Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion from the member for Bradfield. Australians deserve a fair, affordable, transparent and predictable energy system and not the export distorted market that we have today. This motion highlights an underlying truth in Australia's energy debate—Australia does not have a gas shortage problem. We have lots of gas, but, instead of prioritising our domestic markets, we allow companies to exploit it for great profit. We do not need more gas approvals. What we need are rules that ensure gas in Australia stays for Australia and that we fast-track transition off gas for households, where electrification is much more efficient, affordable and better for their health and their wallets. We don't need more gas; we just need to be smarter about where we use it, what we have and who we prioritise.

It's been ten years since we started exporting LNG. We now export around 80 per cent of the gas that we produce. A small group of LNG exporters control 90 per cent of our proven and probable gas reserves. You will hear them crying poor and complaining about transition, and the ads on radio and TVs have accelerated—all talking about the natural benefits of gas and how gas is part of our transition and we should all need it. What they don't say is the price that Australians are paying.

Australian users of gas have been paying the price of poor policy. Instead of benefiting from their natural resource, domestic users are forced to compete with international markets. Since 2015, consumption for gas in eastern Australia has fallen by 32 per cent, but prices have tripled. Pressure on our domestic households and business remains unacceptable. Australians pay four to seven times more for gas than other large gas-producing nations, including the US, Russia, Qatar and Canada. According to ACOSS, people on low incomes bear the brunt of this, spending five times more of their income on energy than high-income earners. This is not a market that's delivering for Australians.

In 2023-24, Australians paid more than four times on HECS or HELP debts than our gas companies did on PRRT. Instead of rules to protect our domestic requirements, exporters have strong incentives to maximise exports. Projects like Santos's GLNG project in Queensland have siphoned gas from the domestic market to fulfil export commitments. It is wrong. For too long governments, have been applying temporary bandaid solutions to avoid shortfalls, building an energy system reliant on fossil fuels and continuing to let the gas industry shape policies long after the science shifted. However, as the government looks to reform the gas market, we must recognise the broader climate reality—1.5 degrees is not just a goal; it's a threshold, beyond which things will change dramatically. Here we are, the week after COP30, and very little was achieved.

Gas driven by methane emissions is a major contributor to global warming. Australia's methane accountability is jeopardising our emissions reduction targets. We still do not have proper accounting, measuring and monitoring of methane emissions from LNG facilities. We know methane emissions are expected to account for 68 to 95 per cent of Australia's targeted emissions by 2035, and, unfortunately, Australia continues to underreport methane by as much as 60 per cent, according to the International Energy Agency. We cannot fix the gas market while ignoring the parallel climate failure that it represents.

Last week, I sent an open letter, alongside 100 other leaders from across politics, academia, NGOs and business, to the Prime Minister and Minister for Climate Change and Energy, to sign on to the Mutirao road map. The pledge would look to construct a phase-out of fossil fuels. I'm pleased to hear that, over the weekend, Australia signed up to the declaration, on a just transition away from fossil fuels, recognising the need to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies as soon as possible. With the lack of funding received by Australians on the PRRT—I was strongly opposed to the way the government structured that legislative change—I look forward to hearing from the government on how they propose to now meet these new commitments. There are many inefficient fossil fuel subsidies in the Australian system that we can talk of—in particular, the diesel fuel tax credit.

I support this motion because it moves us towards a fairer, more secure and more climate aligned energy system—simple measures and ones that the government should have the political will to pursue. Now the government must act with ambition and integrity to ensure reforms actually deliver for Australians.

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