Gas exports should be reduced to support local manufacturing and lessen the harms the industry is inflicting on farmers, First Nations people, and regional communities, says Lock the gate Alliance.
Media this morning has reported the Albanese Government is considering introducing an export licensing regime that obligates supply to the domestic market.
Lock the Gate Alliance says this is encouraging, but only if such a regime meets the needs of domestic manufacturers while helping to reduce gas exports and by extension the harm unconventional gas extraction is causing to regional communities, water, and climate.
Lock the Gate Alliance’s submission to the gas market review is available here.
Lock the Gate Alliance Clean Industry Coordinator Harriet Kater said, “Australia has more than enough gas - it just exports far too much of it. Export controls must be part of the Albanese Government’s Gas Market Review recommendations.
“By constraining exports and redirecting supply to domestic manufacturers, the Albanese Government could give this vital sector of the Australian economy much needed time to protect thousands of jobs while it transitions away from fossil fuels to electrification and other clean energy sources.
“Unconventional gas extraction is unpopular across Australia. This damaging industry must cease its rapacious expansion efforts in order to protect water, farmland, First Nations culture and the climate.
“There are strong signs that LNG exports from Gladstone will face headwinds in the 2030s. The Albanese Government should urgently start the conversation about supporting the Gladstone community and workers as LNG exports decline.
“Gas is a fossil fuel and a finite resource. Extreme weather events made worse by the burning of fossil fuels are already causing massive damage and heartbreak to Australian communities. Australia needs a regulatory system that supports an orderly transition away from fossil gas. The risks to climate, manufacturing jobs, First Nations culture, water, and land are too great to continuously drill and frack more gas for export.
“Right now, Origin Energy through its joint venture APLNG is progressing a project to drill more than four thousand new coal seam gas wells across thousands of hectares of Central Queensland farmland and forest. The damage this project would cause to water, communities, land, and the climate would be the cost of government failure to seize the opportunity now to clamp down on the parasitic gas export companies.”
ENDS
Background:
The future of demand for Australian LNG is uncertain. LNG industry insiders are warning of a “calamitous supply glut”, while the ACCC is projecting “a significant reduction in LNG production” (Page 5) once Gladstone export contracts commence expiring from 2031 and Treasury modelling itself is assuming a 27% reduction in gas/ LNG output by 2035.