The Coalition's pitch for nuclear power in Australia appears to be struggling for support among some key voters, as the nation prepares to vote on its energy future.
New data from the ABC's Vote Compass survey shows respondents are divided on nuclear energy, while support for climate change action appears to have softened.
About 47 per cent of ABC Vote Compass respondents said they strongly disagreed or somewhat disagreed with building nuclear power plants, while 38 per cent were somewhat or strongly supportive.
Perth local Gabriel Maddock said she's made up her mind on nuclear energy, and it is a decision she is making with her young children in mind.
"I don't think it will be better for the environment, it's going to be hugely expensive, and I think there's serious safety risks," the 35-year-old told the ABC.
ABC Vote Compass found views towards nuclear were split along party lines, while men were more supportive, and those over 65 were the age group most likely to be unsupportive.
According to Vote Compass data, 29 per cent of males strongly disagree with the plan while 41.9 per cent of females disagree.
However, the data shows strong support from those who intend to vote for the Coalition with 44 per cent saying they agree Australia should build nuclear power plants.
This contrasts with those who plan to vote for independents, Labor and the Greens — with just 7, 5, and 4 per cent respectively in strong agreement.
This data comes from a sample of more than 270,000 and has been demographically weighted.
Australia's 'anti-nuclear stance' shifting
The federal opposition last year announced their pitch to build seven nuclear power plants around Australia, reviving a conversation about the sometimes-controversial power source.
"There is a sense that the reflexive anti-nuclear stance of many Australians has fallen away," said the Lowy Institute Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program's Ryan Neelam.
A poll conducted by the Lowy Institute last year found 61 per cent of Australians support nuclear energy being part of the country's energy mix alongside other sources.
This is a shift from a poll conducted in 2011, in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident, when 62 per cent of respondents said they were opposed to Australia building nuclear power plants to cut carbon emissions.
"The other things that have changed are technology has moved on and of course, the climate crisis has also become bigger and has become much more prevalent in national debates around the world," Mr Neelam said.
"The question now is whether nuclear is an appropriate or a cost-effective means of reducing emissions, and whether that's going to have an impact on cost of living, which is where the debate is also at right now."
The Coalition is promising by 2050 Australia will get 38 per cent of its power from nuclear energy, 54 per cent from renewables, and 8 per cent from storage and gas.
Some experts have questioned the projected cost and timelines of the Coalition's nuclear plan.
Meanwhile, Labor plans to have a grid almost totally powered by renewable energy, with the target of reaching 82 per cent of renewable energy by 2030 and fully renewable by 2050.
Ms Maddock is concerned that a switch to nuclear power would lead to more carbon emissions in the shorter term.
"From a climate perspective, it seems like it's solving one environmental issue with another, because nuclear waste is a very difficult thing to deal with," she said.
"Why would we do that when we could continue developing our renewable power, something Australia is really in a position to be a leader in."
However, Reuben Fraser from Casino in NSW's Northern Rivers region said he would be voting for the Coalition solely because of its nuclear energy plan.
"It is 100 per cent determining my vote but they have to actually prove to me that they're actually seriously going to build them,"
he said.
"There's actually no way that we can sustain our civilisation without some sort of power source like nuclear power and so I basically see it as an all or nothing sort of thing."
Cost of living having 'clear impact' on views on climate
This year 36 per cent of respondents told Vote Compass much more should be done to reduce Australia's carbon emissions.
This is a significant drop compared to responses to the same question ahead of the 2022 poll when 61 per cent of Vote Compass participants said more should be done.
Mr Neelam said the Lowy Institute had also seen a change in attitudes on carbon emissions since 2021.
"The largest share of Australians back then said that reducing emissions should be the number one priority for energy policy, last year, that had flipped to reducing household energy bills as the number one priority," he said.
"So we can actually see there's a clear impact cost of living pressures are having on how Australians view energy policy."
Ms Maddock said she understands the struggle for many families to keep up with rising costs, but is still deeply concerned about a lack of focus on climate change action.
"I am worried what Perth will be like in the decades ahead, certainly in my children's lifetime and my own lifetime as well.
"I really hope that people do start thinking about the climate again and what we can do to protect ourselves and our families from, you know, the most serious consequences of climate change."
Vote Compass is an educational tool designed to promote electoral literacy and civic engagement. While not a conventional public opinion poll, Vote Compass responses can be analysed using statistical methods similar to those used in polling to try to adjust for sampling bias.
Responses have been weighted by gender, age, education, language, religion, place of residence and past vote to account for the selection effects of the sample, enabling us to make statistical inferences about the Australian population.
