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March 28, 2025
SARAH FERGUSON: Now, Victorian Senator James Patterson is the Coalition's campaign spokesman. He's up for re-election this election. He's joining us now from Canberra. James Paterson, welcome to 7.30.
JAMES PATERSON: Good evening, Sarah.
FERGUSON: We're not hearing you talk about nuclear energy much. Why is that?
PATERSON: Well, Peter Dutton spoke about it in his budget reply address in the Parliament last night.
FERGUSON: Only two, I was there and listening, only two brief mentions.
PATERSON: I'm glad you were, Sarah, that's very diligent. But we've been talking about our plan to introduce emissions-free, reliable, proven nuclear technology to Australia for the best part of this parliamentary term. It's an incredibly ambitious policy to launch from opposition, but Peter Dutton has taken this on because he believes it's in our nation's interest. We first revealed last year the seven sites where we'll be rolling out these nuclear power plants. They'll be in energy-mature communities where there are retiring coal-fired power stations, where we can take advantage of the existing poles and wires infrastructure, so we don't have to overbuild it all around the country. And then late last year, we released our independent modelling, which demonstrated that our nuclear power plan, compared to Labor's plan, is 44 per cent cheaper. And that's because we'll have a balanced mix of energy that will include renewables, gas, and coal, transitioning to emissions-free nuclear power rather than the government's reliance on renewables only, which will cost Australians more.
FERGUSON: Now, just in terms of tactics, I talked a little bit there with Richard Miles about the vulnerability for Labor in those outer suburban seats, particularly in Melbourne. Now, have you, as a party, decided to give up, essentially, on the Teal seats and make those seats out of suburban Melbourne, Sydney your focus?
PATERSON: Not at all, Sarah. The Liberal Party is at its best when it aspires to represent all Australians, and the Liberal Party under Peter Dutton aspires to represent Australians. We'll be fighting just as hard for Kooyong with Amelia Hamer as our candidate in inner city Melbourne, as we are for Hawke with Simmone Cottom, our candidate there, in outer suburban Melbourne. And we believe we can win both because Australians, regardless of whether they live in the inner city or the outer suburbs, have suffered under the last three years of Labor government. The Prime Minister, when he was an opposition leader, promised that if Australians voted for a Labor government, that their lives would get better, that things would get cheaper. He even promised cheaper mortgages. But is there an Australian today who can say they are better off today than they were three years ago?
FERGUSON: Now, at the same time, you just talked about your nuclear policy, but part of Peter Dutton's budget reply speech yesterday included an announcement that you would end the government's rewiring the nation program, that is, to build transition lines for renewable energy. How is doing that going to appeal to the voters of Kooyong and other similar seats?
PATERSON: Well, what I find in communities like Kooyong, where I'm the Liberal Party's Patron Senator and I've spent a lot of time campaigning and talking to voters, is they have a mature understanding of what a modern energy system is like. They understand that of the 20 largest economies in the world, 19 of them have nuclear energy or are moving towards nuclear energy in some form, and that Australia is one of the only advanced economies in the world that doesn't have it. They also understand that it's very difficult to sustainably reduce emissions without nuclear power, because the risk that we take in this country if we follow Labor's path is it will de-industrialise our country by going down this renewables-only path. Part-time power for a full-time economy just doesn't work. and it's one of the reasons why 29,000 businesses have closed on this government's watch.
FERGUSON: I feel like I just need to point out, for the sake of our audience, that the government does not have a renewables-only policy. They have a renewable policy which includes gas for peaking and firming. Anyway, let's move on, if I may, to a very different subject. You're at liberty, of course, to come back to that, if you will. But we saw a mention in Laura's package of the influence on politics of Donald Trump, which is profound, obviously, worldwide. The government is trying, including the Prime Minister this morning to frame Peter Dutton as Trump-like. It was inferred this morning rather than stated directly, but we've seen it before. How do you defend Peter Dutton against that suggestion that he is in some way like Donald Trump?
PATERSON: Well, it is a desperate smear campaign from a desperate Prime Minister, he doesn't have a good agenda to sell for the Australian people, he certainly doesn't have a good record to talk about over the last three years because Australians' living standards have been smashed on his watch. And so all he has is personal attacks and smears on Peter Dutton as the alternative Prime Minister. Peter Dutton is a very different person and a very political person than Donald Trump. He's a traditional centre-right conservative, he's been in public life for 25 years. And he's a strong leader who will stand up for Australia, and he'll stand up for Australia to whoever he needs to stand up to, including our American friends. And Australians can have confidence that he will robustly defend our national interest against anyone who seeks to intervene in our country.
FERGUSON: James Paterson, thank you very much indeed. Look forward to speaking to you often during the campaign.
PATERSON: Likewise. Thanks, Sarah.
ENDS