Antinuclear

Nuclear support falls since becoming Coalition policy

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons, https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/federal-election-2025-live-updates-dutton-pledges-40b-debt-cut-albanese-campaigns-in-perth-20250430-p5lvjh.html?post=p58kxt#p58kxtx

Public support for nuclear power has fallen since Dutton announced his nuclear policy in 2024.

That’s according to the latest National Climate Action Survey, an annual poll of 4000 people run by Monash and Griffith universities.

Key initial findings include:

The proportion of Australians who want to maintain the existing ban on nuclear power rose from 51 per cent in 2023 to 59 per cent in 2024. Those who wanted to ditch the ban fell from 34 to 30 per cent.

Two out of three women want to keep the ban on nuclear, compared with one in two men. Twice as many men as women want to lift the ban – 35.9 versus 18 per cent.

Those who said the risks of nuclear power far outweighed the benefits rose from 21.9 to 26 per cent, and those who said the benefits far outweighed the risks fell from 24.5 to 22 per cent.

Only 11 per cent of respondents would be comfortable with a nuclear power station nearby, and 54.8 per cent would be very or extremely concerned about it. Even fewer (10.8 per cent) said they would be happy to have a coal mine nearby. However, more than half had no concerns about nearby wind farms and almost two-thirds were fine with solar farms.

The survey asks a wide range of questions to gauge attitudes to climate change, extreme weather and different energy options. The full results for 2024 will be out in September.

The methodology is the same each year to ensure the results are comparable over time.

May 2, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics