17th Oct 2018, 3:21 PM – Senate Motions - Nuclear Energy - Lift ban

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Senator Cory Bernardi (SA), which means it failed.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that a recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on limiting global temperature increase by 1 degrees by 2050:

(i) stated that 'nuclear increases its share in most 1 degree pathways by 2050',

(ii) indicated in some projections that nuclear energy generation could expand by as much as 200 exajoules by 2100 – the equivalent of double the United States of America's annual consumption,

(iii) estimated nuclear energy generation would increase by 2 times by 2050 in 85 mitigation scenarios, and

(iv) the median uptake of primary energy supply via nuclear energy across the 85 mitigation scenarios between 2020 and 2050 was 7 per cent, more than renewable energy (6 per cent) and biomass (5 per cent);

(b) further notes that investigation of nuclear energy generation in Australia has been the subject of a legislative ban imposed at the behest of The Greens for almost 20 years; and

(c) calls upon the Federal Government to take steps to allow the consideration of nuclear energy generation in Australia's energy mix.