Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Minister Wong. A key contributor to the cost of living is the cost of power, because the electricity price is set by the gas price. Despite all your measures on gas, the price of gas on the east coast last quarter was $13.76 per gigajoule. Meanwhile, in Western Australia, a state that has a gas reservation policy, it was $8.66 per gigajoule. We have an abundance of gas and yet most Australians are paying through-the-roof prices for electricity. Why is your government putting the interests of the large gas cartels ahead of Australians and not considering a gas reservation policy?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to Senator Lambie for that question. She is right to draw attention to the rising costs that Australians have been facing for energy. That is one of the reasons that the government has, both in relation to electricity and to gas, put in place measures to try and deal with this. We are committed to doing what we have to do to ensure Australians, Australian households and Australian businesses have access to reliable and affordable energy both today and into the future. In relation to prices, I would make the point that, when we came to office, average east coast gas prices were over $30 a gigajoule and yesterday the average price, I'm advised, was somewhere around $12.30. So I'm making the point that this is a longstanding problem. In relation to WA, obviously for historical and geographic reasons, WA has a separate gas market to the east coast and a separate set of gas policies. The east coast market has experienced larger price fluctuations for many reasons, including reasons not connected to gas reservation policy.

When we came into government, we took immediate strong action on both gas supply and price. We introduced the mandatory code of conduct. We reformed the powers of AEMO to take action to address supply issues before they eventuated. Because of that, the market operator now has the power to manage the east coast gas market, including with powers to direct gas supplies around the system and between states. The gas code, which those opposite didn't support, has now secured more than a 600 petajoules of domestic gas for east coast users out to 2033. That's enough to run east coast gas-fired power stations for about six years. So you're right, Senator—prices for energy, whether electricity or gas, are higher than we would like. We know that Australians are battling the cost of living, and we are— (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Lambie, first supplementary?

Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A recent AAT FOI decision refusing access to a domestic gas reservation options paper based on advice from DFAT shows that our own government is putting the interests of other countries before Australia. I quote:

… potential damage arising from disclosure of information relating to gas reservation in Australia because of the very real economic impact that Australia's domestic policies could have on those countries.

Minister, why is your government putting the interests of foreign countries ahead of this one?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

(—) (): We always look to Australia's interests, and I'd make a couple of points about that, listening to the quote. In relation to an options paper, that is not government policy but what options might or might not have been considered. The second point I'd make is around investment in our energy sector by companies, which might be foreign companies but investing in Australia, enabling Australian jobs. If you look at our resources sector, if you look at our energy sector, and if you look at what has happened in coal and in the LNG industry and all of those Australian jobs, many of them have been enabled because of investment by energy partners. So I would make the point to you that it's not correct to say that looking at how other countries might react is somehow not in the interests of Australia. We have an interest in ensuring investment continues. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Lambie, second supplementary?

Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians are struggling to pay their power and gas, yet you complained to Senator Birmingham in this chamber last November that he temporarily said no to Santos, no to Woodside, no to the Japanese company INPEX, no to Korea and no to Japan. I don't have a problem with saying no to them, because I work for the Australian people. My question is: is the Albanese government working for them?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We always work for Australians. That's our job. I again refer back to what I said earlier. If you want to look at the number of companies that you talked about, they invest in Australia. They invest in very large projects in Australia. They employ very large numbers of Australians. The development of many of our energy industries has been as a joint endeavour between Australia and countries who seek these energy resources. I'd also make the point that these other countries, who will also co-invest with us, work with us on things like green hydrogen. So those energy partnerships matter to Australia, they matter to our transition to a lower-carbon economy, and they matter to Australian jobs because it is Australian jobs which benefit from this sort of investment.