Press conference, Sydney, NSW

CHRIS BOWEN: Peter Dutton had a nuclear meltdown on television this morning. He was asked when they will release their detailed nuclear plans. Where will the nuclear power stations be? How much will they cost?

Now over recent weeks, there have been 16 separate articles informed by the Liberal Party saying that these plans would be announced before the Budget. Peter Dutton has said over the last month that the plans will be released in coming weeks. Today, he confirmed in fact it would be just before the next election. Not before the budget, but before the election. Now it's 22 months since the last election. 22 months they've been talking about nuclear. 22 months they've been having a conversation about nuclear. 22 months they've been telling journalists that their plans are ready to go, that they've been modelled, and they're all set. It's a maximum of 13 months to the next election.

The time has well and truly come for Peter Dutton to level with the Australian people. No more leaks, no more conversations. Tell us, Mr. Dutton, where will your nuclear power stations be? What towns will you be putting your nuclear power plants in? Level with the Australian people. Be honest with them. How much will it cost? And what will the cost be to Australian electricity users when it's passed on to them? Mr. Dutton's had plenty of time to get this right. We know what's happening here. We know that the Liberal leaders in NSW, Victoria and Queensland have all said if they became permanent, they wouldn't lift the state bans. They don't want nuclear power in their states. If it's too radical for the Queensland Liberal National Party to support nuclear, why should the Australian people support nuclear? If Mr. Dutton and Mr. Littleproud's own branch, the LNP, won't support nuclear, why should the Australian people?

Secondly, Mr. Dutton again repeated today his claim that Australia is the only G20 country not to have nuclear power or to be moving towards it. It's a lie. And he was called out on that lie today. And when he was called out on that lie, he looked like a kangaroo in the headlights. In fact, Germany and Italy have had nuclear power and have gotten rid of it. Italy with a referendum. Germany has moved over the last decade to remove nuclear power and has done so. So, when Mr. Dutton says that Australia is the only G20 country without nuclear power or moving towards nuclear power, he's lying. He was called out on it today. He should stop. He should in fact come up with his own plans. He should support new energy generation in Australia, and he should outline to the Australian people his plans in detail. Then we can have a debate. He wants to sell nuclear power to the Australian people, then we can debate it across the country, including the six sites which he knows where he's going to put it. But he won't tell the Australian people. He won't tell the people in those towns and locations where it'll be. So, time's up, Mr. Dutton, level with the Australian people. What are your plans? Stop lying about nuclear policy. Tell us what your nuclear policy is. Over to you folks.

JOURNALIST: There's some advanced economies though, that are talking about potentially tripling their nuclear capacity in the four decades. Does Australia not risk being left behind if it doesn't at least have the door open to this technology?

CHRIS BOWEN: There are 22 countries that signed a pledge to triple nuclear power by 2050. By 2050. There's more than 120 countries in the same week signed a pledge to triple renewable power by 2030, just in the next six years. More than 120 countries going down the nuclear- the sorry, more than 120 countries going down the renewable road. 20 who are saying they will go down the nuclear road. One per cent of renewable capacity is the equivalent of what's been added in nuclear over the last year. So, what's been added in nuclear equals one per cent of what's been added in renewables.

The world is transitioning to renewables. And when Mr. Dutton and Mr. Littleproud say that Australia has too much renewables and we should pause, they are the ones who are out of touch with what the rest of the world is doing.

JOURNALIST: Do you agree that coal-fired power stations shouldn't be turned off into the new energy system and that states are negotiating life extension of the plants, that's true?

CHRIS BOWEN: It's absolutely the case that we need to manage the transition and we need the new power coming on before the old powers turn off. That's a very basic principle, one that we have always agreed with. Nothing new there. New South Wales is in discussions about Eraring. That's the only public discussions and the only discussions that I'm aware of in relation to coal-fired power at the moment. Here's the point. Mr. Dutton and Mr. Littleproud have called for a pause for in renewables. So, they are the ones calling for the new energy to be slowed down. Now when they say they want to rely on coal fire power for longer, that's not just a problem for emissions, that's a massive problem for reliability. Our coal-fired power stations are getting older and more unreliable. And when one breaks down, as they do increasingly because they're very old pieces of equipment, that is the biggest risk to reliability in our energy system. So, Mr. Dutton and Mr. Littleproud are proposing a reliability risk. Alternatively, they are going to suggest new coal-fired power stations like they promised last time. And they wasted millions of dollars of taxpayer money on fake plans for new coal-fired power station at Collinsville. Again, if Mr. Dutton and Mr. Littleproud have a plan, they should have the guts to be honest with the Australian people about what it is.

JOURNALIST: If it is bipartisan policy to support nuclear submarines, why shouldn't Labor support at least the concept of civilian nuclear power?

CHRIS BOWEN: It's entirely hypocritical for the liberal party to make that argument. When Mr. Morrison announced AUKUS, announced nuclear submarines, he was the one who said there is zero link with nuclear power. He said there is no need for a nuclear civil capacity in Australia. There's no link. Was Mr. Morrison telling the truth then? Yes, he was. The Liberal Party has forgotten, conveniently ignoring what Mr. Morrison said.

JOURNALIST: Isn't it fair enough though that these plans would take a while to formulate? I mean your government; you know yourself how long these sorts of plans can take -

CHRIS BOWEN: And it's been 22 months. And by now in opposition of the last term, the Labor Party had announced a lot of energy policy. A lot of energy policy. Mr. Dutton's announced no policies about anything. He keeps talking about releasing a nuclear policy. The time for talk is over. Where's your policy, Mr. Dutton? Where are your sites? The people where Mr. Dutton is proposing these sites deserve to know now. Some will be comfortable with it, some won't be. But they deserve to know.

JOURNALIST: Mr. Bowen, around the corner, what we saw on Monday night was the Wakeley terrorist attack. What was your initial reaction to that? And a week on now, people are coming back to that church. How good is that, to see the community coming together?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, of course, it's been a difficult week in our community. I've obviously been involved in many discussions, many meetings. I want to thank the Premier for coming out twice to Fairfield to meet with the Syrian community and others and the police. And I want to thank the Commissioner for coming twice and the Police Minister for coming twice to meet with the state member David Saliba and I on several occasions. Of course, these were shocking scenes on Monday night, stabbing, followed by the melee outside the church. Both shocking events. I fully support the action of the police in dealing with both those events. And it's important that the police have our support. Obviously, I've also been talking to local faith leaders as ladies yesterday and talking to local bishops and priests. Today, not just at that church have people been returning, but churches across our community in very great numbers. I think probably bigger numbers today. People making the point of going to church today in bigger numbers, in my observation as I've been around the community. I think that's a very warm thing to see. The community has responded very, very well. The faith leaders, in calling for calm and tolerance and harmony of all faiths, have been calling for that. And the community has responded in turn, and I'm very proud of that.

JOURNALIST: How important is it that that peace continues?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, of course, it's vital. I mean, we live in, I live in and represent one of the most successful areas when it comes to multiculturalism in the world. You know, I grew up here. I went to school with people for whom their country people were at war on the other side of the world. But we were at school together playing sport, and that was multiculturalism at its best. And we retained that in Fairfield, in this community today, in 2024. And, of course, that respect for each other's religions, the respect for each other's beliefs, is absolutely poor. And in 99.9 per cent of cases, that's what I see every day as I live in this community.

JOURNALIST: Some of this was obviously fuelled by social media. The opposition sounds more open to working with the government on a Misinformation Bill. What approach is the government taking on a rewrite of that bill and are you confident it might succeed in Parliament?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, in the first instance, of course, we're implementing the law of the land as it stands. The eSafety Commissioner has been very active. The Minister for Communications has been active. I've had instance, on behalf of the Premier of NSW to raise an issue with the Communications Minister who's passed it on. The eSafety Commissioner has been dealt with appropriately under the course of the law, and we're seeing that play out now.

And it is important that the law is implemented, and I say this. I've seen the comments of Elon Musk. Elon Musk might be happy for Twitter to be a suspect of misinformation and violence. We're not and we won't put up with it. Elon Musk might think he's above Australian law. We don't agree. All social media in Australia should comply with Australian law and we will implement Australian law as it stands.

Now, to your question about reforms, obviously, I'm not going to speak on behalf of Communication Minister or the Attorney-General. Obviously, where we see a case for reform, we consider that very carefully. I note and welcome the comments of the leader of the Opposition in that regard. But in the first instance, we implement the law of the land that was implemented and should be enforced. And we are enforcing it. The eSafety commissioner is enforcing it.

JOURNALIST: Given what we saw on Monday night, are you afraid that we might see something similar to this nature in the near future?

CHRIS BOWEN: I don't. Look, we always have to be alert. But I don't think we should assume that one terrible event leads to other terrible events. As I said, I've been very proud of the response of my community, of this community, since Monday night. In my many, many, many discussions with community members, with faith leaders and others. And what we saw on Monday night was a terrible event. But it cannot be the new normal, and I don't believe it is and will be the new normal.

JOURNALIST: Do you think we would have seen what we saw on Monday night had it not been for the presence of social media there?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, there's no doubt that social media and other platforms, whether it's WhatsApp, played a big role in spreading word. Now, there's nothing wrong with spreading news. There's a big problem with spreading misinformation or spreading incitements to violence. You know, calls to go and, and perpetrate violence. Now, there'll be further investigations, but that's not on. And of course, social media played a role in that.

JOURNALIST: Have you been in touch with the bishop that was attacked?

CHRIS BOWEN: No, no, he's in hospital and should be allowed to recover. I've been in touch with faith leaders right across the community, and in due course, I'll talk to him when he's recovered.

JOURNALIST: Do you have any problems with, you know, the concept of a government saying, "we don't like this information, we'd like you to take it down"?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, it's not information we don't like. I mean, there's plenty of stuff on social media I don't agree with. There's the tip. I see plenty of comments on social media that I wouldn't post or wouldn't agree with. That's fine. That's what social media, to some degree, is for. What social media is not for is disinformation, you know, just spreading terrible false information. And we saw that in the aftermath of Bondi. You know, I was horrified as I was reading X in the hours after the Bondi tragedy. Just speculation about who had perpetrated crime. Wrong information and people asserting about what religion the perpetrator came from. All wrong, all false, and all promoting disharmony, deliberate disharmony. And it's not okay. It's not okay for the people to post it, and it's not okay for the social media platforms to be comfortable with it.

JOURNALIST: Don't you think, though, that we could reach a difficult kind of blurred line where some government's misinformation is another government's truth?

CHRIS BOWEN: It's always a balance to be struck. But I think any sensible, reasonable person could look at a very sensitive situation, whether it is Bondi or Wakeley, and say some things are clearly designed to spread false information and to incite violence, and they should have no role in any single discourse. It's not okay for that on social media or anywhere else. Okay. All good?

JOURNALIST: Thanks very much.

CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks.