Labor’s energy hypocrisy has ramped up this week in a new deal between Australia and India, allowing greater exports of uranium to support growth of nuclear energy on the sub-continent while forbidding the proven, emissions-free technology at home.

One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson said that while Australia’s energy security was going backwards under Labor’s reckless pursuit of net zero by 2050 solely with renewables, India planned to produce 100 gigawatts of nuclear energy by 2047.

“India plans to produce three or four times Australia’s entire electricity output from nuclear technology alone, splitting Australian uranium atoms to achieve this goal,” Senator Hanson said.

“Labor’s energy hypocrisy knows no bounds. They ban nuclear energy in Australia but happily export uranium for this purpose overseas.

“They are shutting down our coal power plants while exporting it to other countries. We’re facing gas shortages, and Labor is banning gas appliances, yet we export huge amounts of it.

“In the meantime, Labor is destroying rainforests and native habitats in Queensland – and invading farms in Victoria – to build giant wind turbines and thousands of kilometres of new transmission lines.”

Senator Hanson said One Nation would lift the ban on nuclear energy in Australia and build a 1400MW advanced pressurised water nuclear reactor in New South Wales.

“It makes no sense for Australia, with more than a quarter of the planet’s proven uranium reserves, to ban uranium mining in three states and ban nuclear energy altogether,” she said. “We’re even supposed to be buying nuclear-powered submarines, but we can’t have nuclear-powered cities, towns and critical industries.

“Our demands for reliable, affordable baseload energy are only going to increase. Renewables cannot possibly meet this demand. Nuclear power is used safely at more than 450 sites in 28 countries, and more reactors are being built around the world as we speak.

“We cannot afford to be nuclear hypocrites any longer.”