Cheap gas, really? Why gas — from coal seams or ships — may not mean low power pricesThink about this — Australia is now the world's biggest exporter of natural gas, yet we're looking at importing gas to deal with a domestic "shortage".
If this happens, Australia will be using huge amounts of energy and spending large sums of money to compress, liquify and ship its abundant gas reserves to markets overseas.
Then gas will be shipped back, with all the costs and resources involved, to supply the local market.
Does that make sense? Go figure.
But there's money to be made from it.
Andrew Twiggy Forest, iron ore baron, philanthropist and one of the nation's shrewdest businessmen, is backing a proposal to import gas through Port Kembla, NSW.
Welcome to the world of Australian gas policy.
'Pure stupidity'
Alistair Donaldson, a fourth-generation farmer from outside Boggabri, north-west of Newcastle, has been fighting coal seam gas development in the region for 10 years, but he's equally appalled by the gas importation plan.
"It would have to be the purest form of stupidity imaginable," the plain-talking cattleman says.
