Backing for gas the way to go, says Labor’s Matt Keogh

Labor frontbencher Matt Keogh has backed taxpayer support for the expansion of the gas sector as the proposal faces resistance from Labor MPs.

Labor frontbencher Matt Keogh. Picture: Colin Murty

Labor frontbencher Matt Keogh has backed taxpayer support for the expansion of the gas sector as the proposal faces resistance from Labor MPs and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.

Mr Keogh, the opposition West Australian resources spokesman, and Labor Left senator Kim Carr said government underwriting for gas infrastructure was appropriate as long as the investment was “good value for money”. “There is always a role for government in underwriting necessary investments to spur economic growth and jobs where the market cannot do it alone,” Mr Keogh said.

Senator Carr said: “Our manufacturing needs a reliable source of gas … and long-term, reasonable prices.”

Other MPs were furious that resources spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon on Monday publicly backed underwriting gas pipelines before the issue was discussed in shadow cabinet.

Mr Fitzgibbon said Nev Power, the COVID-19 Commission Advisory Board chairman, was “spot on” for recommending the Morrison government should underpin new investment in gas pipelines by guaranteeing offtake agreements.

Opposition energy spokesman Mark Butler, meanwhile, ­labelled the government’s push for a gas-led recovery as “just more spin from a government without a plan”.

Labor Right MP Josh Burns, who represents the inner-Melbourne seat of Macnamara, said the economics of gas “don’t stack up”. “The only way the gas industry makes money with new projects is if Scott Morrison commits billions of taxpayer dollars,” he said. “The jobs are in renewables, and that is where Australia has a competitive advantage.

“Joe Biden has committed $US2 trillion on cleaner and more sustainable technology. Why would Australia create stranded assets and plan to miss out on that action?”

There was confusion about who was the responsible shadow for the proposal to underwrite gas pipelines. Sources close to Mr Butler said it was in the remit of his energy portfolio, while sources close to Mr Fitzgibbon said the issue sat within resources.

Senior Labor sources said Mr Fitzgibbon’s backing of the proposal did not make it Labor policy.

Other sources noted Labor went to the last election offering taxpayer support for new gas pipelines through a revamped version of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.

AMWU national president Andrew Dettmer said government support for energy projects should be focused on renewables.

“The idea that a new (gas) pipeline is going to fix the problem, we think, is misconceived,” he said. “We ought to be looking to the renewables sector to provide more in the way of energy.”

The Australian Workers Union has called for more gas to be brought onto the market.

Labor Left senator Louise Pratt, from Western Australia, said renewables and a hydrogen industry would “create jobs across the entire economy”.