For individuals who haven’t heard of him, Ziggy Switkowski would possibly sound like a cartoon title related to the form of infantile characterisations of nuclear energy being posted on social media by Labor MPs within the wake of Peter Dutton’s coverage announcement.
Nonetheless, Dr Switkowski is something however an affordable wisecrack.
Arguably Australia’s most senior enterprise chief with scientific {qualifications} as well, Dr Switkowski is a former CEO of each Telstra and Optus.
And he’s studied enterprise administration at Harvard College too, served as a college Chancellor and sat on all method of presidency boards.
However it’s his scientific {qualifications} and expertise that make his (albeit certified) help for Peter Dutton’s enterprise into nuclear energy so highly effective, and one assumes a welcome intervention for the opposition.
Nuclear physicist and businessman Ziggy Swikowski’s intervention within the atomic vitality debate must be taken severely, writes Peter Van Onselen. Above, Dr Switkowski poses for a photograph when he was the chairman of the Australian Nuclear Science and Know-how Organisation (ANSTO) in 2006
It additionally might put the early criticisms coming from present sections of the enterprise neighborhood – whose investments in different types of vitality manufacturing stand to be impacted by a brand new vitality class – into higher context.
Vested pursuits ought to all the time have their opinions taken with a grain of salt.
The now-retired Dr Switkowski achieved his PhD in nuclear physics within the late Seventies, throughout a time when the remainder of the world was starting to embrace the advantages of nuclear energy.
It turned an essential vitality supply in his birthplace of Germany, to not point out different international locations akin to america, United Kingdom and France simply to call a couple of.
As Dr Switkowski’s 2006 research on the viability of nuclear energy in Australia famous – we’ll come again to the origins and findings of that 250 web page report shortly – 17 of 24 of the world’s richest economies embraced the expertise.
However not Australia.
Whereas Dr Switkowski was finishing his PhD in nuclear physics, and enterprise an extra six years of put up doctoral specialist coaching within the self-discipline, left-wing factional warriors like Anthony Albanese (then in his late teenagers and early twenties) had been studying their activist craft on the toes of extra senior Left ideologues opposing nuclear energy.
On the time foolish photos like three-eyed fish and deformed pets may not have appeared so absurd.
One of many countless collection of memes produced by Labor activists this week in a bid to scare Aussies about nuclear energy – ‘Peter Dutton and the seven nuclear reactors’
Forty years later they definitely are, which is why Labor’s embrace of such photos this week was so callow.
Do in addition they fear about Australian submariners creating such deformities after they serve on Australian nuclear submarines as a part of the AUKUS settlement Labor helps, for instance.
Dr Switkowski is now 75 years previous, however continues to take a seat on the occasional board and participates in evaluations from time to time too. His effectively revered repute is effectively entrenched.
Opposition chief Peter Dutton gave him a sophisticated take a look at the coverage he was conjuring up forward of this week’s launch, the broad brush strokes of which had been launched on Wednesday.
Every day Mail Australia reached out to Dr Switkowski to verify experiences as we speak that he backs the Coalition’s daring and dangerous bid to go nuclear.
He instructed us that sure, the experiences are correct, confirming that with regards to Australia embracing nuclear energy ‘the economics may be made to work’ – and that there isn’t a cause to doubt their capability to return a dividend for taxpayers in the long run.
Labor has sought to discredit Coalition plans to construct the reactors themselves, however Dr Switkowski factors out that’s how different governments that embraced the pivot to nuclear additionally made the swap.
He did additionally word, nevertheless, that after constructed and established they need to not proceed to be managed by authorities. A mirrored image, maybe, of the enterprise chief’s religion available in the market financial system.
Whereas Dr Switkowski started his working life as a nuclear physicist earlier than pivoting to change into a number one enterprise determine on this nation, he mixed his twin experience in 2006 when then Prime Minister John Howard commissioned him to conduct a research and report on the viability of nuclear energy in Australia.
It discovered that Australia was certainly effectively positioned to incorporate nuclear energy inside Australia’s vitality combine. Doing so can be price aggressive with emission reductions advantages. It additionally famous that as a rustic with one of many world’s largest deposits of yellowcake – the important thing ingredient that goes into nuclear gasoline or uranium – Australia was additionally in place to ramp up manufacturing and exports of uranium.
However that was almost 20 years in the past now, and Dr Switkowski did say on the time that making the shift wanted to be embraced sooner reasonably than later. Australia misplaced that chance, persevering with to take heed to the considerations of nuclear opponents.
The 2006 Switkowski report, because it got here to be identified, was criticised on the time by another scientists for failing to adequately deal with the challenges of coping with nuclear waste.
However now that Australia has a bipartisan dedication to nuclear submarines, coping with nuclear waste can be a bipartisan actuality, whether or not nuclear energy turns into a actuality or not.
The Coalition says reactor waste can be handled the identical approach nuclear submarine waste can be.
Whereas Labor has used the times since Dutton’s coverage announcement to land infantile, superficial blows on the coverage with references to deformed pets, fish and koalas, with fairy tales and Simpsons references, Dr Switkowski’s injection into the controversy ought to power Labor to get critical with any scare marketing campaign when arguing towards going nuclear.
That’s, if it needs to be taken severely.
There definitely are unanswered questions and plenty of lacking particulars in what Dutton has revealed to date.
Beginning with how a lot his seven nuclear reactors may cost a little to construct. And we all know from political historical past that scare campaigns work and plugging large goal insurance policies from opposition is a dangerous enterprise.
Dr Switkowski confirmed to Every day Mail Australia that the CSIRO’s estimate of between $8.6billion and $10billion per reactor was ‘within the ballpark’.
This debate has an extended solution to run, each politically and as a defining potential shift within the local weather wars.
However make no mistake, Dr Switkowski’s intervention must be taken severely, and might’t merely be dismissed with a juvenile collection of social media gags that aren’t notably humorous to start with.
