Dutton goes NUCLEAR during fiery meltdown at ABC reporter and accuses national broadcaster of pushing an ‘ideological’ agenda

The Opposition leader made the comments while speaking to reporters in Busselton on Friday, about a three-hour drive south of Perth, about plans to construct a reactor in the nearby town of Collie. 

The tense altercation occurred after the ABC reporter said she had not seen Mr Dutton speak to a ‘single member of the public’ despite claiming the majority of residents in Collie supported the Coalition’s nuclear strategy.

‘Look, I understand the position of the ABC,’ he replied. 

‘The ABC has an ideological position against that. That’s an issue for you. 

‘I don’t really care. I’m not interested in the politics at the ABC. You can all be advocates and play your games.’

The ABC reporter told Mr Dutton that she did not have any ‘bias’ as the encounter intensified and instead accused him of having ‘a bias against the ABC’. 

She then reiterated her question, asking Mr Dutton why he ‘hadn’t met with the people’ in Collie, prompting another spray from the Opposition Leader.

‘I think your advocacy position is fine … but when you’ve been employed by the ABC, I just think your job is to be impartial, and that’s not what you’re doing,’ he said.

His comments about the ABC’s bias come after the taxpayer-funded broadcaster’s current affairs show Four Corners suggested that nuclear reactors used in Georgia, US, had inflated power bills by ‘hundreds of dollars’.

That report was in stark contrast to Mr Dutton’s claims nuclear energy would bring prices down.   

Mr Dutton says there will always be people with differing views on nuclear energy

Mr Dutton had a 90-minute meeting with residents on Thursday night, only for it to be interrupted by anti-nuclear protesters. 

He said it was a ‘very good, positive discussion’ and accepted there would be objection to the plan.

‘There will be people for and against different energy sources,’ he said.

‘Our responsibility is to make the decisions that are going to keep our economy strong into the future.’

Mr Dutton also announced that if elected, the Coalition would scrap Labor’s newly announced plans to build offshore wind farms off the coast of the Bunbury region, about 52km away from Busselton.