No, of course they didn’t — as you know. There were multiple...

No, of course they didn’t — as you know. There were multiple reasons for that, including the overhang of the Fukushima disaster, and its influence on public opinion; the internal opposition from the weak-kneed ‘moderates’ in the Liberal Party; the arrival of the arrogant Malcolm Turnbull, a Prime Minister closer in his views to the Greens than to those of most of his colleagues; and many others.

But that’s not to excuse the Coalition for its past mistakes — they got it wrong and bear the responsibility. Now, however, there are new times, new leaders, new technologies, and a much more favourable climate of public opinion (towards nuclear). There’ll be no excuses this time if Dutton and his colleagues do not grab the opportunity to differentiate themselves from the ALP in this critical domain of energy policy. They must commit to remove the prohibition on nuclear energy as a key policy priority, and acknowledge publicly that nuclear energy will be a key part of the energy mix under a Coalition Government. Well argued, this stance will lose many more votes than it loses; more to the point, it would be the right energy policy for Australia.