Without new gas, the Australian warns, an ‘energy crisis’ is nigh – but is the scary rhetoric justified?

The Victorian government has said it needs new sources of gas as production in the Bass Strait is slowing. Photograph: Design Pics/Alamy

The gas industry has been unleashing a firehose of rhetoric over concerns Australia could suffer a shortage of gas.

In a series of articles in the Australian newspaper under the banner “Gas Crisis”, industry figures and the Coalition’s energy spokesperson, Ted O’Brien, claim a shortage is going to “destroy” the economy, cause a “crippling energy crisis” and have Australians suffering the ignominy of “cold showers”.