Federal opposition leader Peter Dutton’s nuclear policy could make or break his chances of becoming Prime Minister at the federal election which is due by May 2025.
But Peter Dutton tells so many lies that it is impossible to know when he is telling the truth and the same can be said with his nuclear power plant policy.
So, I thought it was worth publishing a response by federal Labor MP Patrick Gorman who says Peter Dutton’s nuclear power announcement was “One announcement, four blokes and 17 falsehoods”.
And then see if any of the readers of this website, with better knowledge of the topic than me, can work out if Patrick Gorman is telling the truth about Dutton’s lies or playing politics and lying himself.
I should declare that I published an article on the 23rd of June 2024 titled, “Peter Dutton colludes with greedy billionaire coal and gas miner Gina Rinehart for the fake “Nuclear policy” scam”. (Click here to read the article)
Labor MP Patrick Gorman published his opinion on Twitter on Friday the 13th of December 2024 as per below (Click here to see on Twitter) (Any spelling mistakes are his and if there is more than 3 he should resign from parliament)
ONE ANNOUNCEMENT, FOUR BLOKES, 17 FALSEHOODS – An #auspol thread on four senior members of the Coalition and their repeated falsehoods about nuclear reactors:
Let’s start with Peter Dutton, who had nine false claims in this morning’s press conference on nuclear energy.
FALSEHOOD #1: Peter Dutton pointed to Ontario as a supposed example of cheaper power bills resulting from nuclear energy.
TRUTH: Professor Mark Winfield from Ontario’s York University said: “The story around nuclear and electricity in Ontario is complicated and not necessarily a pathway other people would want to follow.”
Professor Winfield also said: “You have to remember in Ontario we are artificially lowering rates to the tune of $7.3 billion a year out of general provincial revenues to make people’s bills look lower than they really are.”
FALSEHOOD #2: Peter Dutton claimed that the Prime Minister was “only promising” to further increase electricity costs.
TRUTH: The Australian Energy Market Commission concluded that residential electricity prices across the National Electricity Market could be around 13% lower over the decade, if renewable energy and infrastructure development proceeds as expected.
FALSEHOOD #3: Peter Dutton argued against closing coal fired power stations on the basis that “[w]e shouldn’t be closing our base load power stations prematurely.”
TRUTH: Let’s be clear: this government’s energy plan is a response to one simply reality: 24 of the nation’s 28 ageing coal fired power stations – with a total capacity of 27 GW – announced their closure, not on Labor’s watch, but under the former Coalition government.
Our Government is the only one with a plan to keep the lights on. And our plan is working: Our grid is now 42% renewable energy and we’re bringing on enough batteries to meet 90% of peak demand. More than 50 renewable energy projects greenlit … enough to power more than 3 million homes. And 330,000 rooftop solar installed last year alone.
FALSEHOOD #4: Peter Dutton has claimed that: “Labor’s plan was going to cost about five times more than what they were telling you.”
TRUTH: We have full faith in the work done and costings produced by the people who have been responsible for keeping the lights on under both Coalition and Labor Governments: the experts and engineers at the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
FALSEHOOD #5: Peter Dutton claimed that “every other comparable economy around the world” has “adopted or have signed up to a use of nuclear energy.”
TRUTH: That’s not the international experience. EVERY country is moving toward renewables. Why? Because they’re cheaper. The fact is nuclear energy has been in decline globally.
Nuclear energy peaked as a proportion of global energy in 1996 and it has been falling ever since. Number of reactors worldwide peaked in 2002 – 22 years ago; there are now fewer. Last year, the world added 460GWs of new non-hydro renewables, and nuclear energy generation went backwards by 1 GW.
Last year, the US added 39GW of new renewables and no new nuclear. Last year, China added 217GW of new renewables and only one gigawatt of new nuclear. Four other G20 countries do not have nuclear in their energy mix: Germany, Italy, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared: “Nuclear energy is over. … [it’s] a dead horse”. In December 2023 the Spanish Government announced it will phase out their last 7 nuclear plants by 2035, with the first to close in 2027.
FALSEHOOD #6: Peter Dutton was pretty optimistic this morning that Australia’s nuclear projects will not be subject to cost blow outs and delays.
FALSEHOOD #7: Peter Dutton was referring to what he called “Labor Blackouts” as justification for his dodgy nuclear reactors.
TRUTH: To date under the Albanese Labor Government, there have been no blackouts caused by a lack of supply. In fact, AEMO said in a report just a few months ago that “Compared to last year’s report, the reliability outlook has improved.”
FALSEHOOD #8: Peter Dutton proposed so-called ‘small modular reactors’ for his nuclear plans here in WA, and South Australia, too.
TRUTH: Firstly, small modular reactors do not exist commercially anywhere in the world. Secondly, as recently as last year Peter Dutton was dead set against large-scale nuclear power plants:
FALSEHOOD #9: Peter Dutton claimed there was “a threefold increase in the number of manufacturing businesses which have closed in our country over the last two and a half years.”
TRUTH: According to the OECD, manufacturing jobs in Australia have grown faster than in most G7 nations as well as the Euro Zone since Labor came to power. More than 60,000 manufacturing jobs have been created under our government. Over 80,000 jobs were lost under the former government.
There are 1,200 new manufacturing businesses. Almost 2,500 manufacturers went out of business under the former government. Private capital expenditure in manufacturing is up since the election.
DAVID LITTLEPROUD FALSEHOOD #1 David Littleproud said that an energy mix is needed so that “regional Australia isn’t littered with transmission lines, solar panels and wind turbines.”
TRUTH: According to a report commissioned by the former NSW Coalition Government: “… analysis of likely and worst-case land use changes, with the renewable rollout to 2051, does not indicate a material impact on agricultural production. It seems unlikely that the conversion of land currently used for production will exceed 80,000ha, and more likely be in the vicinity of 55,000ha. This is 0.1% of rural land.”
About 97% of land under onshore windfarms is either grazed or cropped. And more than a dozen solar farms have already introduced sheep grazing. In the US and Europe there are examples of co-locating solar panels and horticultural crops, particularly berries and leafy greens. Hosting a renewable energy project allows farmers to diversify their income and increases resilience through unproductive years.
ANGUS TAYLOR FALSEHOOD #1: Angus Taylor said: “Let’s not forget, at the turn of the century, Australia had one of the cheapest electricity prices in the industrialised world. Now we have among the highest.”
TRUTH: Far from true, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). In its latest Electricity 2024 report, the IEA found wholesale electricity prices in Australia in 2023 were comparable with the US and significantly less than in the European Union, Japan, India and the Nordic countries.
Notably, Australia’s prices were almost half those in France, which sourced 65 per cent of its electricity from nuclear. The report said: “In Australia, wholesale prices averaged AUD 82/MWh (USD 55/MWh) in 2023, down more than 50 per cent from their 2022 highs and 10 per cent below the 2019 average.”
FALSEHOOD #2 Angus Taylor claimed that Australia had seen “GDP per person going backwards for seven quarters in a row; almost two years of household recession.”
TRUTH: Just last month the RBA Governor Michele Bullock dismissed the Coalition’s “per-capita” recession rhetoric as unhelpful.
“I don’t really like that term per capita recession. … I think defining it in that way actually abstracts from what’s important here and usually in recessions you’re experiencing high unemployment rates, people are losing their jobs, it’s just really, really bad, and I think in the current environment we’re not in a recession.” – Michele Bullock, RBA Governor
TED O’BRIEN FALSEHOOD #1 Ted O’Brien claimed that if “We continue down the path of Labor’s renewables-only approach we will become poorer, weaker and more dependent as a nation.”
TRUTH: Labor is taking a balanced approach involving renewables firmed with storage and backed up by gas-powered generation, which according to AEMO is “the lowest-cost way to supply electricity to homes and businesses as Australia transitions to a net zero economy”.
FALSEHOOD #2 Ted O’Brien also falsely claimed “Australians are hurting right now and businesses are closing. Nearly 25,000 businesses have gone insolvent since Labor came to office.”
TRUTH: According to ASIC data, under this Government insolvencies as a proportion of all companies have been the lowest on record – averaging 0.25%. That’s half the rate recorded under the Howard Government (0.50%). And lower than the wasted decade of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison governments (0.32%).
RBA GOVERNOR MICHELLE BULLOCK – From appearance before House Standing Committee on Economics in August: “If you take it as a proportion of the number of businesses, which is growing over time, it is not at historical highs. In fact, if you look at the trend of insolvencies over time, we’re not even back to where we were pre-pandemic, trend-wise.”
FALSEHOOD #3: Ted O’Brien falsely said “We’ve learned the lessons from overseas. There’s a reason why over 30 countries today use nuclear energy and over another 50 are looking at introducing it for the very first time. That is because nuclear in the mix brings prices down.”
TRUTH: That’s not the international experience. Ted O’Brien is repeating Peter Dutton’s falsehoods but the truth remains the same: EVERY country is moving toward renewables. Why? Because they’re cheaper.
FALSEHOOD #4: Finally, Ted O’Brien falsely claimed: “They are going to be rolling out tens of thousands of kilometres of transmission lines.”
TRUTH: This isn’t going to happen because it’s not part of Labor’s policy in the first place. The real figure is less than one-seventh the figure parroted by Peter Dutton and a small addition to the 40,000 kms of transmission lines already in operation across the National Energy Market.
According to the Australian Energy Market Operator, only 4,000kms of new transmission lines will be needed in the next decade, and a further 1,000kms of existing lines will require upgrading. Of that 5,000-km total, 1,200kms of transmission lines is already in operation or under construction.
One announcement. Four senior members of the Coalition. Seventeen falsehoods. Absolutely nothing to offer the Australian people but lies, spin and dodgy nuclear reactors. (End of reply)
The bottom line is that Labor MP Patrick Gorman has done his own fact checking of Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan announcement and the question is if Patrick Gorman’s fact checking is true and correct.
Nuclear power will be an issue that will chew up a lot of time during the federal election whether we like it or not.
Because Peter Dutton is pushing nuclear power, Labor will be happy for him to push it as it allows them to respond on an issue they believe is a loser for Dutton and the opposition.
The bonus for Labor is the distraction of nuclear power takes focus away from other issues they don’t want to discuss like the failed National Anti-Corruption Commission, whistleblower protection and cost of living.
If Peter Dutton loses the federal election, I think it will go down in history as the election that “Gina and Rupert lost it for the Liberals”.
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Categories: Peter Dutton
Could you imagine, with these clowns and their greedy owners, building a Nuclear Power Station, at $300 Billion + with the delays, over runs, cost blow outs which are always par for the course, we would be looking at another abysmal failure, and a cost of a Trillion dollars. How wonderful when we already have a nuclear generator, the Sun which seems to be conveniently ignored, Tesla’s free energy, we Geo Thermal, I think we still have some LNG left, that hasn’t been given away at bargain basement prices, we have enough Coal for a couple of thousand years, all because of the “Green” energy lie, we need Carbon, we are Carbon, if these dicks get there way and reduce the amount of Carbon we will all die along with every other living creature on this once beautiful Planet. Don’t these greedy bastards ever have enough money, for most of them, they would never be able to spend it in their lifetime!!! “F” me.
Do you not realise that trees/vegetation are a source of CO2 during the night, so we’re never going to be without carbon? They release oxygen during the day.
Coal needs to be removed from production ASAP, globally. I believe that our government is on the right track. I do wish that they would communicate with the electorate better, though.
And how does Dutton think he’s just going to railroad State governments that refuse nuclear? Also for consideration: what will be the water source for all of Duttons’ reactors? This should be explained as vast amounts of water are required.
Spot on petolof1944
Remember the NBN the liberals changed it from full fibre promised faster and cheaper. Didn’t turn out that way – this is what happens when politicians interfere with big projects. If the original NBN model had been followed it could have been a valuable asset not a liability.
And now the NBN are quietly converting FFTN to FTTP. It would have been far cheaper to do it right the first time.
Dumb & Dutton cares only for votes
“They’re simply not up to it. They’ve never been up to it, and they never will be.”
Not sure who said that about the LNP.
The LNP’s nuclear policy is yet another chapter in their long history of failed energy strategies. Over the course of their nine years in government, the Coalition managed to produce more than 20 different energy policies, none of which were ever successfully implemented. Their inability to land any significant energy reform speaks volumes about their lack of commitment to tackling the nation’s energy challenges. Adding to the absurdity, the Coalition saw numerous changes in Energy Ministers during this time, each one failing to deliver on the promises made. This revolving door of leadership only deepened the sense of instability and confusion around the government’s energy agenda.
Despite these glaring failures, the LNP continues to advocate for nuclear power as a quick fix to Australia’s energy needs. Their nuclear cost estimates are laughably low, ignoring the real-world costs of nuclear projects, which have far exceeded initial projections in countries like the UK. The Coalition’s repeated focus on nuclear power, despite its massive financial and logistical challenges, reveals their unwillingness to learn from past mistakes. Meanwhile, their policies remain disconnected from reality, with energy demands downplayed and emission reduction targets set to be dismantled. This persistent disregard for evidence and failure to act on energy reform makes the LNP’s stance on energy not only frustrating but downright farcical – indeed ludicrous!
If I am not mistaken, I seem to remember someone saying something about the LNP – “like a wandering dog, looking for a policy,”
This self-righteous, virtue signalling “we use green energy and save the planet” (all whilst selling/giving away our coal and gas to foreigners) makes me want to puke🤮!,
According to his Wiki, Patrick Gorman has a degree in social science. Not quite the same thing.
Good pick up. I have deleted it from the above article. I must have read it too fast and only licked up the science.
Why are some people so negative about nuclear? An open mind should be realistic way to go when it comes to base load Nuclear Energy.
If these people take the time to read the United Nations website-
‘Without nuclear, it will be almost impossible to decarbonise by 2050’.
At the 2023 UN (COP28) climate conference 198 countries included nuclear energy in their emissions technologies which need to be scaled up if fossil fuel is to end.
Why is Labor dead set on not even discussing nuclear energy? They title themselves the ‘progressive party.’
1. We don’t need baseload.
2. Nuclear is too expensive as every other review on the planet regarding costs has found.
3. By the time it is built it will be well past the date we require CO2 free electricity generation.
The mere fact that they are telling so many lies to push for nuclear should be a warning enough that it is a scam, most likely just to extend the burning of fossil fuels.
Graeme, you have been seriously misled on all 3 points. Try talking to an Electrical Power Engineer.
Not sure how to take your comment Whyn? Is your comment a genuine offering to this topic or the article presented? It bewildered me.
My reply here is intended to foster an open, informed discussion where ideas and perspectives are shared constructively, and any misunderstandings can be addressed with clarity and evidence.
The throwaway line offered to Graeme is emblematic of dismissive advice often given without substance. “Graeme, you have been seriously misled on all 3 points. Try talking to an Electrical Power Engineer” implies expertise but shirks responsibility to provide any detailed information or justification.
Instead of helping Graeme engage meaningfully with the topic, it offloads the intellectual labor onto him, as if your knowledge Whyn, is beyond explanation or too vast to condense. This approach diminishes both credibility and the importance of addressing Graeme’s points with clarity and evidence.
And where is one to find an Electrical Power Engineer, with all these answers?
I do apologise Whyn but I find your comment to be lazy rhetoric dressed up as intellectual superiority. I encourage you to add more information next time.
Have a Happy Festive Season
Dutton is only about politics and supporting his sponsors in the fossil fuel industry. He will continue to tell lies in the certain knowledge that Albo wont refute them, because he doesn’t want to upset Gina or Rupert either. Who will rid us of these immoral politicians?
Shane, As a lazy taxpayer, is it possible for Mr Dutton to be sent this article and ask him to respond? A pod cast phone interiew with the both of you would be superb.
Private enterprise is lining up to build renewable power plants. They are missing in action when it comes to nuclear power, but that has not stopped “the party of business” from taking the socialist road of government owned and operated nuclear power stations running on taxpayer funds.
That they will after having Australian taxpayers build it, then promptly sell it on to one of their “mates” or themselves, for a PITTANCE.
Remember, the LNP are the financial masters??? Yeah … NAH!!!
Dutton and his partners in crime should be delisted and or deregistered as opposition members of our federal government system, then jailed for their falsehoods.
Nuclear sounds attractive because lots of voters are worried about base load reliability disappearing.
KCA, may I suggest you read “Climate change delusion and the great electricity rip-off”. Written pre 2017, it could have been written now as the statements and chapters still hold true. The author, Professor Ian Plimer, offers annotated graphs, authoritative quotations, and finger pointing but to date he has never been successfully challenged in a Court of Law. Chapter 1, WE’VE BEEN CONNED, first line, “You couldn’t make this up.” sums up beautifully the fraud at foot.
I remember reading a review of Plimer’s book ‘Heaven and Earth’ that was written by a scientist.
The review basically said that Plimer could be right but only if they rewrite the laws of physics, chemistry, heliophysics and a couple of other branches of science.
So basically he was writing garbage. He is a professional denialist who makes up his own ‘facts’.
Sorry, my quote memory was incorrect.
“Seldom has a book been more cleanly murdered by scientists than Ian Plimer’s Ian Plimer’s Heaven and Earth, which purports to show that manmade climate change is nonsense. Since its publication in Australia it has been ridiculed for a hilarious series of schoolboy errors, and its fudging and manipulation of the data. Here is what the reviews have said.
Professor David Karoly, University of Melbourne’s School of Earth Sciences:
“Given the errors, the non-science, and the nonsense in this book, it should be classified as science fiction in any library that wastes its funds buying it. The book can then be placed on the shelves alongside Michael Crichton’s State of Fear, another science fiction book about climate change with many footnotes. The only difference is that there are fewer scientific errors in State of Fear.”
Michael Ashley, professor of astrophysics at the University of NSW:
“Plimer has done an enormous disservice to science, and the dedicated scientists who are trying to understand climate and the influence of humans, by publishing this book. It is not “merely” atmospheric scientists that would have to be wrong for Plimer to be right. It would require a rewriting of biology, geology, physics, oceanography, astronomy and statistics. Plimer’s book deserves to languish on the shelves along with similar pseudo-science such as the writings of Immanuel Velikovsky and Erich von Daniken. “
Ian Plimer is a mining geologist and was involved with a coal mining company until he was “outed”.
I wonder if GraemeF can recall the actual name of “a scientist” or where the review was published? There is no point in rewriting the laws mentioned. They have stood the test of time, at least since I was a Science/Engineering undergraduate 65 years ago, and before. It is you, GraemeF, writing garbage. You seem to overlook Prof. Plimer’s often stated acceptance of continuous Climate change on Earth since its formation. Plimer is scathing of the ratbag element attempting to support believer consensus science, including Flannery, Karoly, Ashley et al.
Whyn Carnie practically every practicing scientist on the planet could tear Plimer’s denialist talking points to shreds and many have.
You are obviously ignorant of the term ‘consensus’ in a scientific setting. It means all investigations into a phenomenon pointing to the same conclusion. In this case that the burning of fossil fuels is heating the planet at a faster rate than anytime that can be determined in history. It is undeniably true that CO2 has greenhouse properties, that was proven in the 1850s. It is undeniable that burning of fossil fuels releases CO2 amongst a noxious chemical exhaust. Those who refuse to accept the evidence are either complete fools or have an agenda.
From my own reading on the subject he is pretty well spot on.
The Coalition have given up on evidence based policies and now only have tactics, most of which are dishonest. Unfortunately they have most the media as their backers including too often the ABC who repeats the garbage as if it is valid without question.
A vote based on a lie is not democracy, it is a con job. I have no idea how to hold these liars to account. Labor certainly doesn’t. They even gave them a ‘get out of jail free’ card by nobbling the NACC.
I wonder if GraemeJF has read any of Ian Plimer’s books or is he confined to alluding to the ad hominem rubbish of the green warmist push. If you do read for yourself the section in the text I referred to, where Plimer draws together the historical evidence revealed in rocks, ice, sediments, biosphere, atmosphere and oceans, rise and fall of recent civilizations into a timeline from the beginning of the Earth up to recent recorded and provable events, you may see he never once denies our climate has and will continue to change. The fraud resulting from data adjustment is repeatedly proven beyond doubt. I could explain this to you but cannot understand it for you. Plimer’s most recent book of commentary from diverse writers (December 2024) may help you.
This Policy announcement by the LNP (at the behest of Gina Rinehart & Big Mining) is no more than attempt to go against the wishes of the majority of Australians – who are against Nuclear Power/Howard tried (who can forget Ziggy Switkowski’s impassioned pleas on behalf of the same powers/that were reeled against by Australians). The Big Mining Cartel is aware that Labor has not been stellar in Government – including attempts to divide the Nation with The Voice…so is Dutton/what better time to push The Nuclear Power proposition…but it will backfire – the LNP will lose more seats and be defeated in what should have been for them the UNLOSEABLE ELECTION purely and simply because of this unwanted Nuclear Power Policy (if they do not know that then they were unworthy of being elected anyway). These two Labor & LNP because of the rules on how to vote have gerrymandered the system so that one of the two will always win/that also has to change!