New Environment Minister Used Maiden Speech To Advocate For Nuclear Power
One of the big winners of last week's cabinet reshuffle was Victorian MP Josh Frydenberg, who picked up the environment portfolio, which now includes responsibility for Australia's energy needs.
Stefan Postles / Getty Images
The newly combined environment and energy portfolio received mixed reviews from environmental campaigners, with Greenpeace calling it a "disaster" for the Great Barrier Reef, while Climate Institute CEO John Connor said it can be a chance for environmental progress.
Frydenberg is a staunch advocate of Australia's coal industry. In 2015, he made the "moral case" for coal power and has described himself as the "champion" of Australia's mining industry.
But the minister's views on energy extend well beyond coal and mining.
In his maiden speech in 2010, Frydenberg said it was time Australia had a proper debate about the benefits of nuclear power, saying nuclear is the only "baseload, carbon neutral energy source".
"More than 30 countries have successfully embraced the nuclear concept and more are coming on stream every day. It is a curious moral, economic and environmental position that we find ourselves in where we are prepared to supply uranium but not use it," he said. "Surely it is time to move on from the ideological battles of yesteryear."
BuzzFeed News contacted the minister to see if he still holds these views, but he wasn't willing to be drawn on the issue.
"Australia is fortunate to have access to a wide range of affordable energy sources, both renewable and non-renewable," he said, before pointing us to his response to the South Australian royal commission into nuclear fuel.
Among other things, that report recommended setting up a dumping ground for nuclear waste in South Australia and called for the federal government to relax regulations on nuclear energy to allow the implementation of nuclear power "if required".
In May, Frydenberg welcomed the commission's findings, saying the federal government "stands ready to work with the South Australian Government if they choose to pursue any new economic opportunities in this area that create jobs and growth".
When asked to if he intended to put nuclear power on the agenda, the minister declined to comment further, but did not rule it out.
Greens environment spokesperson Larissa Waters called Frydenberg's 2010 nuclear comments "ill-informed and misleading".
Mick Tsikas / AAPIMAGE
"Minister Frydenberg needs to get some urgent objective briefings on the unacceptable environmental, health, security and social costs associated with every facet of the nuclear industry," she said.
“The uranium price has been in free fall since 2007 and governments around the world are shutting down nuclear power stations. The nuclear industry doesn’t make economic or environmental sense, especially when compared to the job-rich clean energy industry."