Robert Pritchard, Energy Policy Institute of Australia (December 2022).
The Australian Senate is considering a minority member’s bill to remove the longstanding prohibitions on nuclear installations under Australian legislation. The bill is not supported by the current government but been referred to a Senate Committee to report in early 2023.
The Energy Policy Institute of Australia has always opposed legislation that discriminates against particular energy forms. The current prohibitions are highly discriminatory, they are damaging to the economy as a whole and are likely to become more damaging the longer they remain in place.
The current prohibitions should be removed. Alternatively, they should be tailored to apply to individual Australian states by leaving it to each state to regulate nuclear installations within its own borders.
Potential hubs for nuclear energy innovation and development should be identified through community engagement and developed with community, federal and state government and trade union support.
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