It doesn’t do to remember anything in the Australian political economy. It goes against every instinct of the iMSM and our Rum Corps leadership.
Memory equals accountability and we can’t have that.
Today’s debate about Stage 3 tax cuts is a case in point. The original package of cuts, priced at $158bn, only passed the parliament thanks to the signature of Rex Patrick in the senate. He signed on the basis that, in return, Australia would toughen its domestic reservation regime for the gas cartel.
Knowing full well what a “psycho” he was dealing with in Scott Morrison, Patrick extracted a written contract, via The Australian:
Centre Alliance has received a written guarantee outlining the Morrison government’s gas policy, which the key minor party demanded in exchange for its support for the $158 billion personal income tax cuts package.
The copy of the draft gas policy, which has been signed by the government, was given to Centre Alliance senators last night ahead of a crucial vote in the Senate today on the tax cuts.
Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick told The Australian in June he wanted a “clear understanding” of the government’s intention on gas, and the details in writing, before supporting the tax cuts.
Senator Patrick told The Australian the document detailed the measures of the government’s gas plan and the timetable in which they would be rolled out “over the next few months”.
A part of the deal was a review of the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism which concluded:
The review recognises that price is an important indicator in establishing whether the domestic market is functioning effectively and considers that the ACCC’s forward LNG netback price series is the most applicable prices when estimating the likelihood and extent of a potential shortfall. As such, the review recommends amending the ADGSM’s guidelines to include referencing the ACCC’s LNG netback price series in estimating a potential shortfall.
This amendment clarifies the relevance of the ACCC’s LNG netback price series to considerations under the ADGSM and strengthens the ADGSM’s ability to deliver on its objective of securing domestic gas supply.
This never happened. At the time, Labor was jumping up and down demanding that the gas price be regulated at $7Gj:
MORRISON GOVERNMENT GAS DEAL
July 05, 2019
Gas prices have skyrocketed under the Liberals – already leading three manufacturers to close down and threatening the viability of many more businesses according to the ACCC.
The Coalition has talked a big game but has refused to bring big gas companies to heel.
Under Senator Rex Patrick’s deal, the Government has committed that gas prices for Australian manufacturers and households will be cut to $7 a gigajoule or less.
It is now time for the Government to deliver clear detail about how this price will be achieved and when by; and what does Scott Morrison propose to do if manufacturers find themselves unable to source gas at the price promised by the Government.
Yet, bizarrely, Labor has just agreed to an LNG netback price benchmark for the ADGSM that will deliver not $7Gj gas but $70Gj. Who “has refused to bring big gas companies to heel”?
I ask you, should tax cuts for the rich go ahead when the opposite side of the parliamentary contract to pass them, cheap gas and power prices, have not?
