Tamara Smith, Greens candidate for Ballina
In December gas originating from the coal seam gas industry was exported from Gladstone to buyers in Asia for the first time. It’s all part of the industry’s plans to expand this toxic industry across NSW and QLD and jeopardise our land water in the process.
But there’s another consequence of this new plan to export gas from the east coast. The multinational gas companies can command prices up to 300 per cent higher in the Asia-Pacific region than they can in Australia. The effect on the domestic gas market will be a surge in the price of gas for homeowners and businesses, as overseas buyers will pay much more than we do.
Don’t be fooled by industry and politicians’ spin that there’s a shortage of gas in NSW. There’s plenty of conventional gas connected to the east coast from the South Australian desert and Bass Strait. This gas should be reserved for use by Australian customers before it is exported.
Our towns, farmlands and water supplies must not be turned into industrial gas fields so multinational gas companies can export to Asia for massive profits. The Greens are the only party with a policy to ban invasive gas mining across all NSW and transition to 100 per cent renewable energy.
