Whatever it takes to cut gas price, says Jeff Kennett

Jeff Kennett has called on the Albanese government to take ‘whatever action is necessary’ to force gas supplies to enter new contracts at or below the price cap.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett. Picture: Getty Images

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has called on the Albanese government to take “whatever action is necessary” to force gas supplies to enter new contracts at or below the price cap.

The comments from Mr Kennett, who is also chairman of food and beverage manufacturer the Food Revolution Group, came as Jim Chalmers stood by the price cap, with the Treasurer saying he expects it to make a “meaningful and positive difference” over time.

Mr Kennett said that while a number of large businesses were “getting coverage over the impasse on the escalation of gas prices, for every large business there are dozens, or hundreds of small manufacturing businesses threatened with closure”.

“Every day the government and suppliers fail to address the failure of suppliers to write new contracts at the legislated price of $12 per gigajoule, is putting more small and medium sized businesses at risk,” he said.

Dr Chalmers said on Thursday he expected the price cap to “take some of the edge off, some of the sting out of, these forecast price rises”.

“The Coalition would prefer the government did absolutely nothing, and that would leave small businesses and pensioners and families and whole industries swinging in the breeze.”

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said Australians should not be under the belief that their gas bills will fall this year.

“We’ve been very upfront. Our intervention was not about bringing prices down so much,” Mr Bowen said.

“It was about ensuring that the increases were more in line with Australians’ expectations.”

Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Daniel Walton said that without the government’s mandatory gas industry code of conduct – on which consultation closes on February 7 – the ACCC does not have “enough teeth” to give non-compliant producers a “good whack”.

Woodside executive vice president of marketing and trading Mark Abbotsford said consumers could be certain his company was not withholding gas supply, and would not do so.