Press conference with Member for Reid, Sally Sitou in Cabarita, Sydney

SALLY SITOU, MEMBER FOR REID: We know families are suffering a cost of living challenge at the moment, so it's pretty extraordinary that the only policy Peter Dutton is offering them is a nuclear energy policy that will add to their energy bills. The Albanese Labor Government is going to be providing tax cuts and energy bill relief from the first of July, and that is exactly what families need at the moment. Really excited to have Assistant Minister Jenny McAllister here with me.

SENATOR JENNY McALLISTER, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY: Thank you, Sally, and it's terrific to be to you. You are such a champion for your electorate, and so clearly in touch with the practical policies actually required to deal with the challenges right now.

Now, Peter Dutton is always about the politics and never about the policy, and we've seen that again this morning. Any number of things could have been released this morning to coincide with Mr Dutton’s address to the Liberal faithful. But what did they choose to leak out? Polling. I have a tip for Mr Dutton, polling is not policy, and is not a serious response to the challenges that Australia needs to face up to. Now, Mr Dutton could have used today to answer any number of questions that are yet to be answered about his policy. He could have talked about how much it will cost. He could have talked about what it will do to bills. He could have talked about exactly how much energy they plan to generate from nuclear. He could have talked about what they're going to do to build the industrial capability that would be necessary to start a nuclear industry from scratch. But he has done none of those things. Instead, he has pushed out, partially I understand, some leaked polling instead of dealing with the substance. And it's a kind of chaos that Australians don't need. They remember what it was like the last time the Coalition were in government. They were warned 24 coal power stations announced or brought forward their closure dates. No response. Four gigawatts of electricity left the electricity grid, only one came on. We cannot afford to go back to that kind of chaos. And the lack of policy detail, the focus group driven work that has been pushed out this week tells you that this group of people have learned nothing from those experiences, they have learned nothing from the past. Our government is getting on with the job. We are rolling out our reliable renewables policy, bringing on more rooftop solar, more batteries, more renewables, and following the advice of the experts. Because what we hear from which experts who analyse our opportunities are that the cheapest way to establish a reliable grid for Australians is wind, solar, firmed by batteries and pumped hydro and supported by gas. That is what the experts tell us is the most cost-effective way to meet our energy requirements, not a nuclear fantasy cooked up to meet a political imperative.

JOURNALIST: You mentioned the polling, the leaking of the polling, does the polling though suggest that if the majority of the residents in those seats do support nuclear, is the government out of step with the community by not supporting it?

McALLISTER: Australians have a really clear choice. Australian Labor under Mr Albanese is offering a costed policy, understood, backed by experts, that gives Australia the opportunity to deal with the reliability challenges we need to address now and to participate in the global economy as we move towards a net zero future. The contrast is with Mr Dutton, who is offering a risky, untested experimental technology with no costs associated with it, and lack of clarity about how it will be rolled out. This is a plan where the bill will be met by energy users, the risks will be borne by taxpayers, and the costs will be borne by the communities that miss out on the jobs that will come about as the world moves to net zero. Mr Dutton is not offering a serious policy plan. He is offering poll-driven responses, and he needs to come clean about the detail and stop hiding those aspects of his policy that he knows will be unpalatable.

JOURNALIST: In his speech today, he’s going to attack sort of the economic arguments behind Labor’s renewables plan. He says that a concerted estimate [inaudible] would be $1.3 billion. Is he in the right ballpark with that figure?

McALLISTER: Mr Dutton really should make clear where these numbers come from. We listen to the experts. The Australian Energy Market Operator has costed what it will take to get us to 2050 and the number they’ve come up with is $121 billion. If Mr Dutton has a number that is ten times more than that, he may need to explain where he got it from.

JOURNALIST: [inaudible] John Howard says Labor is using scare tactics about the potential dangers of nuclear energy, and that’s not in step with voters on this issue. Do you think people still have genuine reasons to be concerned about the safety of nuclear weapons?

McALLISTER: My principal concern is that it is a technology that is the most expensive available at a time when Australians are concerned about cost of living, it is inconceivable that a sensible policy approach would see us use a technology that is acknowledged as the most expensive available. All of the advice is that wind and solar, firmed by batteries and pumped hydro and supported by gas, is the technology combination that produces a cost effective and reliable grid. And that’s the basis on which we’ve formed our policy.

JOURNALIST: Peter Dutton and his Deputy Sussan Ley are set to deliver some pretty personal attacks on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. There’s some quotes in the papers, which suggest they're going to say “he is a liar in the lodge who has compromised the honour of the office he holds by breaking core election promises”. Do you think this is a return to the sort of tactics that Tony Abbott employed against Julia Gillard [inaudible]. Are you worried that they're going to be effective [inaudible] the way that they were when Mr Abbott used them?

McALLISTER: I think Australian people expect serious policy from government at a time when the world is in great change, communities expect us to step up and deal with the challenges of inflation, the challenges of cost of living, and that is exactly what our government is doing. Mr Dutton may wish to resort to personal attack, but it is no substitute for actual policy.

JOURNALIST: One of the policies they say that Mr Albanese has broken is that they will be better off under Labor. Do you believe that you have delivered under that policy?

McALLISTER: We set about constructing an economic plan for the times. We came to government with deficits as far as the eye can see. A trillion dollars’ worth of debt. And we have set about repairing the budget and tackling inflation and dealing with cost of living, providing support where we can, whilst not adding to inflation. We’ve taken a steady course looking at what we can do to help families and small businesses. On the first of July, we see the tax cuts flow through. We start to see the bill rebates for energy users come through. We see wage increases for 2.6 million of the lowest paid workers. These are responsible contributions to support the community at a time of great global volatility. We are doing sensible policies. Mr Dutton can only offer politics.

JOURNALIST: And just finally, Mr Dutton is going to tell the party faithful that he can win the next election. Is that something you are worried about as a possibility?

McALLISTER: Our focus is on delivering for the Australian people. We know that people are experiencing real pressure as a consequence of the cost-of-living increases that have been imported into our economy through global inflationary pressures. We are taking the steps that are necessary to deal with that now. Being in government is an enormous privilege. It offers us the opportunity to support those communities that we know rely upon us. We don't take that for granted for a moment, and we are working every day to deliver to Australia.