GOVERNMENT GAS REVIEW MUST ADDRESS IMMINENT SHORTFALL WARNINGS
- ACCC warns risk of gas shortage imminent from end of year.
- Coalition urges government to fast-track approvals and urgently release new gas acreage for exploration and drilling.
- Government’s “gas market review” should not delay urgent action.
The Government’s own consumer watchdog, the ACCC, has today warned gas shortages are imminent for southern states from the end of this year.
The shortfalls will drive-up household and business power bills and further threaten Australia’s manufacturing base and its jobs.
The latest warning on Australia’s gas supply follows this work’s confirmation that Labor’s Hydrogen Strategy is in tatters with nearly every proposed green hydrogen project in Australia being shelved or dumped.
The Coalition calls on the Albanese Government to immediately release new gas acreages for exploration, and fast-track approvals of gas projects.
The ACCC’s interim report inquiry into gas supply arrangements, released 30 June, confirmed there is a risk of shortfall in the fourth quarter of 2025 and throughout 2026 and that southern states will face the prospect of continued shortfalls into 2027.
Supply shortages can be fixed very quickly with immediate action.
Instead of action, the government has today announced a review that is already required by regulation.
A review should not be a substitute or delay actions that the government can do right now to bring down power prices and avert gas shortages.
The Government’s review will appropriately look at regulatory settings including Labor’s poorly-designed gas market interventions.
Labor has pushed Australia’s gas market to the brink, driven away new investment, stalled job-creating projects across the country, and severely jeopardised our international credentials as a reliable trading partner.
ENDS