The coalition is still working through this legislation, the Domestic Gas Reservation Bill and related bills. Obviously it is incredibly important that we do this work. There is already a Senate process going on, and we are working and engaging with that Senate process very carefully, and we will continue to do so, because, as I understand it, there will be more days of hearings. The coalition would like to work with the government to fix this legislation to make sure it functions as appropriately as it possibly can. And we say to the government, in good faith, that there is still work to be done on this domestic gas reservation scheme. But if you're willing, we're willing to do the hard work, to put the yards in to make sure this scheme—which is designed to make sure we're putting downward pressure on gas prices domestically—works and functions as I think nearly everyone in this parliament would like it to.

Obviously there are those who don't want any gas being produced in this nation or any gas being exported. We don't want to be party to that; we actually think gas is vital for our economic future, and that's why we want to work with the government. There are some principles that are fundamental to making sure this domestic gas reservation scheme will work. The most important of them is that we need to see, as we put more gas into the domestic system, continued investment in our domestic gas sector. That is going to be the nut that we need to crack: how we get that balance right so that manufacturing and industry can continue to thrive in this nation, especially those that are reliant on gas, and so that we make sure we keep getting future investment in our gas sector and so that we will be able to see gas play a fundamental part in putting downward pressure on electricity prices and so that we ensure that our gas sector continues to flourish.

This isn't easy work, because obviously it requires some sort of intervention in the market. For some in this place, that will be something that sits very well with them. For others, like me, it's something I find difficult, but I understand that there is a need to do this and for us to get it right. Many people, I think rightly, point to Western Australia and say, 'Well, they've had a domestic gas reservation scheme in place now for quite some time, and it's worked, on the whole, pretty well.' Sure, there are some things that you might want to fix, but, on the whole, it has worked quite well. If we could get the same for the eastern seaboard I think that everyone would think that that was a good thing.

What is it that we're going to have to make sure we get right? Well, we're going to have to make sure we get right the must-sell provisions because obviously forcing one party in a market to have to sell means that there are potential consequences. So we need to look at and examine that part of the bill. We also need to look at the oversupply provisions, where the gas exporters have to provide gas up to 110 per cent of the market, as determined by the government through the AER and ministers. Those two aspects will be absolutely critical for us to be able to look at and examine, because that goes to the whole question of demand and supply in the market. That's the bit that we have to get right because otherwise the unintended consequences are that it leads to an investment drought when it comes to gas production, especially domestically. That is not in anyone's interests, and that is not what we want to see.

We're also going to have to make sure that the Western Australian component of this is right, because Western Australians rightly think: 'We've got our own domestic gas reservation scheme. It works well, and the last thing we want is government ministers from Canberra dictating to us what we should do.' So we're going to have to make sure we get that component right. There is potentially one other aspect of that which we have to take into consideration. That is that, if we're going to have a domestic gas reservation scheme set up by the Commonwealth, then it has to deal with all states and territories. So threading that needle becomes critically important, because I and my colleagues think it's absolutely vital that Western Australia, given that they've already got a domestic gas reservation scheme in place, are allowed to basically operate that how they see fit. That is something else that we are going to need to talk with the government about to make sure that we can get that aspect of it absolutely right.

Obviously all this will involve the government taking us into their confidence. We want to make sure that we can have the discussions in good faith with them and that we've got a clear understanding of all the work that they've done behind the scenes to get to the stage where they have with this piece of legislation. If you talk to anyone, whether it be in industry, in manufacturing or with the gas sector, this is incredibly complex legislation. There are obviously things that need tidying up around definitions and exactly where the some of the aspects of this scheme will be applied, whether it's at the gas wellhead or other places. For all these things, we're going to have to make sure that we get the legislation absolutely crystal clear and right on because, if we don't, then Australia will be the poorer for it. That's in no-one's interest.

Why the government should allow the coalition, the opposition, to work with them is because it is important we get it right. Where the government has followed a process of secrecy, of non-transparency, of basically trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the parliament and the Australian people, it's led to an abject failure. The government should know and understand that, the more transparent you can be, the better the outcomes you get. I point to the Capacity Investment Scheme as just one example of that. Yesterday we saw in Senate estimates that 27 projects within the Capacity Investment Scheme have pulled out of the scheme. We had to get that information from Senate estimates. Do we know how much the Capacity Investment Scheme is costing? No. We can understand the arrangements as such that you might need commercial-in-confidence arrangements around each individual project, especially if companies are bidding into a scheme. But the fact the government won't announce the macro figure that it potentially is putting the Australian people on the hook for is just appalling—absolutely appalling.

The fact that the scheme is collapsing in on itself is no surprise because of the secrecy. We should be debating it. We should be able to look under the bonnet of the car and have a look at the inner workings and be able to debate, discuss, point out and show the energy minister where he's going so horribly wrong. He's not on track to meet any target, whether it be his emissions reduction or his renewable energy target. As a matter of fact, the deeply concerning part about what he's doing is that, while the scheme is collapsing like a house of cards, we're seeing in 2028 and 2029 warnings that we're going to get short of energy. We're going to get short of electricity and gas in this nation. This is something that ultimately will be on the Labor government's head. But, in the national interest, let's not have the lights going out. Let's not have people having to turn their electricity off or their gas off because they can't afford it. It's in all our interests to make sure that, as we continue to go through the 21st century, everyone can reap the benefits of the technological advancements that we've had. Yet we had the sad reality in South Australia recently where the ombudsman has pointed out there's been a 60 per cent increase in people disconnecting. Once you disconnect from the electricity grid, once you disconnect your gas, you're left with candles. How anyone in this place can think this is a good thing is beyond me, but that's where we've got to.

The Australian people are looking at the energy minister and saying: 'Do you really get this? Do you really understand it? You promised us $275 off your power bill, and instead the average power bill has gone up by about $1,000, 40 per cent. Do you get this?' And they look, and all they see is this world tour going on around pre-COP. We found out yesterday in Senate estimates that it was going to cost around $20 million. It ended up being $35 million. I don't know what everyone else thinks, but I can tell you that in my electorate that $35 million would go a long way. And they just look and they say: 'This was for five-star accommodation in Fiji and Tuvalu for what? No leaders turned up.' And it's so embarrassing that no leaders turned up. At Senate estimates, they wouldn't tell us which leaders were invited and which weren't. They're so embarrassed that they can't even be transparent about a leaders invite list. It's beyond farcical. And then it gets worse. They had to have a pre-COP pre-COP. And guess what that involved? That involved over $650,000 in hiring out a five-star hotel in Sydney so they could have a pre-COP pre-COP. What I don't understand is that surely you could have done it on Zoom or surely you could have done it in the offices here in Canberra. Why do you need to go to Sydney and stay in a five-star hotel for a pre-COP pre-COP costing the taxpayer $650,000 when there are Australians disconnecting from the power grid and going back to candles? Get your priorities right.

There's this and the litany of other things that we've seen. There's the cheaper home battery scheme. It was meant to cost $2 billion. In its first 13 to 14 months, it blew out. It was costing $4.65 billion. The official in the department when quizzed about it in Senate estimates said, 'When we designed it, it was a little too generous.' It's blown out. It was a $2 billion scheme. It was meant to run for four years. It blew out to $4.65 billion. Now it's an $8 billion scheme—heaven only knows. Then we started talking about the fraudsters that got involved and the safety issues around the batteries. Everything turned to custard.

The point I'm trying to make is that, if we don't get this Domestic Gas Reservation Scheme right, that's exactly what's going to happen. It'll turn to custard. I say this to the government. If you want it to turn to custard, do a deal with the Greens because that will absolutely turn it to custard. We'll have no gas industry. All of you know that that's what they want. We'll be left with no manufacturing and no industry in this nation as a result.

That's why the coalition is happy and prepared to, in good faith, work with the government to get this right. We'll be making sure we do this in a way where we work with the government in good faith, but it will require the government working with us in good faith and demonstrating to us that they're prepared to show us important information so that we can make sure we get the balance right now.

I'll finish on this note. This is important legislation which should be being debated in this House. Yet the government's lack of transparency, lack of integrity and lack of wanting to be scrutinised is so bad that they've put in place a mega gag to end the year. Rather than saying we should have a sitting week next week or a sitting fortnight to finish the year, what have they done? They've put in place this mega gag. They've used a mega gear to put a mega gag in place. What they should be doing is just being open to more scrutiny. Then they might get just something right. But they don't want to do that. So this will go off to the Federation Chamber, which is a disgrace. Given its importance to this nation, it should be being debated here in the House of Representatives. So that is happening. But we will still, even though they're putting a mega gag in place, be using our ability to scrutinise this bill not only in the Federation Chamber but in the Senate inquiry that's taking place. Then we'll try to work with the government to make sure we get it in the type of shape where it will do two things. It will make sure that gas continues to be explored for in this nation and that it will continue to be invested in in this nation, and that will mean our manufacturing and industries will continue to thrive.

Debate adjourned.