Ben Carroll tells Battin to ‘grow a spine’ and reject Coalition’s nuclear plan, Opposition Leader defends deferring until after election
State Opposition Leader Brad Battin has fired back at Ben Carroll after the state's deputy premier demanded Mr Battin to "get a spine" and outright reject the federal Coalition's plan for nuclear power sites in Victoria.
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State Opposition Leader Brad Battin has responded to Victoria's Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, who challenged him to denounce the federal Coalition's plan for nuclear reactors in Victoria, telling Mr Battin to "get a spine".
Mr Battin revealed to Guardian Australia’s state correspondent Benita Kolovos, he approached federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to clarify the appropriate "language" to use when addressing the federal plan to build a nuclear reactor in the Latrobe Valley with the media, emphasising the state party's priority is to increase gas supply.
The federal Coalition has pledged to replace the Loy Yang coal-fired power station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley with a nuclear reactor if elected – one of seven sites pegged for nuclear power stations in Australia.
Mr Carroll pulled no punches when asked about Battin’s stance - or lack thereof - on nuclear, telling reporters the new liberal leader, who took to leadership in December, is “struggling” and “lacking confidence”.
Mr Carroll was also critical of Mr Battin for opting not to reveal his stance on nuclear until after the federal election.
“Brad Battin needs to get a spine,” Mr Carroll told reporters on Tuesday.
“Take a leaf out of David Crisafulli in Queensland’s book, Brad. At least he had the guts to come forward and say he doesn’t support nuclear.
“For Brad to say he’s deferring his decision until May 4 after the federal election, just goes to show Brad is more interested in keeping his party room together and the national party and Coalition together and he is letting Victorians know where he stands on nuclear.
“Brad doesn’t really know what he stands for… one minute, depending on who he is talking to, he’s all about renewable, the next minute, if he’s talking to Peter Dutton, it’s ‘maybe there is a window for nuclear’."
Fronting the media shortly after, Mr Battin reiterated the state party was focused on gas supply, and urged the Deputy Premier to “start worrying about things he can fix rather than trying to throw barbs”.
“Whatever happens after the federal election, we want to have a responsible and adult conversation about what happens with nuclear moving forward, but our priority is gas," he said.
“So if we want to talk about growing a spine, we’ll ensure that we’ll have gas exploration available as soon as possible, because that’s when we need it.
“Victorians can’t afford to continue to wait for a state government to implement the policies that should be there right now.
“If Ben Carroll wants to fix it – he’s the deputy premier, come out and get the exploration licences going so we can ensure we keep the cost down for Victorians today.”
Mr Carroll said it wasn’t “common practice’ within his party to ask federal counterparts how to respond to policy questions from the media.
“That’s not common practice that I’ve ever undertaken, but I think he’s still got his training wheels on as leader, and he’s trying to do the best he can holding that party together.”
The Deputy Premier also reaffirmed that Labor's policy on nuclear will not change.
“There is no social license for nuclear in our state of Victoria, and that policy is not changing. We’re about renewable energy. We’re about making sure that our state remains a powerhouse, a jobs capital and renewable energy sector and there is no place for nuclear in Victoria."