TRANSCRIPT
"Do I think the Coalition can win the next election? Yes I do. We can and we must for the sake of fellow Australians. Not just because we seek to win but because we're here as we've always been, for the forgotten Australians."
After a week at the centre of a highly-charged political debate, Opposition leader Peter Dutton has sought comfort from an audience of Liberal Party politicians, administrators and party activists.
Supported by his deputy Sussan Ley, the Opposition Leader has revealed his election commitments at the Liberal Federal Council.
At the forefront of his priorities is his nuclear power plan, pledging to open seven plants across the country by 2035 on the sites of retired or retiring coal stations.
Ms Ley has backed those commitments.
"Nuclear is safe, it is reliable, it will produce cleaner, consistent and affordable energy. Peter's plan will mean a new generation of Australians will get the opportunity for world leading skills and get to work in high paying jobs."
Mr Dutton has revealed two nuclear plants would produce electricity by the middle of next decade and be built with public funding under a government-owned business model.
But the plan has faced criticism over a lack of details in the policy.
One of the main elements missing is its price tag.
Assistant Climate Change and Energy Minister Jenny McAllister says that's the multi-billion dollar question the government is demanding answers for.
"This is a plan where the bill will be met by energy users, the risks will be borne by tax payers and the costs will be borne by the communities that miss out on the jobs that will come about when the world moves to net zero. Mr Dutton is not offering a serious policy plan. He is offering poll driven responses and he needs to come clean about detail and stop hiding those aspects of his policy that he knows will be unpalatable to communities."
The prospect of building nuclear power plants in Labor-governed states has been given no attention from the respective premiers.
Instead, Minister McAllister says they're backing the government's transition to renewable energy.
"What we hear from the experts who analyse our opportunities is that the cheapest way to establish a reliable grid for Australians is wind, solar, firmed by batteries and pumped hydro and supported by gas. That is what the experts tell us is the most cost effective way to meet our energy requirements, not a nuclear fantasy cooked up to meet a political imperative for Peter Dutton."
But Peter Dutton has hit back at the states, saying he doesn't follow orders from the Premiers.
"I will work respectfully and collaboratively with state premiers, but I don't answer to them. The decisions I make will be in our national interest to the benefit of the Australian people. Commonwealth laws override state laws to the level of the inconsistency so support or opposition at a state level won't stop us rolling out a new energy system because it's in our national interest to do so."
With a federal election due in less than a year, shows of unity within the Coalition will be sorely needed amid reports of tensions within its ranks over its controversial energy policy.
