TRANSCRIPT
THE HON DAN TEHAN MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR WANNON
INTERVIEW WITH PRUE BENTLEY, ABC STATEWIDE DRIVE
24 May 2024
E&OE………………………………
PRUE BENTLEY: Dan Tehan member for Wannon and a member of the Shadow Cabinet. Dan Tehan good afternoon.
DAN TEHAN: Afternoon Prue, I'm coming to you from sunny Beaufort and as just of volunteer week I’ve been out with the local Apex club, chopping wood and delivering it to vulnerable people, or people who might struggle through the winter, so fantastic afternoon here in country Victoria.
BENTLEY: Yes, I’m kind of looking outside I can barely see, but it looks like it might have been clearing up this afternoon so it might be better weather for it. Thank you so much for joining us. How soon are we going to see the Coalition's plans, nuclear plans?
TEHAN: We’ll see the policy in the coming weeks or next couple of months. We're obviously working very hard to finalize it. We want to make sure that when we do finalize it that we've dotted every i crossed every t because it's very important we get it right. As you know there is the potential for us to be facing blackouts this summer and the promised $275 relief for our electricity bills, which was promised by the Albanese Labor government last election hasn't happened, as a matter of fact the opposite has happened. So we want to make sure we absolutely get it right. That's the priority and then we hope to be in a position to release it in the coming weeks.
BENTLEY: I'd like to talk a bit more broadly about nuclear power shortly but several locations in Victoria has been mooted as possible sites, including the Latrobe Valley and also Anglesea, are both of those in?
Tehan: No. Anglesea was ruled out last year, so there will not be a nuclear fired power plant in Anglesea. What is proposed there at the moment is an Eden Project which would be wonderful for tourism down the Great Ocean Road and Anglesea itself. There also isn't the infrastructure around that site. So for those two reasons and others, it has been ruled out and was ruled out last year. It's a shame that the journalist who wrote the story today didn't bother to pick up the phone or Google because they would have then been able to find out that their story had one glaring error in it, but they didn't do that. But they will not a nuclear power plant in Anglesea.
BENTLEY: That leaves just the Latrobe Valley at this stage as far as I'm aware. So have you had those conversations with the local member Darren Chester?
TEHAN: Well, obviously, in putting the policy together we've been very conscious of the fact that we've got to get all the details right, but that also that community consultation would have to be a key part of it, as well as understanding the needs of local communities, understanding infrastructure packages, and other things that would be required if a particular region was to put its hand up and to say, yes, we think this is a very good way for us to get to net zero by 2050. So, all that detail will be outlined when we announced the policy in the coming weeks. There's not a lot of evidence of state support for this technology. Here's Nationals member for Morwell Martin Cameron, “I think everything needs to be on the table so we can have a discussion about it, see what works and what doesn't work, but please rest assured that there's no one turning a sod of dirt to put a nuclear power station in the Latrobe Valley this morning I can guarantee that”. Do you have to do some work to convince not just the general public, local communities, but also the states?
TEHAN: Well, obviously the states will be a part of it. But one of the things we've found out this week is that sadly here in Victoria, and in some of the other states, we're looking at blackouts over the next summer. So one of the things that we do have to do is have a very sensible, rational debate about what we're going to need for our power needs going forward. And as was just said then making sure that all options are on the table. All the most advanced countries in the world, the G20, nearly every one of them either has nuclear power plants or are looking at them as part of their power needs. And we think it's something that we should be looking at as well. And obviously, you know, people thought that nuclear powered submarines would be something that we would never see here in Australia yet both sides of politics now, in a bipartisan way, obviously support nuclear for nuclear powered submarines. They will obviously dock off Adelaide and off Perth. We will have to get rid of the nuclear waste. That's one of the commitments that we've given as part of the AUKUS agreement, both sides in lockstep with that. So as you know, things advance over time and if it becomes clear that we need a mix for our power needs into the future, we just think it’s sensible that nuclear should be one of those options.
BENTLEY: You will need to change the either one of the acts that currently bans nuclear in Australia though wouldn't you and you would most likely need the states to get on board to make that happen?
TEHAN: Well, we would need to obviously talk and consult with and liaise with state governments. And that will be part of the policy going forward. And as you as you know, state governments change. They change political colour, and they change their views on policies, and that's just the normal course of events. And I think, as becomes more and more apparent, that other countries understand and know the importance of having a proper mix available, then I think public opinion will change as the globe changes, as we seek to reach net zero by 2050.
BENTLEY: This is the Premier Jacinta Allen's opinion this morning, “I can take the opportunity to make it absolutely clear that nuclear energy will never be part of the mix here under a Victorian Labor government. I want to send this message to the communities of Anglesea and the Latrobe Valley that me and my government will stand with those communities against a federal Liberal National Coalition who want to bring toxic, risky, expensive nuclear power plants into their backyard.” That's pretty unequivocal from the Premier this morning, do you know where the opposition leader John Pesutto stands on this?
TEHAN: Look, obviously, we will keep talking with the state opposition but at the moment we're focused on our own policy and I'd say this to Jacinta Allen. If Jacinta Allen is so opposed to nuclear energy, I assume she would never travel to Japan, the United States, to France, to the United Kingdom to Canada. I assume she wouldn't be such a hypocrite to visit those countries given this outright opposition to nuclear and those adjectives that she used. I mean, let's take France for instance: 80% of their energy comes from nuclear power…
BENTLEY: But that is a very well established nuclear country isn’t it? They have had it for a very, very long time. We're talking about starting an industry from scratch with little to no expertise within the country.
TEHAN: … Well, we obviously, the safety development, technology has developed a lot further than what it was when it was started in France and France is the most visited country on Earth. And 80% of its energy comes from nuclear. So Jacinta Allen can use all that sort of fear mongering. What I would say to her is just focus on fixing the debt situation in Victoria, and try spending a little bit of money on country roads, that would be a greater priority than trying to fear the community with language like that. And I would love to ask whether she's ever visited any of those countries because if that's her opinion of nuclear energy, I imagined she wouldn’t of.
BENTLEY: Dan Tehan look, I know you've got plenty to do so I won't keep you much longer, but do we have the expertise and capability to build something like this? I mean, we're talking about a brand new industry in Australia and we just simply don't have the engineers and the nuclear experts do we?
TEHAN: Well Prue, we believe that we have the expertise to be able to, in the first instance bring nuclear submarines to this country and then to over time to build them, now if we can build nuclear submarines, then I think we've got the expertise to be able to do the same thing when it comes to nuclear energy. I've got great confidence in our ability as a nation to do anything, as is required and as is needed. And if we are very serious about reaching net zero by 2050 it's one of the options any sensible government would look at.
BENTLEY: How will we pay for it? How much public money would the Coalition be willing to earmark to get this up and running?
TEHAN: Well, we've made it clear we want the policy to stand on its own two feet, and that is what we will be seeking to do and all those details will be….
BENTLEY: So no public money?
TEHAN: Well, the Shadow Treasurer has made it very clear that we want this policy to stand on its own two feet and all that detail will be outlined when we release the policy itself.
BENTLEY: Okay, thank you very much for your time Dan Tehan.
ENDS
