Australian industry reliant on gas for ‘foreseeable future’

The resources minister, Madeleine King, says Australian industry will be reliant on gas for the “foreseeable future”, and that the national gas reservation scheme will push down power prices.

But she did not put a price tag on the cost of gas under the proposal – as the former opposition leader Peter Dutton once did – nor predict when households and businesses would start to see that financial relief.

In an address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, King said keeping gas affordable for households and businesses was a critical part of the scheme’s primary focus. She expected the scheme would “push down” gas prices without crashing the market. The national gas reservation scheme will force gas companies to set aside 20% of exports for domestic use, and is expected to come into effect from January 2028. It will give the Australian Energy Regulator the power to force companies to meet a target of 110% of projected demand each year. It will also limit ministerial discretion and replace the Turnbull-era domestic gas security mechanism.

The minister said gas was central to heating homes, keeping manufacturing industries running, processing critical minerals and rare earths domestically, and supporting the rollout of renewables. When asked whether she had a timeline to phase out Australia’s reliance on gas, King said it would continue to play an important role unless a viable replacement was found.

The shadow resources minister, Susan McDonald, said “numerous questions” remained over the design and viability of the scheme. McDonald didn’t identify particular concerns but said the bill’s greatest risk was the “capitulation of Labor to pressure from the Greens political party and noisy activists”.