Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I am very pleased to rise today to speak on this motion. I welcome this opportunity to share the experience of the Northern Territory, specifically my home of Darwin and Palmerston, and our experience with the gas industry. The Territory, of course, is home to significant gas reserves, and adjacent waters also have significant gas reserves. Darwin is the home to important facilities, including the massive and lucrative INPEX Ichthys LNG project. It's worth noting that it's one of Australia's largest resource projects, worth around $60 billion. It's also the biggest investment that the Japanese have ever made overseas.

The onshore processing facility is located in Bladin Point in Darwin, and the facility includes processing trains to produce LNG and LPG, along with storage tanks and a loadout jetty. This is supported by an offshore logistics hub, which supports the wider project, including floating production, storage and offloading facilities. So far, 1,100 Territory businesses have secured contracts and purchase orders related to this massive project. INPEX is a major employer in Darwin, in my electorate. Over the life of the project, there will be around 600 jobs created to run the facilities in Darwin, and $2.6 billion will flow to the Northern Territory government in tax revenue. The flow-on effect from this in Darwin and Palmerston is immense, with money supporting countless local businesses. All of this is a real consequence of the Northern Territory government having the foresight to create the right environment to not only promote but welcome investment in this important space. I want to acknowledge the former chief ministers Clare Martin and Paul Henderson for their work to secure that investment.

There are even more opportunities that are ready and waiting for us to take up. Japan is poised to become a major customer for Australian hydrogen. Japan has declared that it will become a hydrogen economy by 2030 and will need 300,000 tonnes of the gas a year to make that happen. Just as Australian coal helped Japan rise from the ashes of war to become a great global economy, now Australian hydrogen gas can help keep Japan as a great global economy, creating more long-term, stable Australian jobs into the bargain. But the ongoing opportunities from gas to our jobs and economy are still at significant risk. The risk is not necessarily from the straw man that those opposite love to put up. The risk is not from excessive state or territory government regulation; the risk is from the very government that those opposite serve.

This is a government that provides no policy certainty in this important space. Over eight years this government has had 22 energy policies. It's hard to believe but it is true. If it's not true, those opposite have their chance to speak to that later. What is the ultimate effect of this muddled and disorientated collection of policies? What are we left with? What are the investors left with? Well, it's confusion in private investment for new gas operations. When confusion reigns, uncertainty is not far behind. The lack of certainty that is a product of 22 energy policies in eight years is hurting industry and impacting people every day. I only hope that the efforts of the member for Grey in bringing this motion forward will prompt a rethink among those opposite, and I hope he's got some support for that rethink. Without a clear plan to address climate change and protect jobs, the government is dooming future generations to play catch-up with the rest of the world due to this ongoing policy uncertainty.

So I call on the government to end the uncertainty, dispel the confusion and act. Our communities and Australians jobs cannot be protected without that firm action. Labor wants to see a proper energy regulatory framework with certainty. We want to be able to generate much more investment in renewables so that we can give traditional industries and households the certainty of their energy supply. This lack of policy certainty from the government, with 22 energy policies in eight years, has been very confusing for private investment and has hindered its efforts to fund new gas operations. It's up to the government of the day—and right now that means those opposite—to provide a solid and robust investment framework so that private investment can flourish in all forms of energy generation.

See this speech in context