Dutton’s nuclear dead cat

The climate crisis and power prices have been back in the news lately. 

Let’s get one thing straight. The reason we’re paying too much for power is because big corporations are making massive profits, at our expense. 

Peter Dutton announced that he would pursue nuclear power. In reality, it’s an attempt to lock in profits for coal and gas corporations. It’s not serious. 

It is a dead cat. It’s a distraction being peddled by the coal and gas corporations that are trying to keep mining and burning their deadly products. It will lock in expensive coal and gas for decades, so they can keep making billions in profits and you can keep paying record energy prices.  

It’s a distraction because Dutton has no chance of winning the next election. Even if he did, he would never be able to get his dangerous plans through the Senate. 

The debate about targets and nuclear power is about little more than hot air. Neither Labor nor Liberal targets will meet Paris climate goals, with both committed to coal and gas. 

While all that was happening, it’s possible you missed some of what we have been able to achieve in Parliament. We were able to force Labor to shelve their plans to fast-track offshore gas. 

In Parliament, you get used to seeing the government walk in and demand the Parliament back whatever changes the coal and gas industry demands, so it was significant for us to be able to use our numbers, take them on and prevent more offshore gas from being accelerated. 

Labor’s plan ignored the concerns of First Nations people who were opposed to the offshore gas developments. 

Now we need to make coal and gas corporations pay more tax.

Fifty-four coal and gas corporations made more than $100 billion in revenue in the last financial year and didn’t pay a single cent in tax.   

We’re in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, people are being forced to choose between eating and heating their homes, and Labor is refusing to make coal and gas corporations pay their fair share of tax as pushed by The Greens.

And we’re in the middle of a climate crisis, but emissions still keep going up. The latest data shows pollution has risen since Labor came to office. The massive support for more coal and gas is putting a safer future for us all out of reach. •