Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Minchin, the Minister representing the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources. Is the minister aware of reports that Ron Walker, Hugh Morgan and Robert Champion de Crespigny are key shareholders in Australian Nuclear Energy Pty Ltd, a private company considering building nuclear power stations in Victoria and South Australia? Has the minister, or have any of his cabinet colleagues, discussed these plans with the company or any of its representatives? Can the minister also indicate whether the government was already having discussions with this company about the location of nuclear power stations before the release of the Switkowski report? Is the minister aware that it was revealed at Senate estimates that the government has a 31 March deadline for its response to the Switkowski report? Isn’t the reason for the urgency in this response all about the Howard government giving the green light to companies like this to build nuclear power stations in Australia?