Our Plan to Deliver Australian Gas for Australians

Australians are suffering from the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, with Australian households and businesses paying amongst the highest energy prices in the world.

We are experiencing a national gas emergency, with not enough supply in the system which will continue to drive up gas prices for Australian families and businesses. As gas is needed to provide reliable generation for nearly 20% of Australia’s electricity needs, shortfalls also risk driving up electricity prices.

Under Labor, household gas prices have increased by 34% over the past 3 years. In fact, according to recent ABS inflation data, this has reached 38% in New South Wales and 36% in South Australia. This is on top of electricity prices which have risen by 32%, up to $1,300 a year more than Labor promised.

Electricity prices up 32%

Gas prices up 34%

Families are already struggling with the rising costs of groceries, insurance and mortgage repayments. They simply can’t afford ongoing price increases for gas and electricity – making the costs of cooking a meal and heating and cooling their homes more expensive.

Small businesses from local drycleaners to restaurants and cafes are also being hit by Labor’s national gas emergency, with gas bills soaring by up to 43%, and power bills by up to 52%.

Business insolvencies are at an all-time high; 30,000 businesses have closed their doors under Labor. It is little wonder that COSBOA reports that 1 in 5 small businesses – 20% – are struggling to pay their energy bills on time, and nearly half are concerned about their ability to pay future energy bills.

Australia’s national gas emergency is also having a profound impact on the cost of manufacturing, with gas accounting for nearly 40% of the sector’s energy needs. Increasing input costs like gas are flowing to consumers at the checkout. Purchasing weekly groceries is costing more due to high gas prices and supply shortages.

It’s not just high prices which are impacting everything from food to building materials, but also the threat of gas shortfalls.

Industry has been calling for government action, but their pleas are falling on deaf ears.

The gas shortfall threat to manufacturing is real, with Manufacturing Australia’s CEO recently stating “This isn’t a risk that is on the horizon, this is a risk that’s acute and it’s here and now”.

The impact of supply shortages and price hikes will continue to be felt until strong action is taken. Under Labor, we face gas shortages as soon as this winter, which risks some households not being able to heat their homes. This is unacceptable.

Australians can’t afford Labor’s failed renewables-only energy policy and the ongoing instability of our energy market. Australia’s gas emergency is fuelled by the decisions being taken by Labor and influenced by greens ideologies.

Labor is stifling investment in needed new gas projects, while around 70% of gas from the East-Coast of Australia exported, despite domestic shortfalls.

Only a Dutton Liberal Government will take the necessary steps to stand up for Australians and address the national gas emergency.

We will unlock more Australian natural gas, prioritise Australian gas for Australians, and get it to where it’s needed – resulting in lower and more stable prices for gas and electricity. We will establish new arrangements with the gas industry to:

• Establish an East Coast Gas Reservation;
• Deliver lower energy prices by decoupling our gas market from high prices overseas;
• Unlock supply of natural gas and pour more into the domestic market; and
• Get natural gas to where it’s needed, when it’s needed.

Independent modelling estimates that, under the Liberal’s suite of policies, the wholesale price of gas would drop from around $14 per gigajoule to under $10. This will lower wholesale gas prices by 23% on average, and, as an increasing volume of new gas sales are made, progressively lower prices by:

• 15% for typical industrial gas consumers (like manufacturers)
• 7% for typical household gas bills
• 8% for wholesale electricity prices
• 3% for typical household electricity bills

Other energy-rich nations like the USA – through plentiful domestic supply – have seen their gas prices fall over the last two years to one-third of what they were, despite international pressures.

In contrast, Labor continues to blame overseas conflicts for their own failings, while scrapping investment in new supply, slowing approvals, and funding activists who are blocking new projects. Sustained high gas prices in Australia are a direct consequence of Labor policy.

Pouring additional affordable gas into the energy system will help bring prices down, as part of a balanced energy mix – with more renewables, more gas and zero-emissions nuclear energy.

A Dutton Government will deliver a National Gas Plan that will:

• Drive down prices;
• Bring on new supply; and
• Get gas to where it is needed most.

Our Plan

Driving down prices

Under Labor, gas prices have spiralled out of control.
Eastern Australia produces around 1,950 petajoules (PJ) of natural gas each year with more than 70% or around 1,400 PJ exported overseas.

Despite Labor introducing a $12 price cap, gas prices are now nearly $14 – and with slow approvals, a risky investment environment and lack of government support for new gas projects, Australian gas prices are increasingly tied to high prices in the international market.

A Dutton Liberal Government will act immediately to unlock more Australian natural gas, prioritise Australian gas for Australians first, and get gas to where it’s needed – resulting in lower and more stable prices.

Under our National Gas Plan, we will establish new arrangements with gas exporters both to strongly safeguard domestic supply and to support and encourage further investment.

East Coast Gas Reservation

We will introduce an East Coast Gas Reservation. This will require an additional 50-100 petajoules of gas – equivalent to 10-20% of current east coast gas demand – to be committed to the domestic market in the first 12 months of operation. The additional gas will be shared across the three large east coast gas exporters.

A Gas Security Incentive will apply to gas exports, excluding long-term foundation contracts, ensuring exporters are economically motivated to supply Australians. This charge will effectively ‘decouple’ the Australian market from international prices.

This incentive will be just above the difference between the long-run marginal cost of production and the export parity price, which will ensure that it makes more economic sense to supply Australians. Once an exporter meets its annual obligation to supply the domestic market, the charge will be rebated and its exports will no longer be subject to the Incentive.

Independent advice is that this will reduce the price of wholesale gas out of Queensland, where the three large east coast gas exporters are based, to $10 per gigajoule or below, progressively taking effect on new gas sales on the east coast.

As new gas sales are progressively rolled out, this will reduce prices by:

• 23% for the wholesale gas market
• 15% for industrial customers (like manufacturers)
• 7% for household gas bills
• 8% for wholesale electricity prices
• 3% for household electricity bills

Detailed design of the mechanism, in consultation with industry and consumers, will occur in government, but it will ensure:

• Existing supply to the domestic market by exporters is recognised;
• Exports of gas volumes under long-term, foundation contracts are honoured;
• Commercial incentives to produce more gas for export are preserved; and
• Calibration of the proportion of gas reserved is undertaken carefully and evolves over time to provide certainty to producers and consumers alike.

Over time this will evolve into a prospective offshore reservation scheme to secure gas over the longer term, which does not interfere with state-based arrangements (for example in Western Australia).

Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM)

We will strengthen the ADGSM to make it a fit-for-purpose ‘gas trigger’ that:

• Empowers the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) to ensure gas retailers are passing-on lower prices to consumers; and ensure the obligations of retailers are included in an amended Gas Market Code.
• Binds gas producers to sell into the domestic market, not just ‘offer’; and at prices lower than on the export market.
• Ensures policy flexibility that allows the Minister for Resources to consider industry-led options to guarantee lower prices and avoid domestic gas shortages.
• Preserves the founding principle that a ‘gas trigger’ is always an option of last resort.

In parallel with new supply entering the market, a Liberal government will abolish Labor’s bungled so-called “price caps” that have done anything and everything but cap prices, with latest data showing actual prices are nearly 20% more than the cap.

Independent expert warnings

“To ensure that the east coast gas market has enough gas this winter, including through any significant demand or supply shocks, we recommend that the Australian government work with LNG producers to secure additional gas, which is currently uncommitted, for the domestic market.”
— ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey, 27 March 2025

Industry support

“With energy costs being a major concern for business, the Liberal’s National Gas Plan, including an east coast gas reservation and investment in critical gas infrastructure, is a welcome step toward stabilising prices and ensuring reliable supply.”
— Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 27 March 2025

“Gas prices above $10 per gigajoule are simply untenable in a gas-rich country like Australia, so we congratulate the Opposition for committing to driving the gas price back below this level. If Australia is to retain and grow its manufacturing capabilities, we need to deliver on that objective.”
— Ben Eade, Manufacturing Australia, 28 March 2025

Bringing on new supply

A Dutton Liberal Government will pour more natural gas into the market by unlocking more gas production. Increasing supply is a proven way of lowering prices – and that’s why under our government gas prices will be lower than under a Labor government.

A Dutton Liberal Government will:

• Immediately audit ‘development ready’ gas projects with a priority focus on the southern states, and pinpoint delays and causes;
• Accelerate new investment in gas projects by reinstating a $300 million Strategic Basin Plan to address near term domestic needs and longer-term investment;
• Halve environmental approval timelines while keeping standards high, including by accrediting the states and territories to provide approvals which meet Commonwealth legislative requirements;
• Streamline processes for gas title transfers – both offshore and onshore projects;
• Strengthen arrangements for the consideration of the national interest in approvals, requiring deep consideration of the economic and social benefits of projects;
• Reform the offshore gas regulations to cut red tape through streamlined approvals, mandated timeframes and arrangements for effective consultation;
• Drive the development of Australia’s untapped gas resources by reinstating annual acreage releases for offshore oil and gas;
• Introduce ‘use it or lose it’ stipulations for offshore acreage – to encourage meaningful development of our resources and stop “tenement banking”;
• Make a decision on the North-West Shelf extension within 30 days of Government;
• Limit the ability of activists to stall critical projects and defund the discredited Environmental Defenders Office, which has used taxpayer dollars to obstruct economic development;
• Elevate gas to the equivalent status of a critical mineral;
• Incentivise the delivery of more gas generation by adding gas to the Capacity Investment Scheme;
• Deliver more gas generation if the private sector fails to first step up;
• Implement consistent reporting requirements across the east coast gas market; and
• Reinstate carbon capture and storage in the investment mandates of Commonwealth funding vehicles, including the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

Strategic Basin Plan

• The $300 million Strategic Basin Plan, axed by Labor, will support new investment to ensure Australia can meet its gas needs over the short and longer term.
• The Liberal’s investment will immediately focus on improving near-term supply to southern states and the broader east coast – such as from Beetaloo and Narrabri.

Getting gas to where it is needed most

A Dutton Liberal Government will invest in a Critical Gas Infrastructure Fund, and reinstate national planning to ensure we can better deliver long-term supply security.

This will support critical pipeline and supply infrastructure to be built to enable gas to be delivered to where it is needed most, with a particular focus on expanding north-south supply and increasing gas storage capacity in southern states.

A Dutton Liberal Government will:

• Establish a $1 billion Critical Gas Infrastructure Fund to support investment in high priority pipeline and supply infrastructure projects, and future proof them with expanded capacity where required; and
• Reinstate the National Gas Infrastructure Plan, axed by Labor, to ensure there is long term national planning for gas infrastructure, including storage facilities in the southern states, to ensure we can match gas supply and demand.

$1 billion Critical Gas Infrastructure Fund

• With new supply from Victoria being strangled, increasing amounts of gas need to be delivered from Australia’s production centres in the North to demand in NSW and Victoria. However, current infrastructure – both pipelines and storage – needs to grow to support increased flows.
• This fund, supported by the reinstated National Gas Infrastructure Plan, will initially focus on near-term projects critical to address the immediate gas shortfalls in southern states.
• Storage, in particular, will be critical to take additional gas supply from Queensland and other sources to hold for use during peak demand over winter periods. This will take pressure off seasonal pricing peaks, help avoid Labor’s looming shortfalls and put downward pressure on prices.

The Choice

Labor’s policies have led to a national gas emergency, affecting our whole economy. Australians have faced some of the highest gas prices in history, increased risk of blackouts and a record number of businesses going to the wall.

Three years of mismanagement, anti-investment policies, and a disregard for the role of gas across our economy have severely damaged our investment environment.

Australia used to be an investment destination of choice, supplying trading partners across the globe with reliable gas exports, and supporting our domestic manufacturing capability with our vast reserves of cheap natural gas.

But under Labor, despite having some of the largest gas reserves on the planet, Australia is now experiencing gas supply shortages locally and industry is looking to invest elsewhere.

At every turn, the Albanese Labor Government has weakened our energy security, driven prices up, and blocked new gas supply.

Labor has:

• Scrapped the $305 million Strategic Basin Plan designed to fast track new gas developments including in the Beetaloo; North Bowen, Galilee, and Cooper basins;
• Axed the National Gas Infrastructure Plan (NGIP) designed to deliver gas across Australia to where it is needed;
• Legislated a failed price ‘cap’, with gas prices now nearly 20% higher than the cap;
• Released a so-called “Future Gas Strategy” – just words on paper, all while taking absolutely no meaningful action to alleviate shortages and drive prices down;
• Given taxpayer funds to radical activists who have derailed new projects;
• Mismanaged approvals processes, with federal environmental approvals offshore blowing-out to an average of 342 days, double the duration under the former Liberal Government; and
• Defunded critical abatement technologies like carbon capture and storage – which is essential to reaching net zero.

As a result, household gas bills have increased 34%, electricity bills are up to $1,300 more than Labor promised, a record number of families are in financial hardship arrangements with their energy retailer, thousands of businesses have already gone insolvent and hundreds of thousands more are struggling to stay afloat.

Our National Gas Plan will deliver Australian gas for Australians. We will drive gas prices down, bring on new supply and get gas to where it is needed most.

Our approach will guarantee natural gas for Australia, but also our trading partners as we restore Australia’s credentials as a secure and reliable partner internationally. We will work with our trading partners to achieve mutually beneficial arrangements for their energy security and our own.

Only a Dutton Liberal Government will get Australia back on track.

A Liberal Government will invest $1.3 billion towards our Plan to deliver Australian Gas for Australians, as part of our package of measures to drive down energy prices.

Analysis from Frontier Economics on the Liberal’s National Gas Plan can be found here.