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Australia’s most powerful energy producers have lashed spurious legal claims and environmental hold-ups, warning contracts needed to dodge a gas shortfall on the east coast are under threat due to delays developing more than $10bn in new projects.Queensland’s Senex Energy, half-owned by mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, said it may struggle to meet supply deals with ­EnergyAustralia, manufacturing giant BlueScope and building products maker CSR. Contracts with the big gas users from Senex’s Atlas expansion begin in 2026, but ongoing delays threaten the timetable. “It takes a very long time to get gas out of the ground from a standing start,” said Senex chief executive Ian Davies. The longer this drags on, the more those contracts are at risk.”

In a world that grows increasingly unstable and in which we, or more accurately our friends, are already fighting two wars, we will realise that we are indeed the lucky country, blessed with abundant resources which we must learn to mine and process ourselves. We will learn that the greatest threat to our future is not climate change but a climate of naivety.

WA’s domestic gas settings are a “live issue” for Premier Roger Cook, who wants to have a “conversation with industry” about changes to bring supply online quicker — including potentially lifting the onshore export ban. The Cook Government’s shift in approach on gas comes in the face of looming shortages that threaten to push up energy prices for families and businesses. While insisting there would be no change to the fundamental principle underpinning the State’s signature domestic reservation — that West Australians should benefit from WA gas — the Premier said it was “not a set and forget policy” and needed to evolve over time.

It’s a pre-Christmas surprise that will add even more stress to families struggling to balance the household budget The independent Australian Energy Market Operator says WA is likely to face a gas shortage next year, pushing prices higher amid an already crushing cost-of-living crisis . And the budget pain won’t only be felt through the household gas bill. The gas shortage will also affect manufacturers and businesses. That means it could cause the cost of just about everything to rise.

Australia will likely need gas for electricity, industry and exports for decades to come and politicians have been warned not to shut down technology options too early, new modelling reveals.“Preparing for only one pathway leaves Australia extremely vulnerable to developments that are outside Australia’s control,” the report says. “Should any energy pathway or technology face challenges in its deployment, it will be critical to have alternative energy sources in the mix to maintain energy security and affordability and to keep emissions reductions efforts on track.”

25 November 2023.

Mrs Rinehart said governments "seem to forget" that "modern resources and agricultural industries underpin human flourishing", while reigniting her push for the Federal Government to mark two days in November as national days for the two sectors. "For all the platitudes we hear about supporting the agricultural and resources sectors, their actions show the opposite," she said of governments. "Platitudes and press releases don’t lift a single tonne of any mineral out of the ground." Mrs Rinehart said the growing burden of red tape - including looming "huge increases" to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act — and increasing regulation around net zero emissions, were evidence that government actions defied their supposed support for the sector.

17 November 2023.

Beach Energy interim chair Ryan Stokes has warned Australia’s energy transition is at risk of failure as an ambiguous and complex environmental approvals process adds to growing domestic supply constraints. Mr Stokes said gas projects were experiencing extensive and costly delays in the environment approvals process. “According to the regulator, only five applications have received approval in the last 12 months and there are over 40 applications under review,” he told the company’s annual meeting on Tuesday. “A process that may have previously taken months is now taking close to two years.

Nearly half of Australia’s business leaders say long environmental approvals are a big risk to the country’s ambitions to cut emissions, adding to growing alarm about green tape tying up projects. A total of 47 per cent of respondents were concerned about the approvals, while only 37 per cent of the corporate decision-makers surveyed felt Australia could hit the crucial net zero by 2050 target. It is the latest warning signal to emerge in an escalating battle over regulations — delaying projects across the country.