Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable gentleman for his question. The member refers to events over the last 12 months. A few things have happened over the last 12 months, particularly this year when Russia invaded Ukraine. That happened. I'm sure that the former Minister for Defence is right across all the details about when and how that happened. Another thing that's happened is the impact of that. Today we see thermal coal trading at $534 a tonne, compared to $286 a tonne last December. Of course these things are going to have an impact—

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government's approach is twofold. Firstly, in the short term, senior ministers are working very closely together to ensure the impacts of the Russian invasion do not flow through to industries and businesses without government response and protection. That's how this side of the House works it through, carefully and methodically. We also continue with our medium-term plans to ensure that the cheapest form of renewable energy becomes a greater part of our grid. Nowhere benefits more from that program than the regions of Australia, including North Queensland. The regions will power our renewable Australia. They will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and lower power prices across Australia because we believe in investing in the regions.

Now, we know the opposition has a different view. We had a ministerial statement this morning. The shadow minister responded to me, and he talked about low-cost nuclear energy. Low-cost nuclear energy was their plan. They had their seminar last week—their 'uneconomic atomic frolic'—that was promoting nuclear energy. We know that AEMO and the CSIRO say that nuclear energy from small modular reactors will cost thousands of dollars a kilowatt.

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With 80 reactors, which is what they need, that will cost $400 billion, or 17 per cent of GDP, which is 30 times more than the government spent last year on transport and communications, and over 10 times more than what we spent on defence. But it's okay: the opposition has a plan because the member for Fairfax has announced that the CSIRO is wrong. That's their plan. He's going to wander down to the CSIRO head office and say, 'Sorry, scientists and economists; you are incorrect.' That's their plan.

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They're going to assume nuclear because the member for Fairfax is an economics denier when it comes to nuclear energy.

Mr Ted O'Brien interjecting—