Do-nothing waffling on the radio this morning:
Declaring security had to be the first responsibility of every government, the Prime Minister said he had warned earlier this year a gas shortage “was coming” and the reality was there was “less gas available than there should be” and it was “more expensive than it ought to be”.
Asked if the federal government could consider reserving a certain percentage of gas for Australian use only, Mr Turnbull told 5aa Adelaide radio: “We will consider all measures that we need to, to ensure our energy security is assured. The objective that all governments have to have, state and federal, is that energy security is assured.
“I’ll be meeting with the CEOs of east coast gas companies next week and they’ve been put on notice — I need to hear from them, I’ll be demanding from them their explanation as to how they’ll deliver security for their customers.”
Bill Shorten has demanded Mr Turnbull “immediately convene a national emergency meeting” of gas producers, users and states, saying it “beggars belief” he had done nothing while the crisis “escalated”.
Nothing is what he does best! Don’t take that away!
Still, the national/energy security angle is the right one. He is implicitly putting pressure on himself to act here. He can’t paint it as a crisis then do nothing…can he?
This has gone beyond gentlemanly reservation now. It needs to be retrospective in the form of a third party gas export ban, “use it or lose it rules” and reservation.
