Peter Dutton ramps up nuclear power push and claims Labor down ‘renewable rabbit hole’

Peter Dutton will tell the Institute of Public Affairs the government needs to remove the legislative ban on nuclear power in Australia. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has ramped up calls for nuclear power in Australia, casting the move as a way to avoid dependence on wind and solar technology from China and a natural next step from the Aukus pact.

Dutton will make the comments on Friday at an event organised by the Institute of Public Affairs, a Liberal-aligned thinktank that has publicly opposed curbs on coal-fired power and has lobbied against the net zero by 2050 policy.