Union writes to NSW Labor MPs telling them how important gas field is for jobs and economic security
Labor leader Jodi McKay could face a fight over the Narrabri gas field development, with every Labor MP targeted in a campaign to warn them how many jobs are at stake.
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Labor Upper House MPs have voted to back a bill to stop the Narrabri gas field development in defiance of a union call for them to stop and think of the jobs and the economy.
Australian Workers Union secretary Daniel Walton wrote to every Labor MP yesterday urging them to ignore Labor leader Jodi McKay’s backing of independent MP Justin Field’s bill calling for a moratorium on gas production.
But Labor Upper House members, backed by the Greens and Shooters and Fishers, voted to stop gas production. The bill now goes to the Lower House where it is unlikely to get support.
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Government Upper House Leader Damien Tudehope slammed the vote saying : “This betrayal of the working class by the loony Labor Left has been going for some decades now.”
Mr Walton earlier said: “Labor’s stance on this issue flies in the face of everything our party is meant to stand for. So I’m writing personally to every NSW Labor member and reminding them of what’s at stake.
“I also want them to meet some of the people whose livelihoods depend on affordable gas. Their concerns are much more tangible than the imagined concerns of gas conspiracy theorists in trendy seats.”
His anger at the NSW Labor leadership has been echoed by federal Opposition resources spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon.
“It’s a bad and poorly informed decision which, if ever implemented, would leave our manufacturers uncompetitive, cost hundreds of jobs, and result in higher household electricity bills,” he said.
Manufacturers have also weighed into the debate. Polyethylene manufacturer Qenos chief executive Steve Bell said he was “absolutely flabbergasted” that the Narrabri project was being debated in parliament again.
“We have a dysfunctional gas market. We are the largest exporter of gas in the world yet we cannot secure competitive prices domestically,” he said. “It’s a crazy situation.”
Mr Bell said Qenos relies on cheap reliable gas supplies to keep 1000 highly skilled workers employed. “We employ 1000 people directly and those jobs are really under threat if we don’t get some sensible policy and fix the dysfunction in the gas market,” he said.
Port Botany Qenos worker Daniel Stojkanovic said: “We should have the cheapest gas in the world, but somehow it’s the most expensive. It should be our national competitive advantage.
“I just don’t understand why anyone in our parliament would stand in the way of affordable gas.”
Newcastle’s Tomago Aluminium smelter uses around 10 per cent of NSW’s electricity supply. Matt Howell, chief executive of Tomago Aluminium, said using renewable power backed up with battery power would not keep the lights on for Australian industry.
“The biggest battery in the world in South Australia would not run this smelter for eight minutes,” he said.