Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

This is not a transition strategy; it is an expansion strategy. We cannot expand gas all the way to net zero. It just does not make sense. In Western Australia at the moment we are experiencing a forest collapse event. There are dead trees all over my electorate that have not lasted through the summer, despite having lasted for 100 years before that.

We know that we need to reduce the use of gas. Gas is only part of the transition if it's replacing coal, not if it's replacing renewables. The danger is if we invest in gas projects now, hoping that the world will prefer our gas to our competitors' gas, we end up with too much gas and then gas becomes cheaper and it starts replacing renewables instead. We cannot use short-term issues to justify making bad long-term decisions.

This strategy is not presented in the context that it's as little as possible for as short a time as possible. It's not clear how this strategy fits with our international climate obligations, with driving reduction in demand for gas and with prioritising domestic needs over export. We export 90 per cent of our Western Australian gas offshore. We get little tax for that; the profits go overseas and it contributes to an unlivable planet. We are not sending a clear message to the investment community that we are serious about decarbonisation. It's a very mixed message, saying: 'We're expanding gas. We're open for business to 2050 and beyond. Oh, but we are also trying to incentivise renewables.' We need clear signals here.

Alan Kohler points out that this raises the question: what is the point of all the other work we're doing to reduce emissions when it is all undone by these huge gas projects? That is why this future gas strategy is not consistent with a livable planet; it is not consistent with Australia being committed to decarbonisation. I condemn it and I call on the environment minister and the resource minister to stop approving new coal and gas mines.

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