Prime Minister Scott Morrison must give the Australian people confidence that his planned submarine deal will not put the nation on the path to nuclear power, nuclear weapons and nuclear waste, the Australian Conservation Foundation said today.
ACF has identified three key actions and is calling on the Prime Minister to act on these before he commits Australia to this deal:
- Mr Morrison should sign and ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
- Mr Morrison should uphold the government’s commitment to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act, which prohibit nuclear power in Australia.
- In the interests of transparency and democracy, Mr Morrison must release the detail of this deal before he commits Australia to it. Parliament and the people need to see the fine print.
“We are calling on the Prime Minister to do his due diligence to make sure this is not a Trojan Horse for a failed technology,” said ACF nuclear free campaigner Dave Sweeney.
“The Australian Conservation Foundation has a genuine concern this nuclear subs deal could turn into nuclear subsidies.
“The Prime Minister must urgently rein in the nuclear spruikers – including those in his own government – because their views do not represent the views of the Australian community, which has repeatedly rejected this dangerous technology.”
“Nuclear reactors cost a fortune, take decades to build, come with the possibility of disastrous accidents and the certainty of eternal radioactive waste.
“The climate crisis we face is too serious and too urgent to be distracted by nuclear promises.
“Australia’s future is renewable, not radioactive.”