MORE GAS TO LOWER ENERGY BILLS: COALITION FLAGS NEW PLANK TO ENERGY POLICY

• Coalition to tackle Labor’s spiralling energy costs with new gas approvals
• More gas in domestic market equals lower energy bills
• Gas underpins manufacturing and a fifth of electricity network

Households and businesses will get further cost-of-living relief under a Coalition Government which aims to inject more gas into Australia’s domestic energy market.

“More gas in the Australian market drives down energy prices; and drives up employment,” the Shadow Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Senator Susan McDonald, told the Northern Territory Resources Week conference in Darwin today.

Senator McDonald said the Coalition saw a “clear future for the gas sector” which underpins almost a fifth of Australia’s electricity network and is critical for the manufacturing sector, from the production of building materials to essential medicines.

“Australia must embrace a balanced energy mix including gas, renewables and, as coal retires from the system, it should be replaced with zero-emissions nuclear energy,” Senator McDonald said.

She said that since Labor took office just over two years ago, electricity bills had skyrocketed: up by 14 per cent, even after taxpayer-funded rebates.

“Labor bungled its so-called price controls”, she said, and accused the Labor government of deliberately strangling gas supply by slowing down approvals for projects.

She said offshore environmental approvals for gas had blown-out to an average of 380 days: almost three times longer today than at the change of government just over two years ago.

While the Coalition is still finalising costings and modelling for its election platform, Senator McDonald flagged the Coalition’s strong support for gas production in the north including the Beetaloo and Barossa projects in the Northern Territory.

“With buckling knees, Labor and the Greens swoon at the mention of gas in our energy mix,” she said.

In contrast the Coalition sees a clear future for the gas sector.

“We are determined to bring more of our abundant gas reserves into the market. We are committed to the greater issuing of exploration permits, greater releases of offshore acreage, and greater investment in gas infrastructure. We are also committed to flexible and workable IR laws, and committed to a policy framework that gives maximum investment certainty,” she said.

“In return for additional gas investment opportunities, we will be asking the gas sector for a greater commitment to supply our domestic market. It is an important part of the Coalition’s plan to tackle the Labor Party-generated cost of living crisis.

Senator McDonald ruled-out retrospective gas reservations.

“We know these sorts of policies inflame sovereign risk; and don’t actually ensure gas can be piped to where it is needed”, she said.

ENDS