The current pro-nuke lobby that is now spreading its influence in Australia had its start a year ago in a freebie-funded trip by Australian opposition politicians to the UK. Their destination was an inaugural mass gathering of the world’s ultra-conservatives and their fellow travellers on the libertarian fringe. Unsurprisingly, nuclear power was part of the picture!

It was confusing at first. Why would Australia’s leading conservative think tank choose to launch a major new policy paper on energy security, promoting its nuclear over renewables agenda, in far-off London? With a UK winter coming on fast? What was the brains trust at the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), which exists primarily to influence conservative politics in Australia, thinking?

BY MURRAY HOGARTH – READ THE FULL ARTICLE OVER AT THE FIFTH ESTATE