Every Gold Coaster deserves access to cheaper, cleaner, and consistent electricity. But under the Albanese Labor Government, this isn’t happening, and quite frankly won’t ever happen.

Labor’s renewables-only approach is not only failing on reliability, but won’t achieve their self-imposed interim emission targets, and it’s households and businesses paying the price. 

Power bills have already increased by up to $1,000 for many Australians, when they were promised a $275 cut. And Labor’s climate target of 43% emissions reduction by 2030 is in tatters.

The Labor Government is now suggesting a 65 to 75 per cent emissions reduction by 2035, but won’t release modelling and won’t tell us how much more power prices will have to go up. 

We all want to see reduced emissions and to achieve net zero by 2050. The question is how do we achieve this in a realistic way that keeps the lights on?

The Coalition believes in an all-of-the-above approach to achieve a balanced energy mix that we know can deliver cheaper, cleaner, and consistent 24/7 electricity. 

We need to look at alternatives with an ability to scale, because 90 per cent of baseload electricity, predominantly coal fired power stations, is expected to come to an end over the next decade. 

If there is no appetite to build or renew coal fired power stations, we must find a way to replace the baseload power.

We’ve seen the consequences in states like Victoria where mass power outages are occurring due to renewable energy’s inability to keep up.

Nuclear energy for Australia is an idea whose time has come. 

A future Federal Coalition Government will introduce zero-emissions nuclear energy in Australia, which has proven to get electricity prices and emissions down all over the world.

For decades people have said “trust the science”. It is science that has identified the problem of climate change, now let’s use science to solve that problem. Imagine if in 2035 we can make the switch to nuclear.

A key advantage of modern zero-emissions nuclear plants is they can be plugged into existing grids. This means they can effectively replace retired or retiring coal plants and avoid much of the new spending needed for Labor’s ‘renewables-only’ system.

Labor’s approach means imposing 58 million solar panels, 3,500 new industrial wind turbines, and up to 28,000 kilometres of new transmission lines across the country. Energy experts have warned Labor’s rollout will cost between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion – costs of which will inevitably be passed on to you in the form of higher power bills. 

No country in the world relies solely on solar and wind as Labor is proposing. 

By contrast, there are 32 countries operating zero-emissions nuclear plants and another 50 countries that are looking to do so. 

Of the world’s 20 largest economies, Australia is the only one not using nuclear energy, or moving towards using it – no wonder Australian power bills are among the highest in the world. 

If we expect to see relief for Gold Coast’s electricity bills, Australia must embrace zero-emissions nuclear. 

Our plan will deliver a net-zero electricity grid by 2050 and a strong and resilient economy. It will set up our country for decades to come. 

A Federal Coalition Government will initially develop two projects with either small modular reactors or bigger modern plants that will start generating electricity by 2035 (with small modular reactors) or 2037 (if modern larger plants are found to be the best option). 

The Australian Government will own these assets, but form partnerships with experienced nuclear companies to build and operate them. 

We know the Prime Minister and his Government will mount the mother-of-all scare campaigns against zero-emissions nuclear energy, but if we’re serious about hitting our net zero emissions goal by 2050, we must include zero-emission nuclear power. 

Nuclear power plants produce no air pollution or carbon emissions. For example, a 1.1 GW AP-1000 reactor cuts approximately seven million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions, equivalent to removing 1.5 million cars from the road – (now that sounds much better than Labor’s proposed family car and ute tax / vehicle emissions standard!)

The Coalition’s plan would establish seven sites with pre-existing power stations that have either closed or are scheduled to close. There are no proposed sites on the Gold Coast.

These remote and rural locations include two Queensland based sites at the Tarong Power Station, and the Callide Power Station. 

Each of these locations offer important technical attributes needed for a zero-emissions nuclear plant, including cooling water capacity and transmission infrastructure.

A zero-emissions nuclear power plant will be a national asset delivering cheaper, cleaner and consistent energy for 80 years. 

Establishing an Australian nuclear energy programme is the right decision for you, your children and your grandchildren.