Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Last night's budget included a lot of welcome changes, but real action on gas was conspicuously absent. Prices have been surging all year and are now reaching consumers, businesses and industrial users. One manufacturing business I have known has seen its electricity bill increase by 400 per cent. They will be paying millions of dollars for electricity next year.

Let's be honest: this is a fossil fuel price crisis, driven by a war overseas. We must take action. It's time for the government to accept our gas policies are simply not working. The domestic supply policy doesn't ensure domestic gas supply, and the tax policy isn't collecting enough tax. These policies are not fit for purpose, and the public has no confidence in them. Australians know their government can and should do better.

Past attempts to reform gas policy have failed. The Albanese government should try to do something different. Don't tinker. Don't reform. Just scrap them. Scrap the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism and the petroleum resource rent tax. Scrap them, start over, bring the gas companies to the table and ensure Australians finally share in the full benefits of the resources we own.

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