He also suggested claims that coal use was driving climate change were not correct.

In a speech during parliament late last year, Mr Evans said nuclear energy was the way forward.

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"Australia's economy will boom if it has clean energy in concert with a combination of power generation, with nuclear as the safe, clean base load power source making energy cheaper and more reliable in the future. Australia is at a crossroads," Mr Evans said.

"We need to urgently put all sources of power generation on the table."

He also claimed arguments that coal was "the perpetrator of climate change" did not "hold water".

"I agree that we have to lower our emissions, but the people of Heathcote understand that coal has and will have a place in the economy for decades to come," he said.

"The Bulli coal seam, which a large proportion of the Heathcote electorate sits on, produces the world's finest steel coking coal and is valued by all the economies that are not signed up to emissions reductions, such as India, China and the like."

He noted that, with Australia holding a third of the world's uranium, there were no supply problems.

Mr Evans dismissed fears over nuclear energy, claiming that since the 1950s approximately 5000 deaths had been attributed to nuclear energy, compared to what he claimed were 440 deaths worldwide in 2021 alone due to solar and wind power.

"Technology has moved forward in leaps and bounds over the past decade, and nuclear generation is accepted across the world as the answer for affordable energy," Mr Evans said.

"As a clean, efficient and abundant power source with minimal impacts on the community, nuclear power should be placed on the table and considered through thorough and rigorous investigation."

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