Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Hanson, you're right in saying that there's no doubt that Australia does need more gas to be supplied, and that is because—even for many of us who want to see more renewables brought into the system because it will be the cheapest, cleanest form of energy available in the future—it is going to require more gas as a backup source. And of course there are a lot of manufacturing outfits right across Australia that rely very heavily on gas. That is why we have taken a range of actions to ensure that we can obtain the gas supplies that Australia needs. Already in this term of government, we've seen gas developments approved by this government, which are necessary for the manufacturing gas that's needed and also to back up renewables into the future.

The reality is that we are dealing with a situation where we inherited many warnings of gas shortages that were provided to the coalition over their years in government. In fact, AEMO and the ACCC issued a dozen warnings about gas shortages over the decade the coalition was in power. Now, we can't wish away the consequences of a decade of neglect, but we are acting on both supply and price while also being a responsible energy partner for the countries to whom we export gas. Some of the things that we've done have been to take strong action on gas supply and price by introducing the gas mandatory code of conduct, expanding AEMO's powers to address market shortfalls, and responsibly approving new exploration and production.

Our work to deliver more gas at more reasonable prices is making a meaningful difference. The latest ACCC outlook forecasts surpluses of gas on the east coast in 2025 and 2026. Under the gas code of conduct, we've secured more than 600 petajoules of domestic gas, which is enough to power east coast generators for six years. We've seen new gas come online for east coast users through the Senex project in Queensland, which is something the coalition never managed. And, of course, our future gas strategy established a long-term plan to help address supply changes. (Time expired)