Dick Smith’s urgent warning to Albanian government – as Energy Minister Chris Bowen dismisses the idea: ‘Fantasy wrapped in delusion’
Self-made millionaire Dick Smith has expressed his support for nuclear power and urged Anthony Albanese’s government to consider it as a crucial source of electricity for the country to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
When 2GB’s Ben Fordham was asked on Monday morning about advice for the Prime Minister, Smith argued that the federal government should embrace nuclear energy immediately.
“There is no way we can reduce our CO2 emissions without using nuclear energy,” he explained.
‘The Liberals support it, but the PvdA is against it.
‘The worst thing they think is that the country can run entirely on sustainable energy.
‘I am an expert in sustainable energy, I have electric cars that charge from the roof, I participated in the first race for solar vehicles.
‘But I can tell you that in a huge country like Australia it would be impossible to run entirely on renewable energy sources.
Self-made millionaire Dick Smith has urged Anthony Albanese’s government to consider nuclear power in its push for net-zero emissions by 2030.
Mr. Smith noted that France gets 70 percent of its energy from nuclear power. He switched his energy system to energy for the first time in the 1950s.
“We need to replace our coal-fired power plants with nuclear power and get on with it,” Smith said.
However, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the idea of Australia going nuclear was a “fantasy wrapped in a delusion, accompanied by a dream” during an interview with ABC on Sunday.
“It’s not the right solution for Australia,” the Energy Minister told the Insiders program.
“This is an attempt to distract … from Peter Dutton, Australia’s leading climate activist, and we will not be distracted.”
Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Labor of being “mesmerized” by solar panels and wind turbines, while ignoring the potential of nuclear power to reduce household energy costs.
“If nuclear power is so prohibitively expensive, why are more than 50 countries investing in it, including those with smaller economies than Australia?” Dutton said during a speech to the Institute of Public Affairs in July.
‘It is useful that the Minister of Energy is reluctant to mention the costs of storage and transport when he talks about sustainable energy sources being cheaper.’
He added that nuclear energy would produce zero emissions and was a “cheap technology” that could lead the country out of the energy crisis.
Federal Labor is targeting 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030 – up from around a third now – to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Last week, the government announced an expansion of a taxpayer-funded capacity investment program for clean energy projects, including wind, solar, battery and hydropower.
The capacity investment program guarantees companies a pre-agreed minimum revenue when they commit to renewable energy projects, but also allows taxpayers to share in the benefits when prices rise.
States can continue to invest in new gas generation under their own capacity plans, but not under the federal plan.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen is pictured with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
Mr Bowen said: ‘In terms of climate policy, Australia is like the child who forgot the exam and really needs to come home strong in the final term.
“That is what we are doing, and the Albanian government is making up for those ten years of denial and delay.”
Asked whether there was a cap on how much the government is willing to spend on the transition to renewables, Mr Bowen dodged the question.
“When a government enters into commercial negotiations or an auction, it is a fairly standard budgetary treatment to say we will not indicate our price expectations,” he said.
“What we are determined to do is maximize the benefit to the taxpayer and keep those bidders very sharp with their pencils.”
When asked whether households would receive lower energy prices this term, Mr Bowen could not guarantee this.
“We face very challenging international energy market conditions, just as every country and every government in the world does,” he said.
“I’m encouraged by some movements in wholesale prices, very substantial reductions, which will ultimately feed into retail bills in due course.”
Wholesale prices are 71 percent lower than 12 months ago, he said.