Coalition’s nuclear power plan is ‘economic insanity’, Jim Chalmers says on eve of major Dutton speech

It will cost more, it will push prices up, it will take longer,’ treasurer says of opposition leader’s ‘fantasy’

Coalition plans to build seven nuclear power plants are “economic insanity”, Jim Chalmers has said, in the lead-up to a speech by Peter Dutton that is expected to provide new details of the policy.

The federal opposition has outlined plans to build seven nuclear reactors across five states, should it win the next election, with the first to be built by 2035 to 2037 at the earliest.

The proposed reactors would be built in areas with existing coal-fired power stations, including the Hunter Valley and Lithgow in New South Wales, Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, Collie in Western Australia and Port Augusta in South Australia.

The opposition leader is due to lay out more information about the proposal in a major speech to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia on Monday.

But the treasurer said the plan would not solve energy problems.

“Peter Dutton’s nuclear fantasy is economic insanity,” Chalmers told Sky News on Sunday. “It costs more, it will push power prices up, it will take longer.

“He needs to come clean tomorrow in this speech: what will it cost, what will it mean for power bills, how will he pay for it, and what will Australia do for the decades it will take to build these reactors.”

The opposition environment spokesperson, Jonno Duniam, said it was unlikely Dutton would lay out the plan’s costs in the speech.

He accused the government of running a scare campaign about the use of nuclear power. “We’ll release the costings well and truly before the election, and Australians deserve to know, and we will have that data out there,” he told Sky News.

“We’ll continue to mount the case for having this as a choice in the energy mix at the right time ... we won’t be goaded into [releasing costings] on the government’s timing.”

The speech comes as a report released on Friday showed a typical household electricity bill could rise by $665 a year on average if nuclear power were added to the energy grid.

Chalmers said the lack of detail surrounding the policy was concerning.

“[Peter Dutton] is a big risk to energy and to power prices in this country,” he said. “The fact that he’s not prepared to release those details, I think, should ring alarm bells for every Australian.”

Cover photo: Peter Dutton’s nuclear fantasy is economic insanity,’ Jim Chalmers said on Sunday. Composite: AAP