Family First National Director and NSW Legislative Council lead candidate Lyle Shelton says the Albanese Government should immediately lift Australia's ban on nuclear power after signing a deal to export Australian uranium to fuel India's economic growth.
Mr Shelton said there was a glaring contradiction at the heart of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's visit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"It is extraordinary that Anthony Albanese is celebrating the export of Australian uranium to help power India's future while denying Australians the right to use exactly the same technology here at home," Mr Shelton said.
"Prime Minister Modi has made it clear that India intends to expand its nuclear generation from 8.8GW today to 100GW by 2047 because it understands that prosperous modern economies require abundant, reliable baseload power.
"Meanwhile Australia is making itself weaker by doubling down on intermittent wind and solar while maintaining one of the world's most irrational bans on nuclear energy.
"The irony could not be greater. We are happy to dig up our uranium, ship it overseas and help strengthen India's economy, but we refuse to use it to strengthen our own.
"If nuclear power is safe enough for one of Australia's closest strategic partners, why isn't it safe enough for Australians?
"Family First again calls on the Albanese Government to lift Australia's nonsensical ban on nuclear energy and allow Australia to harness one of its greatest natural advantages.
"India is pursuing nuclear because it wants affordable, reliable electricity to power manufacturing, artificial intelligence, industry and economic growth. Australia, by contrast, is saddling families and businesses with soaring electricity prices while pouring billions of dollars into an unreliable electricity system built around weather-dependent wind and solar.
"Family First believes Australia should abandon the destructive net zero agenda, end subsidies for industrial-scale wind and solar, keep coal and gas in the energy mix, and embrace nuclear power as part of a reliable and affordable electricity system.
"We have around a quarter of the world's known uranium resources. It's time we stopped treating uranium as something that's only good enough for export and started using it to deliver prosperity for Australians."
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