Mark Wakeham

ALT LEAN Open Letter on the Future of Gas Strategy 13 May 2024 Dear Prime Minister, The announcement of the Future Gas Strategy has caused distress across the membership of the Labor Environment Action Network. We have, in recent days, seen the biggest outpouring of anger from LEAN members over a Labor policy since 2013. The Strategy’s overt support for new gas fields is the core of the problem for LEAN and its members. We know that gas will continue to have a role in firming the electricity grid, that it is essential for our manufacturers and that we must honour contracts with our trading partners. But the Strategy entirely failed to consider the full suite of future scenarios and policies that might negate the need for new gas fields including our trading partners’ decarbonisation commitments, demand side policies (including cost of living relief by supporting homes with solar, batteries and fuel shifting) and even possible options for importing our own gas back, having sold off our

ALT Prior to the 2023 ALP National Conference, LEAN worked through a long negotiation process, to secure a good platform position that was acceptable to all stakeholders, including from all parts of the union movement. The current Platform removed the Party’s explicit support for new gas supply and focused on the path to decarbonisation of the Australian and global economies. It recognises the continued role of gas and the long path of transition without jumping to an embrace of gas solutions. The Future Gas Strategy’s support for new gas supply makes no sense without a more sophisticated scenario model of gas demand, including impacts of decarbonisation and options for managing down demand. And it runs directly contrary to the spirit of the platform outcome. Your and the Treasurer’s recent assurances that public subsidies will not be applied to gas projects were welcome but insufficient. This should also apply to infrastructure projects such as Middle Arm if they are dependent on gas.