The analysis in this report estimates that the oil and gas industry cut around 10 percent of its workforce in the 12 months to December last year. Despite this, the Australian Government is continuing to hand out large taxpayer subsidies to the industry as part of its “Gas-Fired Recovery JobMaker Plan.”

This discussion paper asserts that the Morrison Government’s 'gas-fired recovery' will not assist Australia’s manufacturing industry, arguing that increasing gas production is likely to benefit gas exporters, not the manufacturing industry.

This paper argues that subsidising the gas industry is a very poor option for stimulus and recovery spending. It would provide few jobs and would not bring down energy prices. The authors believe that there are many electrical alternatives to gas for manufacturing that are far cheaper than gas.

A study, purported to be from the CSIRO, that showed that fracking was “safe for the environment” was actually overseen by the gas industry, and was based on just six of Queensland’s 19,000 coal seam gas wells, according to this analysis by The Australia Institute.

This research shows that the Victorian government’s key report used to approve onshore gas mining appears to have underestimated the greenhouse gas emissions from new sites by up to 88%.