I rise to speak on the Domestic Gas Reservation Bill 2026, a bill that could have significant impact on the region and Australians that I represent. Under Labor, we have poorly drafted legislation, and I have plenty of questions and concerns around a number of elements in the current draft legislation. I stand for more Australian gas for Australians, more investment, lower energy prices and stronger emergency powers.

However, I can only support this bill if Western Australia is carved out of this legislation and if there is absolute certainty over that. This bill is designed to fix the east coast market, not the WA market. Ours is not broken, far from it. Despite not being legislated for some 20 years, our WA sovereign gas reservation policy has delivered a balanced market and stable prices. In the current draft legislation, WA would be beholden to ministerial discretion. That is not good enough, and I cannot support that. How can the government guarantee that future federal ministers will not step in and include WA in the Commonwealth's scheme? There is too much at stake for us to commit to this.

The current draft could leave more than 25,000 petajoules of undeveloped WA gas at risk. Developing that gas would return about $89 billion to taxpayers and support nearly 4,000 WA construction jobs. Our WA gas industry is too important to see it squandered or put at risk with regard to the many undeveloped projects that are already marginal. This bill will add another layer of cost and uncertainty. It is basic economics. If WA projects do not stack up or are too uncertain, investments will go elsewhere. To families in regional WA, this is their livelihoods. I'm talking about communities like Onslow, Karratha and the Mid West. They will all be most affected if this bill goes through without serious provisions and work done to it. Every investment that goes overseas is Australian jobs, Australian contracts and local spending lost.

I've been in contact with key west Australian stakeholders on this bill—including the Chamber of Minerals and Energy, who have made a submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee with regard to this legislation, with Aaron Morey, their CEO, appearing before the committee only last week. They hold grave concerns for regional Western Australia if this legislation is passed as it is. Western Australia should not be punished for investing in our local gas industry. We should not be punished for delivering a stable market for all west Australians and for providing certainty for our job market. How can you have faith in Labor given they have presided over a gas market and energy crisis that we are living day in and day out? Regional Western Australia should not have to sacrifice jobs, investment, lower supply and higher prices to fix Labor's mess. The coalition will not stand in the way of this legislation passing the lower house, but we will be moving amendments as required.

Put simply, I want WA protected from this legislation. Our market is not broken. It does not need fixing. Regional west Australians do not need uncertainty when it comes to our gas industry. It should not be up to ministerial discretion as to whether WA is included in this. The government has two choices: work in good faith with the coalition to get a workable deal that benefits all Australians—but I would say west Australians in particular—or work with the Greens, which would put regional west Australians out of work, drive up prices, decrease supply and end the gas industry as we know it. Nothing short of a 100 per cent cast-iron exemption of WA will be acceptable. I hope the government does the right thing.

I want to acknowledge that my friend and colleague the Minister for Resources, the Minister for Northern Australia and a west Australian colleague is here in the chamber now. I call upon her, I beg her, to make sure that the Labor government does the right thing by Western Australia.