Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Resources. How is the Albanese Labor government ensuring that Australian households and businesses have access to affordable and reliable gas supply, and how does this compare to other gas policies?

Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Paterson for her question. She is a very important supporter of the very important Hunter Power Project at Kurri Kurri. She understands, like this government understands, that Australian homes and businesses rely on gas and that gas will play a very important role in the transition to net zero as a backup to renewable energy but also as a really important support for the industries of tomorrow, like the processing of critical minerals. Under this Albanese Labor government, we have driven down gas prices and freed up more gas for Australians. We have secured over 640 petajoules of gas for the domestic market through the mandatory code—enough gas to power Queensland for two years. We have reduced gas prices to around $12, compared to $30 when the coalition was in power. Our policies are ensuring that Australians have access to reliable and affordable gas where and when it is needed.

I'm asked how this compares to other policies. Well, I'd like to remind everyone here that those opposite voted against every single measure I have just gone through. They have voted against all cost-of-living measures. They have voted against cheaper gas. They have voted against energy price relief. The opposition have voted against gas price caps that reduced energy bills, and I'll remind everyone watching that the Liberals and the Nationals together have voted against a tax cut for all Australians. Now they've also promised to make sure those tax cuts are repealed, and the Liberals now become the party of higher taxes.

Those opposite left the gas market in utter chaos. The coalition were warned about the projected gas shortfalls in 2014, in 2016, in 2017, in 2019, in 2020 and in 2022. You might ask, 'Well, what did they do about that?' Of course, they did absolutely nothing. AEMO and the ACCC warned them, and all they did was pass a regulation to hide just how much they had driven up energy prices. Their shambles of a gas-fired recovery was all hot air. It gifted millions of taxpayer dollars to the gas industry and left us with a national energy market shutdown, supply shortages and barely an extra molecule into the system. The domestic security mechanism could only come into play once a year, and, of course, thankfully we have reformed that.

What's next for the coalition and their gas policy? We can be sure it'll be slogans over substance. They say they'll have lower prices, but they voted against the price caps. They've even said they're going to release onshore gas when they've got absolutely no federal jurisdiction to do it. If past performance is an indicator of future performance, all we know is the coalition are going to ruin the gas market just like they did the last—[Time expired].