Blow-up over gas sees ALP divided

Labor’s division on gas has erupted in a meeting of federal MPs, with Left faction members opposing taxpayer support to open up supply from the NT’s Beetaloo Basin.

A gas field in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.

Labor’s division on gas has erupted in a meeting of federal MPs, with Left faction members opposing taxpayer support to open up supply from the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory.

The debate during Tuesday morning’s caucus meeting saw former leader Bill Shorten warn his party against opposing gas ­developments, saying “in the long term we may move from gas, but in the short term we need it”.

Mr Shorten, whose 2019 election prospects were hit by the party’s ambivalence over the Adani coalmine, warned colleagues the environmental activists who pressured the party over Adani “had now moved onto gas”.

He reminded MPs the party took a policy to the last election that would have seen $1.5 billion of taxpayer funds being used to unlock gas supply in the Beetaloo and Bowen basins.

“Two years ago we had a policy which we took to the election that gas would be a transition fuel as we increase renewables,” he said, according to Labor sources.

The policy stoush kicked off when opposition resources spokeswoman Madeleine King recommended caucus vote against a motion that would strike out government funding to help open up the Beetaloo Basin.

Ms King told caucus hydraulic fracking had been used in WA since 1958, and the Beetaloo development would support jobs “from high-level geologists right through to the cooks and cleaners who end up working on the site”.

A motion being pushed by independent MP Zali Steggall would disallow $50 million being directed towards research and ­development for gas drilling in the basin.

While a caucus vote endorsed Ms King’s recommendation, Labor MPs Ged Kearney, Libby Coker and Graham Perrett ­argued taxpayer funds should not be used to help develop gas.

Ms Coker, the member for the regional Victorian seat of Corangamite, referenced an International Energy Agency report that found there was no need for new gas fields to meet a zero-net emissions by 2050 target.

“I personally don’t support fracking and my community does not support fracking,” Ms Coker said, according to a source. “We should take a stronger position against unconventional gas.”

Ms Kearney, the member for the inner-Melbourne seat of Cooper, said she had “grave concerns about these gas fields”.

While she understood the need for jobs, she said she was concerned about it impacting the transition to renewables. “People in my area are very much ­opposed to fracking,” she said.

Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon and Northern Territory-based MPs Luke Gosling and Warren Snowdon spoke in favour of Ms King’s decision to oppose Ms Steggall’s motion.

Mr Fitzgibbon, who has led the charge for the party to be more supportive of resources since the 2019 election, said Australia could not have energy independence without its own supplies of oil and gas.

He said the fortunes of Labor in regional communities would depend on “trust”, arguing it was pointless for the party to say it supported resources but then ­opposed funding for every proposed gas project.

Mr Snowdon warned against believing claims from activist groups that Indigenous Australians were against the project.

He said there were “mixed views” within the Aboriginal community on fracking, while noting the Northern Land Council supported the project.