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Topic:Government and Politics
The opposition will outline its long-awaited nuclear power costings later today.
Follow all the updates in our live blog.
By Courtney Gould
Meanwhile, Nationals frontbencher Barnaby Joyce was speaking with ABC's RN Breakfast.
Joyce was repeatedly asked if he could promise power prices would be cheaper if the Coalition wins the next election.
The former deputy prime minister, refused to answer the question directly.
"That is asking for a hypothetical question, which I could answer for you, but I would not be telling the truth, because I don’t have the facts before me," he says.
Asked about why the taxpayer should be taking on all the risk to build nuclear, he says it's not a new thing to ask.
Joyce points to the Snowy Hydro 2.0 scheme, announced back in 2017 by then-PM Malcolm Turnbull with a $2 billion price tag, which has blown out to $12 billion.
He says he knows the Coalition were "part of [it] at the start" but for the cost of all the blow outs, which he says will be $32 billion, they could have build "three nuclear reactos".
The Nationals frontbencher says voters will be wrestling with the high cost of electricity at the next election.
"Here's the two points of truth you have to ask yourself: Is my power bill cheap? Am I happy with what is happening? And is every other country on the globe off their head with nuclear power, or are we actually dragging the train?" Joyce says.
By Courtney Gould
A plan to whack Facebook, Google and TikTok with a fresh tax if the tech giants do not strike deals with media outlets for news content is pretty "simple", Anthony Albanese says.
The government unveiled the tax, which could also apply to Apple and Microsoft, would be applied to the platforms' Australian revenue, but can be reduced to zero if they sign agreements similar to those Google and Meta (the owner of Facebook) signed in 2021, including with the ABC.
Albanese tells ABC Radio Melbourne it's about protecting Australian journalism.
"Australian journalism it is really important that we support journalism now. These social media platforms that … essentially don't have journalists working for them, but produce and earn revenue off that work of journalists, be it across the board, whether it's the ABC or News Limited or the Guardian or the Age, they reprint it, send it out in digital form, and they should pay for journalism," he says.
"It's as simple as that well. Otherwise, we will have, let alone some of the smaller organisations, of course, that people rely upon, your PedestrianTVs and some of these sites as well, primarily news."
By Courtney Gould
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in good spirits as he poked fun at Peter Dutton's nuclear power plan this morning.
He says he hasn't had a sneak peek of the policy but disagrees with the argument nuclear would be cheaper than renewables.
"We know this is a plan for the 2040s and in the meantime, I'm not quite sure what he thinks will happen with energy security," he says.
"The truth is that renewables are the cheapest form of new energy. Everyone knows that that's the case."
By Courtney Gould
By Courtney Gould
Labor went to the last election promising to bring down power prices by $275 by 2025. As it fast approaches that self-imposed deadline, Energy Minister Chris Bowen is asked if he regrets making that promise.
He doesn't directly answer the question, instead opting to pivot to talking about the nuclear price tag. What he doesn't regret, he says, is pointing out that renewables will bring prices down.
"I look forward to debating the competing plans before the Australian people at the next election," he says.
News Breakfast host Michael Rowland tries again: "Do you regret promising back then that power prices will be $275 cheaper which they clearly will not be by next year?"
Here's how Bowen responded.
"Well, obviously we're dealing with a different set of circumstances internationally. Australia's increase in energy prices has been less than a lot of other comparable countries. We delivered billions of dollars of energy bill relief which has been the appropriate thing to do, which had been opposed by the Liberal and National Party.
"The next election will be about the plans for the next three years an beyond.
"I mean, what the Liberal Party will propose, is based on what I have read in the newspapers this morning , 38 per cent nuclear by 2050 which will be one of the highest nuclear penetrations in the world, which is the most expensive form of energy, of course, available to any energy system at the moment.
"So good luck to them explaining that to the Australian people."
By Courtney Gould
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has been quick off the blocks this morning, rejecting the Coalition's claim nuclear power will be cheaper than renewables.
As Michelle Grattan, the chief political correspondent at the Conversation, wrote in a piece published on the ABC website this morning, the Coalition's modelling puts the cost of nuclear at $263 billion cheaper than renewables.
The Labor frontbencher says the policy won't pass the pub test, saying the modelling makes "magical assumptions".
"Now, CSIRO and AEMO have been talking about the cost of nuclear since way before we were in office, as being the most expensive form of energy available," he says.
"I mean, fundamentally … what the Coalition is asking the Australian people to believe is this: That they can introduce the most expensive form of energy and it will be end up being cheaper.
"It won't pass the pub test. It won't pass the sniff test because it is just a fantasy."
By Courtney Gould
In the words of Taylor Swift, it's been a long time coming. One has to wonder if the opposition considered today's date, Friday the 13th, when it circled the day on the calendar.
The opposition will today reveal the cost of its nuclear policy, with modelling claiming it will be substantially cheaper than renewable energy.
You can read more about the Coalition's plan below from the Conversation's chief political correspondent Michelle Grattan.
By Courtney Gould
Welcome to our politics live blog. Courtney Gould from the ABC's Parliament House team here to guide you through the day.
Let's dive right in.
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