Lily D’Ambrosio says federal Labor counterpart Madeleine King is ‘wrong’ on gas
Resources Victoria found in 2020 that there was up to 830 petajoules of onshore conventional gas in the Gippsland and Otway Basins, but Lily D’Ambrosio says there is ‘no gas’.
Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio says her federal Labor counterpart Madeleine King’s views about gas in the southern state are “wrong”, and there is “no gas” available to extract onshore.
Ms D’Ambrosio’s comments, made in a state parliamentary accounts and estimates committee hearing on Thursday, come despite the minister’s own government agency, Resources Victoria, publishing maps in 2020 identifying prospective areas for up to 830 petajoules of onshore conventional gas across the Otway and Gippsland basins.
Resources Minister Ms King earlier this month said the federal government’s Future Gas Strategy was “based on facts and data, not ideology or wishful thinking”, and that “gas will remain an important source of energy through to 2050 and beyond” as a means of ensuring reliability and affordability as Australia lowers carbon emissions.
Asked whether she would step back from Victoria’s Gas Substitution Roadmap, under which gas connections to new homes were banned from January 1, in light of the federal government’s position, Ms D’Ambrosio said: “I’m happy to say that Madeleine King is wrong, OK.”
“I can tell you what the Victorian government’s policy is, it’s not leaving Victorian stranded on some fairytale notion that there are all these reserves of gas yet to be tapped in Victoria, when the evidence and the science tells us (there are not).”
Ms D’Ambrosio also confirmed Labor had not granted any exploration licences for onshore conventional gas since coming to government in 2014: “There have been none, because none have come forward seeking permits for onshore gas exploration or extraction, because there is no gas.”
A spokesman for Ms King said that to meet Australia’s climate targets, “we need more renewables – and for the moment we need gas to get us there”.
“We have released our gas strategy to establish the role gas will play in the transition to net zero by 2050, securing affordable gas for Australia as we move to a more renewable grid, and confirming our commitment to being a reliable trading partner,” he said. “The Future Gas Strategy is commonwealth policy. State policy is a matter for the Victorian government.”
A recent survey by the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry found 71 per cent of businesses wanted the state government to unlock new gas supply to bring down prices, and 52 per cent of businesses would be forced to reduce their operations in the event of a shortfall.
Australian Pipelines and Gas Association CEO Steve Davies said Ms D’Ambrosio’s comments “bordered on farcical.”
“As of now, there is a very narrow window to save Victoria from this looming gas crisis. If we don’t work together and fast, Victorians will pay the price – through increasing energy bills, less reliable electricity, and job losses,” Mr Davies said.
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