Seven years feels like a lifetime in energy policy. In 2016, I worked under Rod Sims on the ACCC’s inaugural inquiry into the east coast gas market. In that report, the ACCC recommended that “Gas reservation policies should not be introduced, given their likely detrimental effect on already uncertain supply.”

This recommendation reflected economic orthodoxy, independent research from the WA economic regulator, detailed analysis from the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics and the policy environment at the time. The government agreed and did not implement any radical reforms relating to gas supply in response to this inquiry.