“His advice to me was that,in order to bring nuclear into the system,it would take far too long and would be far too expensive for NSW,” Kean said on Monday,while standing alongside Albanese in Parliament House.
“Now,I didn’t want to bankrupt the state and I didn’t want to put those huge costs onto families.”
Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen gained cabinet approval on Monday to appoint Kean to the new post,replacing business chief Grant King,after discussions about the job over the past month.
Sky News revealed comments from Kean as state minister in 2021 that lent support to nuclear power.
“Into the future,will nuclear have a role to play? I think so,and I hope so,but right now I can’t bet on technology that isn’t readily available,” he told Sky at the time.
Loading
Kean said on Monday that the advice he received in 2019 had been supplemented by findings from the CSIRO and others.
“They very clearly say that the cheapest way to transition our electricity system is to move towards renewables backed up by firming and also storage,” he said. He added that this is what he had done while energy minister.
With the major parties clashing in question time,Dutton had to contend with remarkshe made to news siteThe Daily Aus in March last year that ruled out large nuclear power stations.
“I don’t support the establishment of big nuclear facilities here at all – I’m opposed to it,” he said.
“But,for the small modular reactors,we can have them essentially replacing brownfield sites now,so you can turn coal off and put the small modular reactors in,and it’s essentially a plug and play.”
The Coalition plan released last week,however,suggests small modular reactors in two locations and large power plants in five others,with the option of multiple reactors at each of the sites.
Loading
Federal and state governments are pouring taxpayer funds into energy schemes to try to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the closure of coal-fired power stations,offering grants and rebates for those who install rooftop solar panels.
The financial aid has also included mammoth spending on renewable projects such as the Snowy Hydro scheme,support for large-scale solar and wind projects and anemergency payment by the NSW governmentthis month to extend the life of the Eraring coal-fired power station.
Resolve Strategic surveyed 1003 eligible voters from Thursday to Sunday,generating results with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
The survey found voters weresplit on nuclear,with 41 per cent in favour and 37 per cent against,and that a clear majority backed renewables above other energy sources.
In a more detailed question about subsidies,reported here for the first time,voters favoured government support for rooftop solar above all other options.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news,views and expert analysis.Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.