The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) has welcomed the introduction of the Australian Government’s Mandatory Gas Code of Conduct.
As the export gas industry opened up in the 2010s, the AWU said it has long warned of the dangers of connecting domestic gas prices to foreign prices. With international gas producers favouring export earnings, Australia was vulnerable to punishingly high domestic pricing and possible gas supply shortages.
“We have long argued that our nation’s abundant natural gas reserve should be used to benefit all Australians, not just generate super profits for a handful of multinational gas corporations,” incoming AWU National Secretary Paul Farrow stated.
“Today, we celebrate a federal government that has taken meaningful action to fix a broken market. Gas producers will now have to make binding commitments to provide reasonable prices and quantities of gas to the domestic market, under the threat of a hard price cap of $12 per gigajoule. Essentially, a domestic gas reservation scheme has been achieved and this will save thousands of Australian jobs and benefit millions of Australian households,” Farrow said.
According to Farrow, it is critical that, unlike its predecessors, the Mandatory Gas Code of Conduct is required rather than optional but strict supervision and enforcement will be required.
Farrow noted the ACCC‘s enforcement of the new code would be critical.
“We have to hold the major gas producers accountable for the vital role they are privileged to hold within Australia’s economy with which they’ve been entrusted,” Farrow said.
“We call on the ACCC to be vigilant on imposing harsher regulatory measures should any corporation fail to comply. We also urge the government to commit to maintaining this framework for at least five years, regardless of the outcomes of the proposed 2025 review. Such consistency will foster a predictable policy environment, giving stakeholders the confidence to make informed decisions that will ultimately strengthen our national gas industry,” he added.
