A carbon tax on polluting industry must be carefully structured to avoid affecting Australia's tradeable goods, Labor's resources spokesman Martin Ferguson says.
A tax on greenhouse gas emissions could also determine whether nuclear power generation would become viable, he said today.
But Mr Ferguson believes that Australia's abundance of energy choices ensures that nuclear power is not viable in the country.
"Australia is an energy-rich nation. Other nations are just so envious of Australia - coal, gas, there's going to be a growth in solar, geothermal, wind," he told the Ten Network.
"Other nations are not as lucky as us. Nuclear power is a fact of life in many nations beyond Australia's shores, but it just doesn't stack up in Australia."
Mr Ferguson said the nature of any carbon tax put in place in the future would determine whether or not nuclear power becomes economically feasible.
"At the same time, you've got to also weigh up, does that mean we drive offshore the tradeable goods sector, for example," he said.
"Are we going to close down the aluminium industry in Australia? I don't think so.
"We have to very clearly work through this carbon tax issue. It's about a cost of carbon.
"It's not about bringing nuclear power to Australia. It's about solving our own energy problems while also protecting the tradeable goods sector."
Mr Ferguson said Labor's immediate priorities were not only the promotion of renewable energy but also investing with the private sector in clean coal technology.
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