‘Following the Liberal Party’s loss in last weekend’s Dunkley byelection, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton announced that nuclear power would be the centrepiece of the Coalition’s energy and climate policy.
His plan, says Tony Barry, is “the longest suicide note in Australian political history”.
Barry is a former deputy state director and strategist for the Victorian Liberal Party. A few weeks ago the consultancy where he is now a director, RedBridge Group, completed a detailed research paper on Australians’ attitudes to nuclear power.
Just 35 per cent of people support the idea of using nuclear to provide for Australia’s energy needs. Only coal was less popular. Where there is support, it is among only those who already vote Liberal or who are older than 65.
If the Coalition is to have any hope of winning the next election, says Barry, it will not be with nuclear power. It needs to win more of the cohort of younger voters “that’s abandoning us in droves”. Only about one in five electors under the age of 42 now votes Liberal.’
Oh Dear! It looks as though, as a few have been noting, that the writing is on the wall for LNP. No surprise, I do like the longest suicide note in history bit though.
