JAPAN’S TRADE WARNING: COALITION RESPONDS BY VOWING TO POUR MORE GAS INTO DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
- Urgent action needed after Japan warns it will seek gas from other countries
- Coalition vows to pour more gas into domestic and international markets
- Labor exposed for increasing bureaucrats while approval times get longer
The Coalition has vowed to pour more gas into Australia’s domestic and export markets following a warning from Japan’s largest LNG buyer that it may increasingly look to the United States for long-term reliable gas supplies.
Shadow Minister for Resources, Senator Susan McDonald, said the statements from Japan confirmed that the Albanese Government was squandering Australia’s hard-earned reputation as a reliable trading partner and a dependable defence ally.
“In 2023 alone, the value of Australia’s gas exports to Japan was $26.8 billion,” she said.
Senator McDonald said Australia was awash with some of the world’s largest gas reserves and said a Coalition Government would move swiftly to get Australia back on track by restoring the nation’s reliable trade credentials.
“We have ample reserves of Australian gas for Australians. And we have ample Australian gas for Australia’s trading partners,” she said.
“A Dutton-led Coalition Government will cut approval times in half for new offshore gas projects, and we will lift Labor’s freeze on annual releases of new oil and gas exploration acreages.”
Senator McDonald said criticism from Japan’s largest LNG buyer that countries such as the United States were delivering faster approvals, made a mockery of Labor’s claims that additional public servants automatically resulted in better services.
“Australia’s chief body for approving offshore gas projects is the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA). Over the past two years its staffing numbers have increased by almost 50% from 132 in 2021/22 to 191 in 2023/24. Yet approval times have grown longer and longer,” Senator McDonald said.
“Only Labor can deliver a model where there are more staff for approvals, yet approval times get worse. It really is a special knack of Albanese and Labor.”
In 2023/24 the oil and gas industry provided an estimated $17.5 billion in taxes and royalties to the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments across Australia.
“That is the equivalent to funding the annual costs of the entire Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. That’s how important revenue from gas is to the quality of life all Australians enjoy,” Senator McDonald said.
She said the Labor Government needed to urgently respond to the concerns of our major trading partners.
“Our nation has been built on a reputation as a reliable trading partner; and it has been built on the revenues of being a reliable trading partner. Labor can’t be allowed to squander this reputation any further. We must get Australia back on track,” Senator McDonald said.
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