‘Tell him he’s dreaming’: Bowen rubbishes Coalition claim Australia could have nuclear power in a decade

The federal energy minister, Chris Bowen, has dismissed Coalition MP Ted O’Brien’s claim that Australia could develop a nuclear power industry within a decade, stating: “Tell him he’s dreaming.”

The mocking comment on Sunday came as the government continued to pour scorn on the opposition’s speculative alternative plan to renewable energy. O’Brien said the Coalition was in the “advanced stages” of finalising its policy, which is not expected to be unveiled for several weeks.

Bowen also told ABC TV that the government was open to amending its fuel efficiency standards for motor vehicles while again denying claims from the Coalition and some manufacturers that it would increase car prices.

The Coalition’s push for nuclear energy in Australia has been derided by the government and experts. The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has not specified where the potential nuclear facilities would be located, nor how much they could contribute to the nation’s energy mix.

Sky News reported on Sunday that a 2020 paper from the NSW chief scientist found a nuclear power industry would require tens of thousands of trained staff and at least two decades to become operational.

Responding to the report, O’Brien – the opposition’s energy spokesman – claimed the Coalition had received different advice.

“The best experts around the world with whom we’ve been engaging are saying Australia could have nuclear up and running within a 10-year period,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien did not reveal which experts the Coalition had talked to. Guardian Australia asked his office for more information.

The shadow minister said nuclear could be part of a “balanced mix” of other power types and he criticised Labor for being “negative”.

Bowen was asked about O’Brien’s claim that nuclear could be developed in Australia within a decade.

“Tell him he’s dreaming,” Bowen said on the ABC’s Insiders program, referencing the Australian comedy movie The Castle. “I don’t know what experts he’s talking to.”

Bowen said the average build time for a nuclear plant in the US – a country he called “the nuclear leader of the world” – was 19 years.

“Ted O’Brien thinks he can do it in Australia in 10 with a standing start, no regulations, banned not only nationally but in the three most populous states,” Bowen said.

The minister rubbished arguments that Australia should scrap its ban on nuclear energy to allow private industry to investigate options, claiming that establishing a nuclear industry would require “eye-watering amounts of government taxpayer subsid[ies].”

“I’ve had no one knock on my door to say ‘I want to build a nuclear power plant in Australia’ but I had plenty of the world’s biggest renewables companies through my door,” Bowen said on Sunday.

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“There’s a myth this is happening elsewhere in the world. It’s not. Australia has the best renewable resources in the world. It would be a massive economic own goal to give up utilising those resources and go down this nuclear fantasy.”

Beyond suggesting nuclear plants be built at former coal-powered facilities, the Coalition has not confirmed details of their policy – including costs, timeframes, how local opposition would be overcome and the amount of power to be generated.

Dutton could fill in some of the blanks in his budget reply speech in May. He is under pressure to announce details.

Coalition MPs have been agitating for the opposition leader to outline new policies they can spruik ahead of the federal election, which could be held this year.

Bowen on Sunday suggested Labor was open to considering “good-faith” amendments to its fuel efficiency standards, designed to encourage carmakers to sell more fuel-efficient vehicles in Australia.

The Coalition and some manufacturers claim the standards would increase the price of work vehicles like utes and trucks.

Bowen denied the policy would raise the price of popular cars like the Toyota HiLux. “That hasn’t happened anywhere else in the world and why would it happen in Australia?” he said on Sunday.

“[But] where an idea has been made to us, sensibly, we will consider it sensibly, in good faith, to help the implementation of what is a big and complicated policy.

“We are not going to be sort of bullied out of proceeding with a policy which is in the best interests of the Australian people.”