Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is currently undertaking a review of arrangements to supply the eastern states' gas market—a review based on the false proposition that new gas production is required to meet our domestic needs. The myth that Australia has a shortage of gas is a creation of multinational fossil fuel companies. Only 16 per cent of Australian LNG was sold domestically last year. The rest was exported. Some of those exports honour long-term contracts, but a quarter do not.

Uncontracted Australian gas is sold every day on the spot market for export to international markets. Australians compete with exporters for our own gas—gas which is taken from us tax free. The IEA reports that the world is heading for an oversupply of oil and gas by 2030. That will leave new projects as stranded assets. Australians do not need new fossil fuel projects. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that any new fossil fuel projects will take us over the 1.5 degrees of global warming. Australians do not want new gas projects; we want our government to stop approving new fossil fuel projects and to legislate the redirection of gas from the export market to our domestic market for our own use.

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