The Big Issue: Renewing the call to Reserve Our Gas!

In 2014, the AWU launched a campaign to Reserve our Gas and protect tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs at risk from spiralling energy prices.

New export terminals saw the first LNG tankers leave Australian shores a decade ago – the beginning of a boom that has raked in hundreds of billions of dollars for multinational gas companies, but left our manufacturing sector out in the cold.

We predicted east coast gas prices would skyrocket from $4 to $20 per gigajoule within the decade, as exposure to the international market forced industry to pay much more for Australian gas.

But we never imagined how high prices would climb: to $40 per gigajoule in 2022, and as high as $800 in peak periods.

Today, many east coast manufacturers are hanging by a thread. The mandatory Gas Code of Conduct and price cap, introduced by Federal Labor in November 2022, helped relieve some of this price pressure.

But it hasn’t been the new beginning we hoped for – securing a fair local market and giving sites the capacity and confidence to expand.

That is why we’re renewing the call we made in 2014: It’s time for Australia to Reserve Our Gas!

It can be done and it’s up to the Albanese Government to make it happen. After May’s historic election victory, the government is in a strong position to introduce bold policies that better workers’ lives.

This government has already shown it can go big: Future Made in Australia is the most ambitious industry support scheme in decades.

Now we need an east coast gas reservation, to deliver essential process heat and feedstock to industry at reasonable prices. Cheaper gas can also help bring down electricity costs for all.

During the federal election campaign, Petter Dutton floated what he called an east coast reservation.

Unfortunately, the fine print revealed this as an imitation reservation – securing no more than a fraction of the gas that industry needs.

But when taken seriously, we’ve seen that a reservation can really work. In WA, all LNG projects must set aside 15% of gas production for domestic use.

This means prices of around $7 per gigajoule – a fraction of what we see in the east, with gas producers like Santos still raking in huge profits.

What would an east coast reservation look like? Unfortunately, we can’t just extend WA’s rules and supply arrangements. But east coast gas companies do produce much more than local industry could ever consume.

While a lot of this is tied up in LNG export contracts right now, a reservation could apply to new fields, with existing fields captured as contracts expire in the coming years.

We could also address the conduct of one producer that buys up huge quantities of domestic gas to meet its export contracts, rather than sourcing it from its own wells. This is unfair and drives up domestic demand.

A gas reservation won’t be turned on overnight. That means we must act now with new legislation to be ready for the future.

The AWU has never shied away from a challenge, and we are ready to take the fight to Canberra as Parliament resumes in July.

But we need your help.

We know an east coast reservation can help secure the jobs of tens of thousands of Australian workers. But many in the community don’t realise that many of our vital industries depend on gas.

We need to spread the word – so please sign the petition and join the campaign.

The more support we receive from our members across steel, aluminium, heavy manufacturing, food processing, glassmaking, quarries, and other gas-powered industries, the stronger our voice will be.

Because it’s our gas – so let’s reserve some for us!

Sign the petition and join our campaign at our website: reserveourgas.com.au