ABC News Breakfast with Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek

BRIDGET BRENNAN: Let's speak now to the Minister for Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek on some of our top stories today. The Minister joins us from Canberra. Good morning to you.

TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Good morning, Bridget.

BRENNAN: Good to speak with you. Look, I want to take you first to New South Wales, to your home state. There's obviously a lot of anxiety and concern over the revelation that two health workers made hateful comments in that video that we've seen. Are you worried that patients are going to fear particularly Jewish and Israeli patients fear going into New South Wales hospitals after this has been exposed?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Oh look, I think those comments are horrendous, absolutely horrendous and I'm pleased that the New South Wales Government was able to so quickly identify the staff in the video and to take action to stand them down.

I can understand why people would be alarmed seeing that sort of hateful rhetoric. But on the other hand, I hope that they are reassured by how seriously the New South Wales Government, the Health Minister Ryan Park, the Premier Chris Minns are taking it, how swiftly they have acted.

And I'd say also that this is a terrible time in Australia. We have seen an increase in antisemitism and it's vital that we work together as a community to combat that. It's why the Federal Government is working so closely with the states like New South Wales on Operation Avalite, it's why we've criminalised doxxing, it's why we've criminalised the Nazi salute and the display of Nazi symbols, it's why we've invested to protect Jewish schools and synagogues and so on.

This is something that we need to tackle as a community to make sure that everybody, every Australian, feels safe, every Australian feels safe.

BRENNAN: Yes, that is such an important goal. Can we go now to the electoral reforms that were passed last night. Labor and the Coalition have struck this deal on electoral reforms which will significantly limit donations that independent parties can receive. Some of the crossbenchers say this is a stitch up. Do they have a point? Does this make it harder for independents to get elected?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, the rules apply equally to any candidate, and they say that we don't want billionaires running our electoral system. The reforms have come after a great deal of consultation, many Parliamentary reports, community consultation and work with other parties and the crossbench.

We see what happens if big money runs our elections, and people remember Clive Palmer and his extraordinary spending to get himself and his candidates elected. It's not a healthy thing for our democracy if you can have big money like that influencing the outcome of elections.

And we certainly see, for example, the US has a wonderful democracy but one of the things you would change if you possibly could is how much it costs to run for Parliament, to run for a seat in the United States. You see how much effort people have to put into fund raising, it's a full time job.

We simply don't want that in the Australian electoral system so limiting donations, limiting spending, real time disclosure, these are things that will make our democracy stronger.

BRENNAN: Minister, some polling suggests Australians are quite open to the idea of nuclear power entering the mix in our energy market. You're releasing some analysis today on how much water would be needed to power up nuclear. Why are you putting this information out today for Australians?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, we're a thirsty country. We have regular droughts and there's already a lot of contest about how we use water, whether we use it for drinking or agriculture or industrial purposes or of course for the environment.

What this analysis shows is to produce the same amount of electricity as coal you need 40 per cent more water. But Peter Dutton is saying that he wants to produce more electricity, and he wants to do it on existing coal fired power stations and use the water that's being used to produce coal, to produce nuclear. Well, you'd actually need three times as much water as is currently being used on those coal fired power stations to produce the amount of nuclear that Peter Dutton's talking about.

So, what does that mean in terms that people understand? It's about an extra Sydney Harbour's worth of water that we would have to find every year. And we've seen already overseas, in Europe for example, in hot dry years nuclear reactors having to be shut down or reduce their production capacity because the water isn't there. When the water is used in those nuclear reactors it's released into the environment warmer than it normally would be and that obviously has environmental impacts all of its own.

So, this is just one more question for Peter Dutton about his very vague nuclear plans. Where is the water coming from? Will it come from agriculture? Will it come from industry? Will it come from drinking water? Will it come from the environment? Where is the water coming from?

I think it's important that Peter Dutton is actually held to account for some of these details. Very few details about nuclear energy. I think most serious analysis would say this is just an excuse to keep coal going longer. That's an extra 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide pollution into our atmosphere by 2050 on Peter Dutton's plans.

And the other thing I think it's really important to say is we have already put more renewable energy into our grid than Peter Dutton is claiming will go in with nuclear energy some time in the 2040s. We've already added that in terms of extra renewable energy. Renewable energy is happening now. I've approved 72 renewable energy projects, enough to power eight million homes. This transition is happening now and the biggest risk to this transition to produce cheaper, cleaner renewable energy is this nuclear fantasy that delays action.

BRENNAN: Thanks very much, Minister. Let's just before I let you go let's just turn to the US now because there is some concern in the scientific community about data sharing after some research funding has been pulled in the US as an order of the US the new incoming Trump Administration. Are you aware of any changes to scientific collaboration or data sharing arrangements between the US and Australia? Because some arms of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration have reportedly been directed to cease international collaboration. Can you confirm that for us this morning?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: No, I don't have any information about that. I would say that the relationship between our scientists has been very strong for many years, and I hope that it continues.

BRENNAN: Okay, thanks very much, Tanya Plibersek, have a good day.

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Thank you.