Australia\u2019s uranium deal with India amounts to \u201cenergy hypocrisy\u201d, Pauline Hanson says, as the One Nation leader vowed to lift a moratorium on nuclear energy.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister on Thursday confirmed Australia would export uranium for use in India’s nuclear power program.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
India is striving to reach a target of 100 gigawatts of nuclear capacity within the next 20 years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms\u00a0Hanson said\u00a0using the nation\u2019s extensive uranium reserves to support\u00a0India\u2019s\u00a0grand\u00a0targets was at odds with\u00a0a\u00a0domestic\u00a0ban on the power source.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLabor\u2019s\u00a0energy hypocrisy knows no bounds. They ban nuclear energy in Australia but happily export uranium for this purpose overseas,\u201d she said in a statement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are shutting down our coal power plants while exporting\u00a0it\u00a0to other countries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the meantime, Labor is destroying rainforests and native habitats in Queensland \u2013 and invading farms in Victoria \u2013 to build giant wind turbines and thousands of kilometres of new transmission lines.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
One Nation\u00a0would lift a ban on nuclear energy in Australia,\u00a0Ms\u00a0Hanson\u00a0confirmed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The party would also build a 1400MW\u00a0advanced\u00a0pressurised\u00a0water nuclear reactor \u2013 the most common type of reactor \u2013 in New South Wales.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes no sense for Australia, with more than a quarter of the planet\u2019s proven uranium reserves, to ban uranium mining in three states and ban nuclear energy altogether,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0even supposed to be buying nuclear-powered submarines, but we\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0have nuclear-powered cities,\u00a0towns\u00a0and critical industries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur demands for reliable, affordable baseload energy are only going to increase. Renewables\u00a0cannot possibly\u00a0meet this demand. Nuclear power is used safely at more than 450 sites in 28 countries, and more reactors are being built around the world as we speak.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was asked on Friday whether the deal was “hypocritical”.<\/p>\n
Ms\u00a0Wong said the deal had been in place for more than a decade, but both nations were unable to \u201coperationalise\u201d it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now have all the safeguards that are\u00a0required\u00a0to enable Australia\u2019s uranium export,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of domestic energy, every country\u00a0makes a decision\u00a0about its energy profile where\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0going to\u00a0maximise\u00a0its resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what the energy authorities have told us that the fastest, cheapest way to expand the production of energy in Australia to have the least impact on bills is through expansion of renewables with batteries and gas for firming.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Wong disputed renewables were\u00a0failing to meet\u00a0consumers\u2019 needs and pricing expectations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason\u00a0we’ve\u00a0had energy prices be as bad as they\u00a0have been is\u00a0because over the period of the\u00a0previous\u00a0governments, energy exited the\u00a0system\u00a0but no energy came into the system,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had coal-fired power stations telegraphing that they were going to be closed. So they were saying, we’re going to get out. We didn’t have a plan to bring more energy into the system.<\/p>\n
“That is what the government has been working on.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we know\u00a0nuclear\u00a0ultimately will\u00a0cost more, will cost taxpayers. Taxpayers will\u00a0be required\u00a0to fund it for\u00a0a very long\u00a0time,\u00a0and it\u00a0won’t\u00a0be\u00a0feasible\u00a0or operational or commercially\u00a0viable\u00a0for some time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She noted former opposition leader Peter Dutton\u2019s crash-out election run in 2025, with nuclear the signature feature of his energy plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralians made their view\u00a0pretty clear\u00a0about the nuclear energy plan that was going to cost them money,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve\u00a0got a lot more work to do on energy. We know that and we are doing it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked whether Labor would lift the moratorium and \u201clet the market decide\u201d,\u00a0Ms Wong said the market had not\u00a0indicated\u00a0any desire to chase\u00a0nuclear.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0a bit like people saying\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a lot of ideology in this, but\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0also a lot of ideology here. The market has also not wanted to invest in coal-fired power, these\u00a0decisions are being made by the private sector,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking following the deal on Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Australia\u2019s technology, capital and resources would help accelerate his nation\u2019s transition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We have historic opportunities to cooperate in this field,” Modi said, as he urged Australia’s business community to invest long-term in\u00a0India’s road, port,\u00a0rail\u00a0and urban infrastructure projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though both nations agreed to a nuclear cooperation pact in 2014,\u00a0uranium\u00a0exports have been limited over concerns they could end up in\u00a0India’s nuclear weapons program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Australia and India are close partners and even closer friends,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s uranium deal with India amounts to \u201cenergy hypocrisy\u201d, Pauline Hanson says, as the One Nation leader vowed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,1625,11674,35227,18554,11672,15879,9875,1668],"class_list":["post-47890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-energy","tag-hanson","tag-idea","tag-nuclear","tag-pauline","tag-plan","tag-power","tag-sky-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}