AUST Business today (extract): ENERGY POLICY BASED ON WISHFUL...

AUST Business today (extract):
ENERGY POLICY BASED ON WISHFUL THINKING, SAYS WOODSIDE CHIEF
Colin Packham
Wishful thinking has guided nearly all of the federal governments energy policy, the chief executive of Woodside Energy says, as some of Australia’s largest foreign investors warn that Labor must deliver on its commitment to gas or risk seeing investment flow overseas.
Tensions between the federal government and the resource sector have been simmering for months, but the overt comments from one of the country’s most senior energy executives show ties are beginning to fray.
Labor earlier this month published its gas strategy, deeming the fuel source as critical if it the nation is to meet its energy transition goals and climate targets.
The statement was well received by the country’s resource sector, following a spate of interventions by the government, and appeared to herald a rare truce, but this has since ended in recent days. In an indication of the tense relationship between the government and the resource industry, Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill said the Future Gas Strategy was good policy that was guided by reason – a unique case from the ruling federal government.
“It’s really the first time that the federal government has used a data-driven approach and not a wishful thinking approach to outline energy policy,” Ms O’Neill told the Australian Energy Producers conference. The overt criticism by Ms O’Neill underscores the frustration felt by Australia’s resource industry, ignited in recent days when Labor pulled an amendment that would have significantly reduced the legal jeopardy faced by the country’s offshore gas industry.
Labor last week withdrew legislation that would have closed a legal avenue exploited by environmentalists to curtail new LNG developments, after striking a deal with the Greens for support of its wider legislative agenda. The government had assured the industry earlier this year it would move to define who offshore gas developers needed to consult.
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