- Opposition leader in heated dispute with ABC journalist over energy plan
- Claims taxpayer-funded broadcaster has been playing political games
The opposition leader made the comments while speaking to reporters in Busselton on Friday, about three hours’ drive south of Perth, about plans to build a reactor in the nearby town of Collie.
The tense altercation came after the ABC reporter said she had not seen Dutton speak to “a single member of the public” despite claiming the majority of Collie residents supported the Coalition’s nuclear strategy.
“Look, I understand the ABC’s position,” he responded.
‘The ABC has an ideological position contrary to that. That’s a problem for you.
‘I don’t really care. I’m not interested in ABC politics. You all can be defenders and play your games.’
Peter Dutton accused the national broadcaster of having an “ideological position” on nuclear energy and playing political games.
The ABC reporter told Mr Dutton that she had no “bias” as the encounter escalated and instead accused him of having “a bias against the ABC’.
He then reiterated his question, asking Mr Dutton why he had “not met the people” in Collie, prompting another spraying of the opposition leader.
“I think your position as an advocate is fine… but when you’ve been employed by the ABC, I think your job is to be impartial, and that’s not what you’re doing,” he said.
His comments about ABC bias come after the taxpayer-funded broadcaster’s Four Corners current affairs program suggested that nuclear reactors used in Georgia, US, had inflated energy bills by “hundreds of dollars “.
That report was in stark contrast to Mr Dutton’s claims that nuclear power would drive down prices.
Dutton says there will always be people with different views on nuclear energy
Dutton held a 90-minute meeting with residents Thursday night, only to be interrupted by anti-nuclear protesters.
He said it was a “very good, positive discussion” and accepted there would be objections to the plan.
“There will be people for and against different energy sources,” he said.
“Our responsibility is to make the decisions that will keep our economy strong in the future.”
Dutton also announced that, if elected, the Coalition would abandon Labour’s recently announced plans to build offshore wind farms off the coast of the Bunbury region, about 52 kilometers from Busselton.