Antinuclear

Australians choose batteries over nuclear after election fought on energy

While the Greens have an anxious wait ahead to see how many lower seats they’ll win, they recorded their highest-ever primary vote and will hold the balance of power in the Senate with 11 senators.

ABC News, By climate reporters Jess Davis and Jo Lauder, 6 May 25

When Peter Dutton unveiled his party’s nuclear energy plan last year, it opened up a seismic difference between the two major parties.

It offered a real choice for Australian voters over the future of the country’s energy policy.

“I’m very happy for the election to be a referendum on energy, on nuclear, on power prices, on lights going out, on who has a sustainable pathway for our country going forward,” he said.

Taken on those terms, Saturday’s election outcome was an endorsement of renewable energy over nuclear.

“It’s clearly a referendum on energy policy, given the prominence of energy throughout the entire election campaign,” Clean Energy Council CEO Kane Thornton said.

“I think it’s an emphatic victory for Australia’s transition to clean energy.”

At a household level, Labor offered a significant discount on home batteries to accompany the booming solar on rooftops all across the country, aiming to get 1 million batteries installed under the scheme by 2030.

The last election saw a new generation of independents join the parliament, riding a wave of climate concern. Any expectation that the “teals” were a single-election trend has been dispelled, with most of them set to be returned, and new ones joining their ranks.

While the Greens have an anxious wait ahead to see how many lower seats they’ll win, they recorded their highest-ever primary vote and will hold the balance of power in the Senate with 11 senators.

After losing the Liberal heartland to the teals in the last election, the Coalition decided to pitch instead to the outer suburbs.

But the decision to campaign against renewables, and scrap climate policies such as the EV tax breaks, seems to mismatch the views of middle Australia.

Outer suburbs embrace solar power

Dutton set out to make up gains in the outer suburbs by offering a discount on the fuel excise. But the data for solar uptake and electric cars paints a very different picture to the caricature of solar and batteries as a plaything for the inner city.

While energy may not have been a top concern for voters, it’s the outer suburbs where our love for rooftop solar is at its highest, especially in Queensland and Western Australia.

In Dutton’s former electorate of Dickson, some 60 per cent of households have a solar system, double the national average, according to data from the Clean Energy Regulator………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-06/federal-election-shows-voters-support-renewables-over-nuclear/105252888

May 6, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | energy, politics