Wednesday, 2 April 2025

Ministers statements: energy policy

Lily D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park – Minister for Climate Action, Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for the State Electricity Commission) (14:18): I rise to reaffirm to the house that the Allan Labor government will never, never go nuclear – absolutely never. Instead we are getting on with the job of building the cleanest, the safest and the cheapest new energy there is: renewable. The results speak for themselves. We are on course to deliver 40 per cent of our electricity supply coming from renewables this year. With new records set already in both January and February, we are not slowing down. It is our record investment in renewables that has given us the lowest wholesale electricity prices and the lowest retail electricity prices in the country, saving hardworking Victorian families money – back in their pockets. We recently signed a really important agreement with our partners in Canberra, the Albanese Labor government, that will deliver a further $14 billion in renewable energy investment in Victoria by 2030.

But all of this is at risk with Peter Dutton’s policy to build toxic, expensive nuclear power plants right here in Victoria. Nuclear is the most expensive form of new energy that you can build, and one thing is for sure: it will guarantee higher electricity bills for every Victorian. The CSIRO says nuclear will cost 400 per cent more than renewables – $600 billion, in fact – plus managing the toxic waste alone would cost $14 billion. We will never allow that in Victoria. We will never allow Victorians to be slugged with nuclear. Why would you, when you have got plenty of wind and plenty of sun to decarbonise our energy system, keep power bills down and create thousands of jobs in the meantime? We will keep on working with our partners in Canberra because that is what is going to deliver more renewables, keep the lights on, power bills down – (Time expired)