“Desperate” Liberals urge Dutton to “stop this stupid nuclear palaver”

The federal Coalition has gone silent about its plan to build seven nuclear power plants across Australia. But a new group called ‘Liberals Against Nuclear’ is frustrating the Coalition’s attempt to downplay its policy and wants the Coalition to ditch its nuclear policy before the election.

Announcing the group’s launch this morning, the Murdoch press reported:

“‘Desperate’ Liberal supporters have urged Peter Dutton to dump his $331bn nuclear promise, with fears the policy will drive voters to Teal and independent candidates in a tightly fought election.

“A coalition of voters, supporters and former officials will launch the new advocacy group, Liberals Against Nuclear on Tuesday through a series of ads set to be blasted on television, online platforms and billboards in targeted electorates.”

Spokesman and former Tasmanian Liberal director Andrew Gregson said:

“The people involved in this group are not doing it out of malice or anger but out of a desperation of sorts. They want to see the Liberals win government, and they are involved in a campaign against their own party. That’s not a comfortable place to be.”

Gregson added: 

“Nuclear power is the big road block preventing the Liberals getting to the Lodge. This is big government waste that betrays liberal values, splits the party, and hands Government back to Labor. It’s time for our party to dump nuclear. This policy contradicts core liberal principles by requiring tens of billions in government borrowing, swelling the bureaucracy, and imposing massive taxpayer-backed risk.

“As John Howard said: “For Liberals the role of government should be strategic and limited.” Yet this nuclear policy gives us bigger government, higher taxes to pay for it, more debt, and less freedom as the state takes over energy production.”

Referring to divisions within the Coalition about climate science and renewable energy, Gregson said that nuclear power is “a policy that fixes an internal problem but hangs a weight around the country’s neck for decades to come” and that “it’s clever politics but incredible bad policy.”

Advertising war chest

Liberals Against Nuclear has already amassed a “significant” war chest to fund its advertising campaign, Gregson said. The campaign launch includes television advertising, digital content, and billboards.

A Liberals Against Nuclear media release warns that the nuclear policy “is driving free market and middle ground voters directly to the Teals and other independents in must-win seats” and that “recent polling shows just 35% of Australians support nuclear energy, with support collapsing once voters understand the policy details.”

The Liberals Against Nuclear website makes the following stateemnts:

“The current proposal to build nuclear power in Australia fundamentally contradicts core Liberal values of lower debt, smaller government, free markets, and less government intervention.”

“The private market has made clear they won’t invest in building Australian nuclear reactors and they won’t insure it. This market rejection speaks volumes.”

“Nuclear power has never been built anywhere in the world without massive government subsidies. As true fiscal conservatives, we cannot support such an economically unviable energy source, which is expected to cost 331 billion over 25 years. We cannot be a party of subsidies. Subsidies are a policy one would expect from socialists.”

“Nuclear energy will require a massive new government agency, massive regulation, adding unelected bureaucrats and tens of thousands of public servants to the government payroll.”

Security risks

The Liberals Against Nuclear website states:

“The recent attempted terror attack at Chernobyl, when a drone loaded with explosives was flown onto the site, illustrates that reactors are targets especially when waste is stored onsite as would occur here (exploded waste would render a radius of at least tens of kilometres uninhabitable for 100,000 years).

“An oped by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute pointed out the “Opposition’s nuclear policy would increase defence risk”, because centralising power generation makes us more vulnerable to attacks including from China. Other parties have sometimes chosen to make Australia less safe in order to pursue their ideologies.

“We are a party which puts being practical above ideology and that keeps our citizens safe and secure.”

The Australian Security Leaders Climate Group warned in a statement released in February that the Coalition’s plan to build nuclear reactors would leave Australia vulnerable to missile warfare and sabotage. 

Retired Admiral Chris Barrie, former Chief of the Australian Defence Force, said:

“Every nuclear power facility is a potential dirty bomb because rupture of containment facilities can cause devastating damage. Modern warfare is increasingly focused on missiles and uncrewed aerial systems, and with the proposed power stations all located within a 100 kilometres of the coast, they are a clear and accessible target.”

Cheryl Durrant, a former Department of Defence Director, said: 

“In the Ukraine-Russia war, both sides have given strategic priority to targeting their opponents’ energy systems, and Australia would be no different. So these nuclear facilities would necessitate expensive and complex missile defence systems as well as allocated cyber and counter-intelligence resources, making our security challenge more complex and expensive.”

Higher power bills and taxes

As of this morning, the Liberals Against Nuclear YouTube page had seven video advertisements. All of them refer to an estimated $665 increase in household power bills under the Coalition’s nuclear plan and express disbelief that the Dutton Coalition plans to massively increase power bills during a cost-of-living crisis. 

“They’ve got to stop this stupid nuclear palaver,” one of the advertisements states.

The $665 figure may come from a study by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis which found that household electricity bills could rise by $665 per year on average if nuclear energy were introduced in Australia. For a four-person household, the rise would be $972 per year.

A separate study by the Smart Energy Council study also found that Dutton’s nuclear reactors would add $665 per year to the average non-solar household’s power bill and that the rooftop solar systems of up to 12.5 million Australians would need to be shut off every day to allow nuclear to be shoe-horned into the system.

The most recent economic analysis was conducted by global consultancy firm Jacobs for the Clean Energy Council. It found that reliance on coal and gas in Australia while waiting for nuclear power would increase the average household bill by $449 per year plus an $877 increase for small businesses.

Advertisements

Most of the Liberals Against Nuclear advertisements quote Coalition MPs — current and former, federal and state — opposed to Dutton’s nuclear reactor plan.

One advertisement quotes former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying nuclear power is the most expensive form of electricity generation, then cites the $665 figure, and asks if the Coalition “is trying to lose”.

Another advertisement quotes state Liberal/LNP leaders opposed to nuclear power, in Queensland, WA, Victoria and SA.

Another advertisement quotes NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman saying that nuclear power is a trojan horse for the coal industry.

Another advertisement quotes former federal Liberal minister Chrostopher Pyne saying the nuclear debate isn’t about what’s feasible or necessary and that it is about political positioning.

Another advertisement quotes former NSW Liberal Deputy Premier Matt Kean saying that nuclear power doesn’t stack up on practical or economic grounds.

Another advertisement cites the CSIRO saying that nuclear power is twice as expensive as alternatives.

Another advertisement cites Queensland LNP Senator Matt Canavan saying that nuclear fixes a political problem for the Coalition but “it ain’t the cheapest form of power”.

Suicide note

If the Liberals Against Nuclear groups wants more fodder for its advertisements, there’s plenty to choose from.

Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in 2022: “Right now, there’s a moratorium on nuclear power here in Australia and the Labor Party are totally opposed to it. I’m just not going to put Australia through the argument which doesn’t get us anywhere … and for the Labor Party to run around at the next election and get themselves elected on the basis of a scare campaign.”

Tony Barry, former deputy state director and strategist for the Victorian Liberal Party, describes the Coalition’s decision to make nuclear power the centrepiece of its energy and climate policy is “the longest suicide note in Australian political history”.

Former Liberal leader John Hewson says that Dutton may be promoting nuclear “on behalf of large fossil-fuel donors knowing nuclear power will end up being too expensive and take too long to implement, thereby extending Australia’s reliance on coal and natural gas”.

Liberal MP Bridget Archer says that nuclear power should be pursued only if coupled with a rapid surge in renewables and that nuclear power should not be used as an excuse to prolong fossil fuel reliance.

Peter Dutton said in 2022, while settling into his new job as opposition leader, that nuclear power is “not on the table” for policy consideration because he wants to reduce power prices, not increase them.

Malcolm Turnbull, in addition to noting that nuclear is the most expensive form of power, has also said that the “science denying” element in the Coalition is “crazy, and to some extent getting crazier”; that the nuclear policy is “bonkers”; that Peter Dutton is a “thug” who says “stupid things” about nuclear power; and that nuclear power’s only utility is “as another culture war issue for the right-wing angertainment ecosystem”.

An unnamed current Coalition MP says the nuclear policy is “madness on steroids”, another says the Liberal and National Party rooms are “in a panic” about the nuclear policy and “they don’t know what to do”, and another echoes Turnbull’s view that the nuclear policy is “bonkers”.

The Howard government tried to go quiet on its policy of promoting nuclear power in the 2007 election year and to paper over divisions within the Coalition — at least 22 Coalition candidates publicly expressed concern or outright opposition. The nuclear power policy was ditched immediately after the Coalition lost the November 2007 election.

Dr. Jim Green is the national nuclear campaigner with Friends of the Earth Australia and a member of the EnergyScience Coalition.