urged to contact Coffs-Clarence police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Updated

Sussan Ley says Coalition will ‘consult with communities’ amid rumoured nuclear policy

The deputy opposition leader says the Coalition will “consult with communities” on nuclear policy, amid reports of an internal meeting being held today to discuss the policy.

Sussan Ley was on Sky News earlier, where she provided scant details of the nuclear policy plan but acknowledged that the opposition is preparing to unveil sites of future nuclear power plants.

I think it’s clear that there will be a conversation and there will be an announcement later this morning.

What I will say is that we will consult … with communities unlike this government that is forcing renewable energy solutions on communities like the Hunter, like the south-west of WA with offshore wind.

We’ve said that it makes sense to connect new nuclear technologies with existing Brownfield sites where you have the grid already in place.

Updated

Josh Burns decries ‘politically motivated attack’ on his St Kilda office

Victoria police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the vandalisation and damage done to federal MP Josh Burn’s office in St Kilda overnight.

They said at least 5 people were seen near the Labor member’s office at around 3.20am. The group smashed windows and painted walls and slogans at the premises. Small fires then occurred in telecommunication pits at the front of the building.

The group then ran from the scene.

Burns himself released a statement saying it was a “politically motivated attack.”

Last night, my St Kilda office was damaged in a politically motivated attack.

I’ve been in contact with the federal police and am awaiting further advice.

My team won’t be at the office this morning, or until we’re told it is safe to do so, but we’re here to help our community and can be contacted by email.

A crime scene is currently in place with Barkly Street shut in both directions.

Updated

Australia cautiouns China over of ‘deeply concerning and destabilising behaviour’ in South China Sea

The Australian government has accused China of escalating its “deeply concerning and destabilising behaviour” in the South China Sea.

The strongly worded statement was issued last night, shortly after the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, flew out of Perth at the end of a four-day visit to Australia.

The statement said the Australian government “expresses its grave concern at, and stands by the Philippines in its response to, the dangerous and illegal actions by China’s vessels against Philippine vessels and crew taking part in a routine mission” within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone on Monday.

The statement, published on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s website, said the Chinese vessels “engaged in dangerous manoeuvres and illegal conduct, including the ramming of Philippine vessels, resulting in injury to crew and damage to Philippine vessels”. It said:

This is an escalation in a pattern of deeply concerning and destabilising behaviour by China. This conduct endangers peace and security in the region, threatens lives and livelihoods, and creates risks of miscalculation and escalation.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said on Monday that he and Li discussed military-to-military communication between Australia and China to reduce the risk of dangerous incidents.

Updated

Temperatures plunge across Australia

If you’re waking up this morning shivering, you’re not alone. Many Australians are waking up to the coldest morning of the year today as the cold weather blanketing the east coast continues to maintain its grip.

Melbourne was on course for temperatures of around 1C this morning while parts of western Sydney could be down to 3C, after Queenslanders awoke to a blanket of frost across a large swathe of the state’s centre yesterday.

Monday night was the coldest June night on record in Queensland’s inland. The band of cold was blanketing the entire east coast, with widespread frost across Tasmania, Victoria, the ACT and New South Wales on Tuesday morning.

You can read more at our story below:

Updated

Coalition party room meeting to discuss nuclear policy

Good morning from Canberra where the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is expected to announce the Coalition’s nuclear policy after months of speculation.

In March, Dutton raised the prospect of releasing the nuclear policy in his May budget in reply speech. In May, it became “June-July”.

But the announcement, expected later today took most of his party room by surprise when speculation began mounting it was coming imminently late yesterday.

A snap shadow cabinet meeting was called for Tuesday night, with Coalition MPs informed late Tuesday afternoon of an impromptu joint party room teleconference meeting for 8.30am on Wednesday.

It is expected the nuclear policy, the detail of which has been tightly held by the Coalition leadership, will be laid out for the party room before it is formally announced.

Dutton has previously said he would be announcing six or seven areas with existing end-of-life coal-fired power stations as potential sites for nuclear power plants under the Coalition’s plan.

Yesterday, backbench MPs spoken to by the Guardian were questioning how much research had gone into the nuclear plan, given the very specific geographical requirements for nuclear plants – which includes easy access to large bodies of water and positions away from fault lines.

It was all still speculative late last night, but the sites named as potential nuclear picks were Queensland’s Gladstone, Callide, Stanwell or Tarong plants, Port Augusta in South Australia, Collie in Western Australia, Mt Piper and the Hunter in NSW and potentially the Latrobe Valley in Victoria.

We should all find out very soon what is going on.

Good morning, Mostafa Rachwani with you to take you through the day’s news.

Updated

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ve got some of the top overnight stories for you to get started before we move on to the mains.

The biggest story of the day in Canberra promises to be the long-awaited unveiling of the details of the Coalition’s nuclear plan with a party room meeting called for 8.30 this morning in the wake of snap shadow cabinet meeting last night. Peter Dutton is then expected to announce the details later.

We reported this morning that Queensland is emerging as a potential future nuclear capital under the Coalition’s plans, with six or seven sites expected to be named as potential locations for nuclear reactors. More coming up.

The Australian government has issued a strongly worded statement accusing China of “destabilising” behaviour in the South China Sea. It expressed “grave concern”about what it called “dangerous and illegal actions by China’s vessels against Philippine vessels and crew taking part in a routine mission” within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone on Monday.

It came as the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, completed a four-day visit to Australia which was overshadowed by efforts of Chinese officials to block the view of the formerly detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei during an event with Li inside Parliament House. The Australian government has formally complained to the Chinese embassy over what it called the “ham-fisted” attempts to block Cheng. More coming up.

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