Victoria ignores Reith’s roadmap, goes down dead-end street
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The Napthine Government can’t say it wasn’t warned.
The Gas Market Taskforce headed by former Howard Government minister Peter Reith gave the Victorian Government its final report three weeks ago.
The report found that Victoria should facilitate exploration and development of onshore gas – including natural gas from coal seams – and allow hydraulic fracturing.
The taskforce warns that failing to develop onshore gas could leave Victoria – like NSW – exposed to falling gas supplies and higher prices.
Instead, Premier Denis Napthine has extended the state’s hydraulic fracturing moratorium, despite the Gas Market Taskforce report finding that “Investigations into the effects of hydraulic fracturing … have found there is no evidence of groundwater contamination.”
The Premier has said he will defer any decision-making until the middle of 2015 at the earliest.
But the supply and price pressures will not go away. Business and union leaders are warning that jobs are at risk.
Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said the government should support the development of an onshore gas industry that could bring many benefits to Victoria and its failure to do so would have serious consequences.
“At a time when gas prices are rising on the east coast, the Victorian government has chosen to further delay onshore gas opportunities for Victoria,” she said. “This is no time for delays.”
Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes said tens of thousands of manufacturing workers in Victoria could be affected, according to an Australian Financial Review report.
Premier Napthine’s decision flies in the face of Australia’s long history of safe and environmentally responsible onshore production and ignores its proven record in creating jobs and driving regional development.
As Peter Reith said in the introduction to the Gas Market Taskforce report, “The only sensible course of action is for the Victorian Government and other eastern states to promote production of additional gas supply.”
Some of the Gas Market Taskforce recommendations:
- Remove holds on new exploration licences for coal seam gas
- Remove holds on hydraulic fracturing
- Strengthen laws to underpin best practice onshore gas development
- Appoint a gas commissioner to “engage landholders and communities”
- Develop a new water science and monitoring system
- Provide a short-term “royalty holiday” to industry
- Introduce a royalties for regions program to
- Have the Productivity Commission review gas market reform options
- Double compensation for people who lose amenities to $20,000.
Dear [title] [surname],
Australia is blessed with abundant, affordable, reliable, and safely accessible natural gas reserves.
I want you, as my federal parliamentary representative, to support the Australian natural gas industry’s development so that it may put downward pressure on energy prices and bring on the next wave of Australia's prosperity.
The oil and gas industry is currently spending close to $200 billion on new projects that have so far generated 100,000 jobs across the Australian economy; which will see the industry’s tax contribution rise to almost $13 billion per annum by 2020; and which will underpin the Australian economy for decades to come. We need to also support the next wave of projects that are today under consideration.
I am sending you this because I want to see action on creating more Australian industry and jobs.
We can't take our prosperity for granted.
Sincerely,
Name
Suburb, postcode