Diggers & Dealers drops keynote speaker for panel discussion featuring Canadian nuclear energy advocate

The Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie-Boulder this year will forgo a keynote speaker in favour of a panel discussion featuring a Canadian nuclear energy advocate. The keynote speaker has long been a highlight of the opening morning of the conference that draws thousands of mining industry delegates to the Goldfields capital each year. Notable past speakers have included former Prime Minister John Howard, former WA Governor Kim Beazley, WA Premier Mark McGowan and former World Bank president Robert Zoellick. But this year, for the first time, the keynote event will not be a single speaker, but a panel discussion instead. Diggers & Dealers chairman Jim Walker on Friday said the panel would include Dr Chris Keefer, a Canadian emergency physician, host of the Decouple podcast, and president of Canadians for Nuclear Energy. Appearing alongside Dr Keefer will be Aidan Morrison, director of energy research at Australia’s Centre for Independent Studies. Moderating the panel will be Tom Switzer, an Australian political writer and executive director of the Centre for Independent Studies. The centre’s profile on Dr Keefer said he had led a turnaround in Canadian policy on nuclear energy with successful campaigns to life-extend nuclear power stations and include nuclear energy within green finance mechanisms. “His podcast, Decouple, has become influential in policy circles from Ottawa and Washington to Canberra, as decision-makers seek to understand best practices for the deployment of nuclear energy to achieve climate targets and energy security,” the centre’s website says. Mr Walker said this year’s forum focus on nuclear energy would offer a valuable and positive contribution to the ongoing national debate on energy transition, providing perspectives from both Canada and Australia. The keynote panel discussion will take place on the opening day of this year’s conference on August 4.