Repsonse to Zimmerman DomGas

8th January 2023

The review of the WA Domestic Gas policy is a response to the backflipping of the Government on the policy, so I hope the Committee can provide the answers the Government has been unable to deliver.    

It is a problem of the Government’s own making, being partly the result of a 2020 decision of former Premier Mark McGowan to formalise what was already a standing practice to prevent onshore gas reserves being exported.

In making this decision however he gave one particular project an exemption from the policy, supposedly on economic grounds.

That lack of consistency set a poor standard.

In late 2023 new Premier Roger Cook indicated his willingness to dump his predecessor’s policy, again on economic grounds, and again exposing a lack of Government consistency.

The committee is likely to find that some export of onshore gas is needed to underwrite the business cases of new projects, but meeting the needs of domestic gas users is also critical.

The McGowan Government was good at deluding itself that the energy system in this state was perfect until a number of reports came in dispelling this myth.

For example, the energy market operator AEMO has delivered two scathing assessments telling us the state is at risk of running out of both gas and electricity.

In light of those concerns, the Government’s response has been all over the shop.