Domestic gas reservation plan 'not a blank cheque'

Résumé détaillé

Labor will be forced to make changes to its plans for gas companies to set aside the resource for the domestic market, following a report on the scheme.

Plans for a domestic gas reservation scheme will have to go back the drawing board if the proposal is to get off the ground.

The federal government has proposed a scheme that would force domestic gas companies to set aside up to 20 per cent of their exports for Australian consumers.

But the gas plan faces significant hurdles to becoming law, with the coalition and Greens set to oppose the proposal as it stands.

While a Senate inquiry report handed down on Wednesday recommended the upper house pass the reservation plan, the coalition said it would not support it unless changes were made.

"The coalition stands ready to support a well-designed gas reservation proposal in the national interest. This, however, is not a blank cheque to pass Labor's current proposal," coalition senators Kerrynne Liddle and Susan McDonald said in the report.

"Without substantial changes, the scheme risks redistributing existing gas while weakening the investment needed to produce more gas."

Labor needs the support of either the coalition or the Greens to pass laws through the Senate.

The opposition said the scheme as it stood would be at the detriment of domestic gas producers and would risk future supply.

"It risks operating to solely redistribute gas rather than growing supply. This puts both energy security and affordability at risk.," the coalition's report summary said.

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