Gas, as part of Australia’s energy mix and as a direct business input, has provided a competitive advantage to Australia’s manufacturing sector and broader economy for decades. Cheap energy has underpinned the international competitiveness of the manufacturing sector Australia-wide.

Not only has this advantage been lost – it has been willfully destroyed by government policy and the deceptive market practices of LNG producers.

Since 2015, three LNG Projects in Queensland – Gladstone LNG, Queensland Curtis LNG, and Australia Pacific LNG – began exporting three times more gas annually than what Australia’s east coast demand requires. However, with each subsequent LNG train sent overseas, Australia continues to ship away its competitive advantage.

Indeed, Australia is the only gas-exporting nation that places no restriction on gas exports in favour of domestic consumption. Countries such as the US and Canada ensure that their domestic gas needs are met at an affordable price before permitting the export of LNG. Other countries such as Israel, Indonesia and Egypt reserve between 30 and 60 percent of gas production for domestic users. As noted by the Department of Industry, long term dedicated supply, particularly for industrial users such as manufacturers, is important as it provides certainty on the cost and availability of a critical business input.

Despite a relatively modest need for domestic gas, Australia’s unrestricted gas export policy has seen prices explode from $3 per gigajoule to at times as high as $22 per gigajoule. As the second largest exporter of natural gas in the world – and soon to be largest – this is an obscene failure of government policymaking in Australia.