By PHILIP HOPKINS
AUSTRALIA is already falling behind in the AI revolution and will need nuclear power to provide the reliable power that AI will require, according to the leader of The Nationals, David Littleproud.
His comments came as Nuclear for Australia highlighted the growing trend towards nuclear power throughout Western Europe.
Mr Littleproud was responding to a question on Sky News regarding the growing demand worldwide for 20-year-contracts for nuclear energy. Mr Littleproud said Australia was falling behind in this worldwide trend.
“That’s why The Nationals walked away from the Coalition a couple of weeks ago, because we believe that we should have a technology agnostic approach. We’re going to have to face up to the reality we will need nuclear energy at some point to have a competitive economy,” he said.
“And when you’ve got the Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn running around espousing the virtues of AI, which I agree with totally – we’re not going to be able to do it here in Australia unless you have a reliable baseload power to provide the energy to underpin it.”
Mr Littleproud said that if chief executives want AI in this country, “we are going to have to have the courage to face into it”.
“The world economy is moving. We’re getting left behind. Australian jobs will be left behind and the cost of putting baseload power in will go up unless we face into it now. And that’s the missed opportunity,” he said.
“But we’re not giving up on it. We should lean into it. The world’s giving us strong signals about how we should do energy, how we should have our economy run in a competitive way. And if we don’t take those signs, then unfortunately Australian jobs are going to be lost. And that’s all because the ideology isn’t meeting the practical reality of physics and economics.”
Mr Littleproud said the moratorium on nuclear energy should be lifted.
“It should never have been traded away by John Howard in a deal with the Democrats and Greens to get legislation through. The reality is you can and it is more cheaper than an all-renewables approach. Frontier Economics clearly identified that,” he said.
“But if we take away the moratorium, you will see organisations like Meta and other AI organisations that want to get into the economy and grow the economy will be able to do it here in Australia rather than other parts of the world because you will need three times, maybe more, the energy generation from renewables with batteries that don’t even exist, that last more than 20 minutes to be able to underpin this, that give any confidence.”
Mr Littleproud said the government should come clear on the total cost of their renewables-based policy.
“They’ve been very quick to denigrate the Coalition on what our plans were, which was $330 billion, not the $600 billion they said. So what’s their cost? Why aren’t they telling the Australian people, they’re the government, what their integrated plan will cost in terms of energy. They’re not being upfront and honest,” he said.
“And I think it’s now time for the government to tell us exactly what their energy grid, their renewables approach will cost the Australian people, not just in capital costs but also their energy bills moving forward. Because if you remember, they promised us a $275 reduction this year in 2025 and it hasn’t come. It has gone up by $1300.”
Nuclear for Australia indicated that the nuclear tide was turning in Europe.
Belgium has repealed its 2003 nuclear exit law, which imposed a closure date on the country’s reactors and banned the construction of nuclear power plants. With four reactors still in operation, the Belgian parliament has reversed course – extending the life of key units and re-integrating nuclear energy into the country’s long-term energy strategy.
Germany has dropped its long-held opposition to nuclear power, agreeing to support France’s push to remove anti-nuclear bias in European Union legislation.
Denmark is considering lifting its 40 year-old ban on nuclear power, approving an analysis of the potential benefits of nuclear technologies to enhance its energy security.
After hosting one of Europe’s largest power blackout in decades, Spain is revisiting initial plans to shut down the country’s seven nuclear reactors by 2035, signalling an openness to keep some reactors online to ensure stable energy supply.
Earlier this year, the Italian Council of Ministers approved a plan to revive nuclear power nearly three decades after the country turned its back on atomic energy.
“Currently 17 European countries have nuclear power. Poland begins construction of its first nuclear power plant next year, bringing the total to 18,” Nuclear for Australia said.
“As the energy crisis worsens, nuclear energy is making a comeback across Europe as the obvious case for nuclear continues to grow. The fact is nuclear power is inevitable in Australia. All we lack is the political will.
“Which is why our mission is singular: to keep nuclear energy on the national agenda until our government recognises, as these European governments have, that our country cannot keep pace with the fast-rising demand for low-carbon energy without nuclear power.”
