The Queensland Palaszczuk Government is continuing to waste tens of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money subsidising the gas industry.
Today’s budget included $21 million for “exploration for new gas reserves in the Bowen and Galilee Basins over the next two years”.
Lock the Gate Alliance Queensland Coordinator Ellie Smith said, “Queenslanders have once again been let down by the Palaszczuk Government and its thirst for dirty, polluting gas.
“Unfortunately the Palaszczuk Government remains hooked on gas industry-fed spin. Gas is a fossil fuel like any other that is driving dangerous climate change. Queensland gas is expensive and the overwhelming majority of it is sucked up for exports.
“This budget sensibly contains significant funds for clean renewable energy - it’s a shame the Palaszczuk Government has tarnished this by continuing to prop up dangerous fossil gas.
“The gas industry is still laughing all the way to the bank on super profits that it pays very little tax on, thanks to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It definitely doesn’t need public money that would be better spent on schools or hospitals now.
“The parts of Queensland now targeted for gas drilling have so far managed to escape the damage caused by the industry further south. It’s clear the Palaszczuk Government hasn’t paid any attention to the woes afflicting farmers near Dalby and Chinchilla where hundreds of groundwater bores have been drained and communities fractured.
“Even the Isaac Regional Council has recently rebuffed the Palaszczuk Government pro-gas agenda, with a request that the government’s approval for the Blue Energy gasfield within its council area be revoked.
“Queenslanders don’t want to see their hard-earned money wasted on a polluting industry that should have by now been consigned to history.
“The International Energy Agency’s warned two years ago that governments must not open any new gasfields if humanity is to avoid the worst of the climate crisis, but the Palaszczuk Government still hasn’t caught up.”
ENDS