"Former Labor defence minister and long-time MP Joel Fitzgibbon...

"Former Labor defence minister and long-time MP Joel Fitzgibbon says Australia should lift its moratorium on nuclear power, declaring the ban “makes no sense” and every electricity option should be available.As the Coalition attempts to pressure the Albanese government over its opposition to nuclear, Mr Fitzgibbon said the world wouldn’t meet its net zero emissions aspirations without installing more nuclear plants.He warned too much faith in a few favoured technologies was a “recipe for failure and economic harm”.“On the question of whether Australia should also embrace nuclear generation, that should be a matter for the market. Therefore, the prohibition on nuclear generation in Australia should be lifted. It simply makes no sense and every electricity generation option should be readily available to us,” Mr Fitzgibbon said after French President Emmanuel Macron urged Australia to lift its nuclear ban.“Having said that, if the ban was lifted, it would be a long time – if ever – before we saw a nuclear generator in Australia. It’s hard enough to secure an approval for gas extraction, let alone for a nuclear plant.“Further, it would be difficult to build sufficient community support. Then, even if successful in securing that support, the construction time-line would be significant. So any boost to energy security or downward pressure on energy prices would be years away.”