Coalition threat to sink gas reform triggers rare industry backlash

Resumen detallado

A broad alliance of business chiefs and unions has mounted a last-minute push for the Coalition to pass Labor’s domestic gas-reservation laws.

A broad alliance of business chiefs and unions has mounted a last-minute push for the Coalition to pass Labor’s domestic gas-reservation laws, warning that scuttling or delaying the scheme will put hundreds of thousands of industrial jobs at risk and inflate household energy bills.

The Senate is due to vote this week on legislation to compel liquefied natural gas shippers to hold back up 20 per cent of their annual export volumes for the local market from 2028. The Albanese government argues this will head off domestic shortfalls and curb the costs of heating, electricity and manufacturing.

However, the bill faces defeat without major amendments. The Coalition has signalled it would not vote for it in its current form, while the Greens have rejected the legislation, demanding a 25 per cent tax on gas exports instead.

In a major intervention, organisations representing heavy manufacturers, petrochemical firms, aluminium smelters and factory workers have signed a joint letter urging senators to back the bill before federal parliament rises for the year.

Acknowledging that they “rarely speak with one voice”, the signatories warned that failing to pass the legislation immediately would deny industry and consumers desperately needed certainty over future gas supplies.

“Delay is not a neutral outcome,” the letter states. “We ask every senator to put the national interest first and pass this bill.”

The government’s proposed reservation scheme aims to address a long-held grievance: that multinational energy giants are earning billions of dollars a year selling LNG to Asia, while local households and factories have faced tightening domestic gas supplies and soaring prices.

Western Australia has long required its LNG exporters to reserve 15 per cent of their production for local use, while Queensland’s export industry was established a decade ago without such rules.

For gas-intensive manufacturing businesses, the reservation would be a long-awaited lifeline.

Inicio del artículo, extracto de The Sydney Morning Herald. Para leer el resto, abra el artículo en el sitio del medio.