Alas, this was so predictable:
Resources Minister Madeleine King warned that Greens leader Adam Bandt’s plan to demand legislation in a minority parliament restricting LNG export contracts would destabilise international relations and trash Australia’s global reputation.
“It’s somewhat ironic that in proposing to tear up Australia’s long-term export contracts, the Greens political party proposes to vastly oversupply the domestic market with an order of magnitude increase in domestic gas,” Ms King said. “The Albanese government believes in renewable energy firmed by gas, not the other way around.”
…She said Labor’s mandatory code of conduct had secured more than 600 petajoules of gas for the domestic market.
Leaving it in perpetual shortage, the Minister for the Cartel should have added. Which is why the Heads of Agreement price cap at $12Gj is, in fact, a price floor:
And electricity prices are at all time record highs (outside of wartime):
There is no security of supply for either Australia or its export customers until Canberra breaks the excessive volumes of the east coast export contracts. These contracts are hollowing out manufacturing, delivering a perpetual energy price shock and wrecking the energy transition.
Does The Greens’ gambit bring a domestic reservation regime closer or push it away?
In a rhetorical sense it is the latter.
But if we get a Greens minority government then it can prosecute the case.
There is no more important policy outcome for Australia than smashing the east coast gas cartel.
