News Hit

The Wheeler Centre is hosting a debate on nuclear power this Thursday that will see experts on the topic (including Dr Ziggy Switkowski and Dr Mark Deisendorf) discussing the merits of nuclear power as an alternative to coal.

That's all well and good, but did they have to choose such a needlessly provocative headline for the half-page ad for the debate in today's Sunday Age: ‘Chernobyl in Cheltenham?’

For a centre that aims to "see the restoration of wit, erudition and, above all, intelligence to the debating arena", the 'Chernobyl in Cheltenham?' headline is needlessly provocative and reads more like something out of a tabloid newspaper. By immediately summoning Chernobyl and implying that an unstable nuclear reactor in suburbia could be on the cards, it reads more like a ham fisted salvo against nuclear power than a measured debate starter. I sincerely doubt any of the anti-nuclear debaters will be pursuing this line of thought, so it seems odd that the centre itself has chosen to frame the debate in this way.

The debate will take place on Thursday at 6:30pm in the Melbourne Town Hall. Tickets cost $30.