A major union has taken aim at the federal government over its gas policy, accusing Labor of risking thousands of heavy industry jobs in Australia through a "dud handshake agreement" with exporters.
But federal Resources Minister Madeleine King rejected the criticism, saying the government had "significantly improved" a deal done by the Coalition and there would be plenty of gas available to local buyers.
In a scathing broadside, Australian Workers' Union national secretary Daniel Walton lashed out at what he said was the government's unwillingness to side with workers in the face of soaring gas prices.
Last month, Ms King struck a deal with the three east coast gas exporting giants — the Santos, ConocoPhillips, and Shell-led ventures — to shore up supplies for the domestic market.
Under the deal, the three liquefied natural gas producers based at Gladstone in Queensland promised to set aside more than 150 petajoules of gas for the domestic market next year.
This followed warnings from the competition watchdog earlier in the year that Australia was staring at big shortfalls of gas for local industry in 2023.
Mr Walton labelled the agreement "infuriating" and likened it to a 2017 Turnbull government deal he argued "wasn't worth the paper it was written on".
"It's infuriating that a Labor minister could champion the same exact same kind of dud handshake agreement struck by the Turnbull government," Mr Walton said.
"Especially when the ACCC has since told us that agreement wasn't worth the paper it was written on.
Mr Walton said the government now had to make a choice.
"Defend the insane super profits that gas exporters are making from the Ukraine war or defend the future of Australian manufacturing and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it supports," he said.
"I can't believe this is apparently a head scratcher for Labor.
"The party platform has already committed to use-it-or-lose-it conditions for offshore gas resources, a price trigger, and domestic reservation policies where necessary.
"It's time to actually walk the talk."
Industrial dreams 'on the line'
The outburst from the AWU, which represents workers across the manufacturing industry, comes amid a sustained period of record-high gas prices in Australia.
Propelled by surging global demand, the war in Ukraine and outages at coal plants on the east coast, gas prices have traded as high as $40 a gigajoule in the eastern states — more than four times the recent average.
Prices were fetching more than $20 a gigajoule on Tuesday.
Mr Walton contrasted Labor's position with that of the conservative government in the UK, where energy producers have been hit with windfall tax profits to help consumers deal with the rocketing costs of gas.
He claimed there was broad support for the UK's decision and questioned why Australia was opting not to follow suit.
According to Mr Walton, the consequences of sky-high gas prices in Australia would be catastrophic for industry, particularly aluminium smelters, brickmakers and chemical manufacturers.
"It's not even like the government has to do anything remotely brave," he said.
"Getting tougher on gas companies is a position supported by the Tories in the UK, the Grattan Institute, the Teals in safe Liberal seats, and most leading economists.
"You now have CEOs of gas companies coming out and saying they expect it to happen. It should be simple.
"The federal government has rightly stated it wants Australia to become a manufacturing powerhouse. Well, there's zero chance of that happening while it maintains this current stance on gas."
Ms King said that although the AWU had every right to express its own view, the government was standing by its deal with gas producers.
She said the agreement would ensure the amount of extra gas available was three times more than the deficit forecast by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in July.
Ms King said it would strike a balance between domestic needs and Australia's reputation as a leading and reliable supplier of gas to the global market.
"The Albanese government is committed to ensuring affordable, reliable and secure energy for Australian households and businesses, and expects LNG producers to play their part in ensuring prices are fair and reasonable," she said.
"We recognise the domestic market we inherited from the former government has not been delivering the kinds of outcomes we want to see.
"The Minister for Resources, the Industry Minister, the Energy Minister and the Treasurer are all working closely together to see what else can be done beyond the near-term updating of the heads of agreement."
