D’Ambrosio gas claim debunked after outburst against Labor’s King

In another Victoria clash over gas with the Albanese government, Lily D’Ambrosio accused Madeleine King of behaving like “a Coalition minister”.

Jacob Greber and Gus McCubbing

Apr 5, 2024 – 7.27pm

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A top energy group has debunked Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio’s claim her state is a net exporter of gas to Queensland during a social media outburst in which she accused fellow Laborite Madeleine King of behaving like “a Coalition minister”.

Ms D’Ambrosio’s lashing of the federal resources minister, who was seemingly compared to LNP predecessors including Keith Pitt and Matt Canavan, stunned federal Labor, with one senior member observing that “on gas, it’s always someone else’s fault”.

Victorian Energy Minister has picked a fight over gas with federal Resources Minister Madeleine King. Chris Hopkins

The social media post came after a morning radio interview in which Ms King explained that Queensland was doing the “heavy lifting” of pumping gas to the “whole of the east coast”.

Ms D’Ambrosio, whose office did not respond to requests by deadline for an explanation for her assertions, claimed credit for improving the operation of the Iona gas storage facility near Port Campbell in Victoria’s south-west.

While Queensland has been a recipient of southern gas in the past, in 2023 the state exported to the south a net total of 10 petajoules of gas – equivalent to about 2 per cent of the east coast domestic market, according consultancy EnergyQuest.

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The year before, 26 petajoules flowed north into Queensland, which represented 4.6 per cent of the east coast domestic gas market, it said.

Gas industry experts and market regulators say the shift towards Queensland as a net exporter is set to intensify in coming years as Victoria’s Bass Strait field – which is in Commonwealth waters – diminishes in coming years.

The clash between the Victorian and federal Labor governments is the second within a year, and follows a competition watchdog warning on Friday that NSW and Victoria will face gas shortages this winter, unless extra supplies can be shipped south from Queensland.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said the southern states were expected to need an additional 25 petajoules of supply to avoid a shortfall in the third quarter of this year.

“This will need to be withdrawn from storage or be transported from Queensland or the Northern Territory to the southern states.”

Ms King, in response, told ABC Radio that Queensland was doing the “heavy lifting”, and when asked whether the costs would be passed on to consumers and industry, said: “Well, absolutely, because costs always do with the production of any product, I suppose, and gas is no exception to that.”

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Ms D’Ambrosio then took to social media platform X, to say that Ms King was “more like a Coalition minister on radio this morning”.

“How about talking the facts: Queensland gas is not doing ‘the heavy lifting’ as it remains a net importer of Victorian. And Victoria fixed Iona – not you.”

Australian Energy Producers chief executive Samantha McCulloch said governments should stick to the facts and follow the advice of independent energy agencies to ensure Australia has affordable and reliable energy in the net-zero energy transformation.

“The ACCC’s latest report makes it very clear that Victoria is facing a gas shortage in the next quarter, if not for Queensland gas stepping in to ensure Victorians continue to have reliable and affordable gas this winter,” she said.

“The cheapest gas is generally the gas closest to the customer, which is why Victoria and NSW should be prioritising new gas supply close to the millions of homes and businesses in Victoria and NSW using gas.”

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The ACCC, she added, has previously found it costs between $2 to $4 per gigajoule to transport gas from Queensland.

Shadow federal resources spokeswoman Susan McDonald said the ACCC’s report obscures the reality that a surplus of gas is due to a decrease in demand caused by falling manufacturing.

“With the loss of almost 200 manufacturing jobs from Sorbent and Seeley International thanks to gas market issues, and with Qenos’ imminent closure, it is clear Australians are being forced out of work thanks to the continued mismanagement of our gas market by Labor,” Senator McDonald said.

“Unbelievably, the report continues to count the gas from projects that are sitting in limbo as Labor continues to fail to approve them,” she added, in a reference to projects including Posco’s Senex.

Victorian shadow energy spokesman David Davis on Friday said that the “intemperate” response by Ms D’Ambrosio to Ms King showed the state government’s energy policy was “ideological and not practical”.

Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews sparred with Ms King in March last year after she warned his government must grapple with supply challenges amid its moratorium on gas exploration.

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Ms King highlighted that dwindling Bass Strait production would exacerbate shortages ahead of last year’s winter and said there were other possibilities for gas production in Victoria, including in the Otway Basin in the state’s south-west, “that are extensions of current sites”.

When these comments were put to Mr Andrews, he said there were no known or probable onshore reserves that could be conventionally extracted in the state. “If you want us to frack the place, ah, no, that’s not happening.”

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