Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for the Public Service
On the drive back from Collie last week it struck me just why Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan is so concerning for West Australians.
Heading home on the Kwinana Freeway after a day of talking to energy workers and community leaders in Collie I saw our city skyline. The names of Australia’s largest resources companies illuminate Perth.
It struck me that if the CEO of any of those companies had done what Peter Dutton did, they would be sacked before the day is out.
No mining CEO could put out a multi-billion dollar plan without costings, without geological surveys, without a timeline, without having ever visited the affected community.
That is where Mr Dutton’s plan for nuclear reactors and waste storage comes unstuck. WA tradies, book keepers, engineers, farmers, nurses and so many more work in the world of facts and accuracy. Mr Dutton should too.
No wonder the Collie community has so many questions and concerns.
What is the cost? What size reactor? Will Collie have one reactor or more? How long will the waste be left in the South West? Where would it go? Will investors be scared off ? What will happen to house prices? Will it mean 25 years of nothing before the reactor opens?
West Australians who know this region well are aware there may not be enough water to safely sustain a nuclear reactor. If the Liberals released the geological surveys they say they have done, this would answer this question.
Alarmingly, Mr Dutton has never visited Collie. Not once. And David Littleproud refused to visit while he was in WA this week. So much for treating communities with respect.
It showed us how unsure Mr Dutton was of his own policy that within 72 hours he had resorted to name calling and personal attacks.
John Howard knew you had to argue the policy. Peter Dutton wants to argue the person.
Many of us have worked with people like this in our own workplaces. People who are good at criticising the work of others, but never complete their own tasks. That is Peter Dutton.
The Albanese Government is not waiting until 2050. We are putting more energy into the WA grid and supporting households right now.
Renewables are the cheapest form of energy, and getting more renewables in our power system will bring prices down.
More affordable power is why one in three Australian households and small businesses are choosing solar.
Under the Albanese Government, we have had a 25 per cent increase in renewables, record investment in batteries and storage and over 330,000 rooftop solar installations last year alone.
Greenlighting more than 50 renewable projects since the last election.
And we are already halfway to meeting our 2030 emissions reduction target in the national grid. Meanwhile, Peter Dutton is promising action in two decades.
These reactors cost a lot more and take a lot longer to build than renewables and at the end of it, WA power bills will be even higher.
It means WA will wait decades for new power, only to pay more for it. Labor is taking action now.
With Roger Cook we are giving every WA household a $350 power credit in July-August and another $350 in December-January.
We are maintaining the solar energy credits that help families lower their power bills with solar panels.
The Commonwealth has signed a $3 billion infrastructure agreement with the WA Government to connect more renewables to the grid.
We are backing WA industry with investments in critical minerals such as the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project; creating 900 jobs in the WA Goldfields.
And we are investing in hydrogen energy, with the $140 million Pilbara Hydrogen Hub set to create a thousand new jobs. This is about securing a future made in Australia. Because our recent history has seen too much debate and not enough action.
I remember when Peter Dutton’s Liberals voted with the Greens to stop the emissions trading scheme.
The stubbornness of the Liberals and Greens gave Australia a decade of energy policy chaos. Twenty-two different energy policies. Investors abandoned Australia. And it was the Australian people who paid the price.
Our State has so much opportunity ahead of us. We can’t waste another decade of climate wars.
This will be a big, important debate for WA. A debate I know we can win on the economics, on the environment and on the efficiency of renewables.
Because Peter Dutton and the Liberals push for nuclear reactors in the South West will be costly for households and costly for our climate.
As a Collie local said to me last week “if you don’t have the community on board, you are bound to fail”.
