Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Madigan for his question and also acknowledge his long, deep and abiding interest in this matter and for giving me some advance notice of his question. I will say at the start that I do not agree with the assertion that there may be a loss of over 200,000 manufacturing jobs due to increases in gas prices. However, I will say to Senator Madigan that the government shares your concerns regarding gas prices that are faced by consumers and industry. That is why we worked hard to deliver the abolition of the carbon tax, and this has directly benefited Australian households and businesses by placing downward pressure on gas bills.

But the senator is, indeed, absolutely right that natural gas has an important role to play in Australia's energy future, and we have been very clear that we support the responsible development of gas. State and territory governments, which have primary responsibility for onshore development, are the main regulators of the activity. Australia has ample reserves of natural gas to meet both domestic and export demand, and the challenge we face, as Senator Madigan knows, is getting the gas out of the ground in time to meet the needs of gas users. The government believes that increasing overall gas supply is the best way to ensure customers have access to competitively priced gas and an assured supply. Queensland and South Australia have multiple projects underway, whereas some other states have halted the development of gas resources, placing pressure on available gas supplies and gas prices. The government will continue to work with state governments to ensure that adequate gas supply is maintained and that domestic customers can access a competitive price.