Pauline Hanson calls for two nuclear plants on east coast and insists policy is nothing like Dutton’s failed plan - The Guardian

Pauline Hanson has called for two nuclear power plants on Australia's east coast and argued her party's nuclear policy differs from the Coalition's failed 2022 election platform. The Guardian reports she framed the proposal as a response to energy costs and reliability concerns, and distanced her position from Peter Dutton's earlier nuclear push that contributed to the Coalition's election loss.

Where this fits

This signals a shift in political appetite toward firm, dispatchable generation. The Pauline Hanson One Nation position now includes nuclear as a non-negotiable element of energy policy, moving beyond the renewables-only consensus that has dominated Australian climate and energy debate for a decade. It bears directly on the firm-power case: Australia has committed to a renewables-heavy grid without adequate firm capacity, and nuclear, banned by law despite being the lowest-emission dispatchable generation available, remains off the table in mainstream policy despite growing acknowledgment that wind and solar alone cannot sustain grid stability or meet industrial demand.

What it means

A viable energy transition requires firm power. Nuclear has been legislatively excluded from Australia's options, leaving gas as the only dispatchable backstop to weather-dependent renewables. This forces Australia toward higher transmission costs (to smooth renewable variability across regions), continued gas investment and emissions, and deeper dependence on China for solar panels and batteries that cannot store winter-scale energy shortfalls.

The political space for reconsidering nuclear is widening. However, policy change remains distant: no mainstream party has moved to repeal the nuclear prohibition, and the cost and timeline to build two plants would far exceed current forecasts. Until firm power, whether gas or nuclear, is treated as essential infrastructure rather than optional, Australia's grid remains structurally unprepared for the transition it is attempting.