Australia’s opposition Liberal-National Coalition is set to pin much of its strategy at the next election on nuclear power in a bid to drive energy prices down and reduce Australia’s carbon footprint.

Shortly after the Coalition lost the 2022 federal election, new opposition leader Peter Dutton drafted his shadow energy minister Ted O’Brien to conduct an internal investigation into developing a domestic nuclear energy industry.

The opposition is now preparing to unveil its plan to transition key coal mining regions into nuclear hubs, reports in Australia said.

Shadow energy minister Ted O’Brien said the proposed transition would greatly improve Australia’s emissions reduction efforts while also pointing to reduced costs due to the repurposing of existing infrastructure.