Press conference in Fairfield West, Sydney

CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks for coming everyone. Two pieces of analysis out today which undermine and confirm the fact that Peter Dutton's scheme of nuclear energy for us is a dud.

Firstly, Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis has done the work that Mr Dutton has failed to do, and calculated the impact of his energy scheme on energy prices in Australia, an average of $665 across the country, an increase in every single jurisdiction, with families that use more energy paying more under Mr Dutton's plan, and this Institute's analysis has been conservative, has been, if anything, optimistic about nuclear costs. It's been rigorously done based on the actual lived experience of nuclear costs in other countries.

And secondly, of course, today our analysis shows that Mr Dutton's plan, where he says he will pause renewable energy across Australia while we wait for this nuclear fantasy to come on board is a real risk to energy reliability.

The fact of the matter is that Mr Dutton and Mr Littleproud and Mr O'Brien wander around the country saying that they will pause renewable energy investments. Even under their own scheme, they admit that we would not have any nuclear power in Australia until 2035 at the earliest, and that is wildly optimistic.

Now the question that Mr Dutton has to answer is, where will the electricity come from? If we stop building renewables now and nuclear takes so long, as Australia's electricity needs are increasing every day, where will he get the power from? He wanders around making outrageous accusations about black outs under this government, when in fact it's his own scheme which is the biggest risk to reliability in Australia.

Now I see Mr O'Brien out today saying, "Well, you haven't even seen our policy yet". Well, that's sort of a reasonable point by him. Where is the policy, Mr O'Brien?

The Opposition has a chance on Monday. Mr Dutton has a big speech, to clear all this up. It is almost exactly to the day, three months since they announced their alleged nuclear policy. It is in fact just a scheme, with seven sites, no detail, no modelling. It's up to them. If they don't agree with the analysis by IEEFA or the other analysis today, it's up to them to explain what their analysis shows.

They are treating the Australian people like mugs, arrogantly holding the details of their costings, of the modelling, of the impact of their policies on Australians from the Australian people.

They say they've done the work. If they've done the work, they should release the work. They should release it on Monday in Mr Dutton's speech. If anything short of that happens, then it will be a complete dud, and that analysis should have been done by the Treasury or the Parliamentary Budge Office in keeping with existing conventions. It's up to the Opposition. They say they want a big debate about electricity and energy. Show us the deals, show us the plans, show us the impact on Australians.

Happy to take questions perhaps here first, and then on to the phone.

JOURNALIST: Minister, Mr Dutton says that you've failed to bring down costs in the long term. But what confidence do you have that prices won't go up just as much under your policies?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, because we're not planning to introduce the most expensive form of energy available, which is nuclear energy. I mean renewables are the cheapest form of energy, and nuclear's the most expensive form of energy, and Mr Dutton just doesn't understand that.

I give him the benefit of the doubt that he just doesn't know just how the energy system works, that nuclear is so expensive and renewables are the cheapest.

Now he runs around saying that he will solve the energy affordability conundrum by introducing the most expensive form of energy available. Where is his policy? Where are his details? At the moment all we have is seven sites. It's just a scheme which falls apart at the slight analysis.

JOURNALIST: Your department's modelling assumes no utility renewables, no gas and no extension to coal. Are those really credible?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, that's effectively the   "no new renewables" is effectively what the Opposition's saying when they're saying "pause renewables". Even if you extend the coal fired power station's life, it shows ongoing considerable gaps in reliability, and of course that's made worse by the fact that as coal fired power stations age, they become less reliable. That's not the fault of anyone, that's just engineering working.

Very few things get more reliable as they get older, whether it's a car or a coal fired power station. They would rely more on coal fired power stations, remembering that we haven't had a day, not a single day in the last year in which we haven't had an unexpected outage from a coal fired power station.

JOURNALIST: Are you worried that nuclear's more popular in the inner city seats?

CHRIS BOWEN: No. I mean if Mr Dutton wants to have this nuclear debate right up to the next election, that suits me just fine, but he's got to turn up with details, and when the Australian people see those details, when he bothers to share them with the Australian people, it will be clear that this is not a plan or a policy, it's just a scheme.

JOURNALIST: As you mentioned, the Coalition has specifically said that it's going to continue to develop the gas industry, which your department really doesn't account for. Does that invalidate the-  

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, again, where's Mr Dutton's modelling? I mean how much gas would he put in? Where will the gas come from. What fracking would he encourage in Australia's rural and regional areas?

Now gas has an important role to play to support renewables. We've been very clear about that. It's a flexible form of fuel which can support renewables.

Now if Mr Dutton has a gas plan which would see much   many more gas fired peakers, show us the costs, show us the policy. That's not in his current plan.

JOURNALIST: Just one question in relation to John Howard's comments. Do you agree with John Howard that Donald Trump is-  

CHRIS BOWEN: I'm focused on Australian policy and politics, not American policy and politics. Okay. I might go to the phone.

JOURNALIST: [Indistinct] gas and renewables. AEMO has mentioned throughout winter that renewables have been underperforming, they haven't been generating as much energy as had been anticipated and would be better throughout summer. Are you seeing an improvement in that output over the medium term? There's still a concern about gaps in the short term. Do you believe that that renewable situation will improve, that that under performance will improve over the years ahead?

CHRIS BOWEN: Yeah, we're getting good results from renewable energy across Australia; you're seeing that reflected in wholesale prices at the moment, you're seeing that reflected in very strong results across the National Energy Network in terms of energy performance.

Of course we need to build the storage, we're doing that, we'd made significant announcements recently about the first Capacity Investment Scheme round, more announcements to come, and to continue to build the transmission which supports it.

But yes, a well designed renewable system is the lowest cost and most reliable form of energy for the future. Okay, any more-  

JOURNALIST: Mr Dutton's giving a speech on Monday laying out the nuclear plan, as you mentioned. There's due to be some protest activity out the front about the GetUp he's trying to organise. Some members of the government have said this plan is dangerous. Do you support that protest activity against nuclear power?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, people have a right to protest, it should be peaceful of course, it should be well managed in terms of not impeding on people's ability to participate in democracy, but there are protests against Oppositions, against Government all the time. We’re used to that, as long as it's peaceful, and done in accordance with the law, and that's part of our democracy.

JOURNALIST: Thanks very much.

CHRIS BOWEN: All right. Thanks guys.