The LNP's nuclear pipe dream would be an expensive disaster

The most extraordinary aspect of this policy is that the reactors will be funded by the taxpayer. The LNP, the party which prides itself on promoting private enterprise and outsources and privatises everything not screwed down, is asking the taxpayer to fund their nuclear power plants.

The only reason they're doing that is because not a single business or bank has indicated they're silly enough to invest in nuclear energy because, amongst others, the CSIRO has indicated it's the most expensive form of energy and not viable. Why would any business or a bank want to invest? The simple answer is they don't.

Like the turkey of Snowy 2.0 and the NBN, the taxpayer will be on the hook for tens of billions of dollars for a badly designed thought bubble just to differentiate the LNP from Labor. Even the Business Council of Australia doesn't think it's a good idea.

The LNP's irrational hatred of renewable energy will cost Australia billions. The LNP can't even agree on this policy with some wanting to abandon renewables.

This has expensive disaster written all over it.

Bravo Peter Dutton for announcing a comprehensive nuclear energy future for Australia, utilising soon-to-close coal fired power station sites and the existing grid.

Given there are around 500 nuclear power plants in operation or under construction world-wide, clearly proving their worth, it is high time Australia came of (nuclear) age.

Climate change and the renewables fantasy have been utilised by the Luddite left for over a decade now, and it has been the gift that keeps on giving. So pervasive have been the scare campaigns that even when yet another prediction of imminent demise fails to materialise, wilder claims are simply tabled and pushed as gospel truth.

When a renewables roll-out plan flops, fails to deliver, or has significant other effects, such as environmental damage from re-wiring Australia, these are just swept under the carpet.

But nuclear is going to be a hard sell with state Labor governments and a hostile Senate to navigate. This policy shows the Coalition has conviction on an important issue: Australia's energy future.

Likening Peter Dutton's nuclear "courage" to that of Galileo isn't only risible it's historical revisionism (Letters, June19).

It was Galileo, the "father of science", who presented the indisputable facts in the face of ignorance. It would be more accurate to compare Dutton and his cohort with the Church leaders of the time who, on the basis of their unprovable religious beliefs, couldn't accept the truth.

Once again, it appears we're heading down the trail of misinformation, along which too many already feel obliged to stumble.

On the subject of nuclear power for Australia, Sankar Kumar Chatterjee (Letters, June 19) asked: "how long it would take, how much would it cost and what would be done with the nuclear waste?".

A typical nuclear power plant takes 10 to 15 years, and costs $10 to $12 billion, to build. Nuclear waste is being stored temporarily on the Lucas Heights medical isotope reactor site.

This is hardly an ideal situation, especially when the proposed marine wind farm 20 kilometres off the Stanwell Park-to-Kiama coast could supply up to 86 per cent of dwellings in Sydney with 24/7, year-round energy.

Crispin Hull ("Here is who's at risk of falling for Dutton's nuclear con trick" June 18) calls those wanting nuclear as part of the energy mix "incapable of processing information and coming to solid conclusions ... plus those who could process information but are either preoccupied with other things or too lazy".

With 70 per cent nuclear power it's a miracle the French can do anything at all. Mon Dieu.

The Coalition's current plans to go nuclear remind me of the 1970s plan by some on that side of politics to go nuclear by blowing a bloody great hole down the middle of Australia with nuclear bombs (to let the ocean in to make the centre of Australia wetter).

And then there was the Bjelke-Petersen plan to build a nuclear plant north of Brisbane.

They all make about as much sense. Leaving aside unrealistic timelines and costs, the danger of radioactive leaks is enormous. Even little Lucas Heights leaks radioactivity from time to time.

And some of the nuclear waste has a half-life of 10,000 years (so half of it is still left after 10,000 years).

Now that's a real legacy for future generations.

No matter how much the Libs purport to distance themselves from the lunatic climate-change denial of the Nats, this is just faux outrage.

When push comes to shove the Libs always jump into bed with the Nats, accepting their preferences, and later, when (as usual) in minority government, accepting a coalition with them, notwithstanding that the Nats will be calling all the shots.

Australia's future depends on a continuation of the sensible centre government we already have. Voters need to see the Libs and Nats as a real threat to our way of life and vote accordingly.

I think it is great Chinese Premier Li Qiang, the next in line to President Xi, is visiting Australia for talks with Albo. As a result, we may expect to end up selling a lot more beef and seafood to China (once Albo apologises enough for Australia having had too much curiosity about the real origins of COVID-19).

The renewal of the "lease" on Adelaide's pair of Great Pandas will probably come up during this visit. Might we ask Albo to try to broaden this deal, in a Nauru Deal kind of way, such that we will agree to take more of China's captive Pandas, if China lets out a few more of their captive Tibetans, Uyghurs and Hong Kongers?

We might be able to learn a lot more about CCP-run China from some of them than from the notoriously tight-lipped and party-line-supporting Giant Pandas?

Mark Kenny ("Dutton lends his 'voice' to divisive election strategy," June 16) on the Starmer/Albanese small-target strategy is enlightening.

We know Labor is up against it when it comes to right-wing deep pockets and media monopolies. Not to mention the fossil fuel corporations themselves, who have run campaigns of greenwashing, off-set scandals, scare tactics and false promises of carbon capture and storage for decades.

Mr Dutton, having successfully divided the nation by presenting the Voice as something other than a positive change for the whole nation, now seeks to repeat the process. But while we may have been able to turn away from First Nations peoples, there is no way to spin the climate crisis as anything but a threat to something even more precious than our hip pockets: our children and grandchildren. That's if you believe in climate science.

Re: "Private school buys $100k robot dog while underpaying staff" (June 13).

It beggars belief how the board at Brindabella CC still remains in place, with the constant mismanagement on display. Yet again another article, this time about the school's $100,000 robot dog, smacks of a self-serving board which lacks accountability.

It is beyond me how this board places the significance of this robotic program over the ability to pay staff their super entitlements. Is this legal? And what is the relevance of the board chair attending workshops for this robotic learning? That would be inconsistent with the duties of a board member. This board's inability to address the community concerns regarding governance and accountability at the school is completely unacceptable.

It's high time they were made accountable for their actions.

Dutton's nuclear gamble might just destroy the Liberals and the Nationals.

Surely Albo has to call an election this year. We can't afford more delay in joining the world in dealing with global heating. Dutton is environmentally, economically and socially irresponsible. He must be stopped.

The revelation the Coalition's nuclear plants would be built using taxpayer money should concern all Australians. If the Coalition is true to form it will then sell them to private enterprise at fire-sale prices. This would effectively gift taxpayer money to their friends in private enterprise.

Prime Minister Gorton's government was on track to build Australia's first nuclear plant for electric power generation. The site was selected in the Jervis Bay Territory. A road was sealed. But what happened then?

Trump and Biden are apparently the oldest men ever to seek presidential office. That is a real cause for concern as Joe Biden appears to be losing his faculties and Donald Trump apparently never had any to lose. It's a lose/lose.

Eighteen months ago I said Labor should be more courageous in its policies rather than adopting a "softly, softly" approach. Now Albo is sliding in the polls. But there is still time to beat "no policy" Dutton with some strong Labor policies for the nation.

If anyone votes for Albo again they must be out of their mind. Since he took over everything has gone from bad to worse. However I think Dutton is as bad as Albo. We need fresh blood to save this country.

So the salary of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs salary will rise to between $809,121 and $859,700. ADF veterans and their families need to negotiate a bureaucratic nightmare for years to achieve any sort of compensation for physical and mental injuries incurred during their service. And then it is just enough to subsist.

In view of the latest poll the PM should go to the election after the electoral commission process is complete and before November 5 to stop Peter Dutton getting any mileage from the US Presidential election and before Trump-Labor issues emerge. Keep the populists out.

I was wondering how I'd vote at the next election until I read Ian Morison's advice (Letters, June 18). There's just one problem. Where do I find "sensible centre-right government". Not with the current crop of wannabes, I suggest.

Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong assure us that our diplomacy with China requires nuance. But doesn't China's panda diplomacy with us just reduce everything to just black and white?