At News Corp's gas industry-sponsored Energy Nation Forum in Sydney last week, Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan unveiled the Coalition's new energy policy.

Tehan's plan includes the removal of restrictions on nuclear energy.

The Coalition trusts big companies to reduce their pollution with no restrictions

The Liberal party promises to "take a chainsaw" to the regulation of climate pollution.

🤠 That same day: Queensland Premier David Crisafulli was asked whether he'd support lifting the current ban on nuclear energy, which would include lifting national and state restrictions.

He said building a nuclear reactor of any size would require several political terms. The CSIRO estimates it would take at least 15 years for nuclear power to come online in Australia.

🗣️ "Until you get both sides of federal parliament to agree, no one's going to invest in it," Crisafulli said.

⚡ Stable investment: Labor has shown no sign of dropping its opposition to nuclear power. Asked about Crisafulli's comments later at the forum, Tehan said:

🗣️ "National leadership is what's required, and can I tell you, from a Coalition point of view, we want to lead that national debate because my view is, if we lead that national debate, then the states and territories will follow."

🔋 The current path: Renewable energy, including rooftop solar and wind turbines, made up 46 percent of total generation in the National Electricity Market over the last financial year, according to the market operator's own annual report. It exceeded 50 percent in the October to December 2025 quarter.

The CSIRO's GenCost modelling has repeatedly found solar, wind and batteries remain the cheapest form of new electricity generation available in Australia.

⚠️ Beating a dead horse? The Coalition took a nuclear energy policy to the 2025 federal election under then-leader Peter Dutton, who lost the election and became the first federal Opposition leader to lose his own seat.

Watch the National Account's Archie Milligan below:

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