Via The Australian:
Malcolm Turnbull has seized on energy spokesman Mark Butler’s admission that Labor was warned that customers would be hit with higher energy prices from the gas exports it authorised in government five years ago, blaming the Gillard government for the spike in gas prices which has seen energy bills rise dramatically.
Mr Butler last night declared “everyone knew” there would be an impact on prices from the surge in gas shipments overseas, contradicting claims he made in April that there was no advice about the problem.
The Prime Minister said that if Australians wanted to know why electricity prices had spiked, it was because of the shortage of gas on the east coast, which was caused by Labor failing to protect the domestic market when it allowed exports.
…“This is a mess, a shocking mess, that Labor created, one of many in the energy space,” he said.
“It is due to their complacency, their combination of left-wing ideology and idiocy has led us to one decision after another by Labor that has put upward pressure on prices.”
The Gillard Government was stupid, yes, as we’ve pointed out for five years or so. But there are other factors here too:
- Santos lied about how much gas it had;
- there was no mechanism for Gillard to say no. There is no gas reservation in Australia;
- the Coalition had just destroyed Kevin Rudd for proposing the mining tax. Was Labor in a position for another large resources fight? Would the Coalition have backed it? Pfft.
And, swinging to today:
- Turnbull’s gas reservation policy was Labor’s idea and he’s been slow and too weak in applying it;
- the Coalition has been in government for three years and done nothing;
- it destroyed the carbon price which has derailed the decarbonisation push;
- it spends most of its time blaming renewables and now, finally, it acknowledges that it is gas.
I mean, seriously, Malcolm, get over the politics and fix the gas price.
