Developing our own capability: Australia’s Nuclear Journey

Michael de Percy with Georgina Downer, Afternoon Light Podcast, Robert Menzies Institute

It was under Robert Menzies that Australia entered the nuclear age with the opening of the Lucas Heights Reactor in 1958. 65 years on, what looked to be the first step in a much bigger story remains practically the only step Australia has taken towards harnessing the potency of the atom to power our nation. As nuclear energy once again appears on the political radar, it is worth taking a look back and seeing what potential Australians once saw in nuclear and what could have been. 

In this week’s episode of the Afternoon Light podcast, Robert Menzies Institute CEO Georgina Downer talks to Dr Michael de Percy about how Menzies represents Australia’s unrealised nuclear potential. 

Dr Michael de Percy FRSA FCILT is Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Canberra. His qualifications include a PhD in Political Science from the Australian National University, a Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours) from the University of Canberra, and a Bachelor of Arts from Deakin University. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, where he received the Royal Australian Artillery prize. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and Vice-Chair of the ACT and Southern NSW Chapter, Vice President of the Telecommunications Association (TelSoc - Australia's oldest learned society), Public Policy Editor of the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, and a member of the Australian Nuclear Association. He was appointed to the Australian Research Council's College of Experts in 2022.

The podcast is available on YouTube or Spotify:

Spectator TV: Where's our energy Plan B?

Dr Michael de Percy on Chris Bowen's energy policy with Alexandra Marshall, Spectator TV 

 

Alexandra Marshall of Spectator TV interviewed me on 26 May 2023 about my article in Spectator Australia entitled, Where’s our energy Plan B, Chris Bowen?

To watch the full interview, visit https://watch.adh.tv/videos/spectator-tv-australia-friday-26-may-2023 and start from 27:36.

YouTube highlights are available below:

Australia is treading towards an energy armageddon: Michael de Percy | Spectator TV

Nuclear power is the only feasible path to net zero: Michael de Percy | Spectator TV

It’s time the ABC was privatised

Coronation Procession at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla. Photo: Katie Chan [CC BY-SA 4.0]

In my view, the ABC no longer provides news and current affairs content that is relevant to mainstream Australians. This means that mainstream Australian taxpayers are funding the Woke, biased content that constantly streams from the so-called public broadcaster. Yet the ABC’s news and current affairs service only represents a narrow, left-wing audience. It is time the people who actually watch or listen to the ABC paid for it. It is time for the ABC’s news and current affairs service to be privatised.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator Australia's Flat White, "It’s time the ABC was privatised".

"Go fund yourselves..." That is the overwhelming sentiment directed at the #ABC after their appalling coverage of the #Coronation and decades of biased, politically partisan reporting.

Is it finally time to disconnect the ABC from the public teat?https://t.co/VqWfjOIqMl

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) May 28, 2023