Thursday March 27, 2025
In response to the Leader of the Opposition’s budget reply speech and national gas plan, the Australian Conservation Foundation’s national climate policy adviser Annika Reynolds (they/them) said:
“The Coalition’s continued pivot away from nuclear, which would be the most expensive form of energy in Australia should it ever be built, to expanding fossil gas, which is currently the most expensive form of energy in Australia, is yet another costly and climate polluting con.”
“In a cost-of-living crisis, Australians deserve real solutions, not another reckless slogan that would see important cultural, environmental and safety protection slashed to accelerate new gas export facilities – doing nothing for reducing bills here at home.”
“Gas power peaked in Australia’s national electricity market in 2014 and has halved since then, making up just 4.8% of electricity generation in the last year. It is already being outcompeted by cheaper renewables, which now produce close to half of Australia’s electricity.”
“Gas is a highly polluting fossil fuel. The expansion of this sector at the behest of largely foreign owned corporations will supercharge the bushfires, floods and cyclones that are battering Australians right now. We cannot afford this carbon bomb – not in our energy or home insurance bills, and certainly not if Australia is to do its fair share to avert the worst of the climate crisis.”
“The Coalition’s continued support for major gas expansion, including the North West Shelf Extension, is alarming. Woodside’s North West Shelf project would be one of the world’s largest climate wrecking fossil fuel projects, emitting up to 4 billion tonnes of carbon pollution and spewing acid rain that will erase the World Heritage-nominated, 50,000-year-old petroglyphs at Murujuga.”
“The Coalition’s announcement is not a pitch to ordinary Australians, it’s another free lunch for polluting gas giants like Woodside and Santos. Peter Dutton needs to come clean: he is either spruiking nuclear or gas – and both are dirty and expensive.
[ENDS]
For interviews, please contact Claire Knox: 0452326549/ claire.knox@acf.org.au
