PM grills Peter Dutton on location of power plants amid Coalition’s nuclear push

The leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, says the government should ‘at least allow’ the Australian community to have a debate about nuclear energy. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Peter Dutton has doubled down on Liberal support for nuclear power, pre-empting a review of its energy policy by arguing nuclear will be needed to support renewables.

Dutton told the Minerals Council on Wednesday that Australia needs a “frank debate” about nuclear energy, suggesting that it has a “wonderful opportunity to add value” to its uranium resources.