Senator CHISHOLM (Queensland) (16:40): The export gas industry in Queensland has really driven economic growth over the past decade. We have seen particularly in Gladstone the development of export facilities by a number of companies that have created thousands of jobs in that area and economic opportunity for the region. Since those facilities came into operation they have employed substantially fewer people than they did during the construction phase. That has also been the case in the downstream operations, largely in western Queensland, where they benefited from some booming economic activity during the construction phase. It concerns me, having spent time in Gladstone and having seen what it was like while these facilities were booming, that some of these facilities have gone from employing a couple of thousand people to now fewer than 200. You get a sense of the economic downturn that has occurred as a result of these production facilities moving into operation. But we also are seeing a flow-on effect from these export contracts that have been signed to justify the development of these facilities. We are seeing a domestic shortage that is impacting on industry and affecting jobs. That is of significant concern to me. I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Senator McAllister, who gave a very thoughtful analysis of the situation and also provided some solutions to the challenge we face. For me this debate highlights a couple of issues. One is the hypocrisy of Senator Hanson on this issue. I will deal with that in a bit more detail later, but I will just say that Senator Hanson is happy to say one thing in this chamber but another thing when she is in western Queensland and in communities that are being impacted by coal seam gas exploration. This debate also highlights the emerging energy crisis we are seeing from the Turnbull government. They have no idea how to address it. We have seen no substantial response from this government to the Finkel review, which was delivered more than a week ago now, other than continued discussion and debate, which they are actually trying to pass off as business-like. Well, that is a different business meeting than any that I have ever been involved with, with the screaming match that has been reported in relation to former Prime Minister Abbott and one of his opponents. But we have also seen inconsistency from them over a number of months when it comes to the domestic gas issue. As recently as 6 March this year Senator Canavan was arguing against a gas reservation policy to alleviate the cost pressures in the domestic gas market. He was quoted as saying, about gas reservation: I think they'd be a band aid solution which would be unlikely to be effective in the short term, and would be quite damaging in the long term. Let's hope we don't get there. But less than two months later, on 27 April, we saw Prime Minister Turnbull announcing an Australian domestic gas security mechanism. To quote from his media release: The Turnbull Government will secure domestic gas supply with the introduction of export restrictions to ensure the Australian market has adequate supplies before exports are permitted. In their words, this government is applying bandaid solutions which they say can actually be quite damaging in the long term. Industry needs certainty and not knee-jerk crisis summits and constantly changing policy from those opposite. Again, as we have seen over the last two weeks in the response to the Finkel review that was handed down, the Abbott-Turnbull 'war', that is at the heart of this government, has led to policy paralysis on energy issues and also on gas. The government is responsible for the parlous state of the electricity sector and emissions policy in this country. Wholesale power prices have doubled under the Turnbull government and retail prices are shooting up due to investment uncertainty being fuelled by this government. What we have seen is the triple whammy under this government: power prices are up, pollution is up and jobs are down. That will be the lasting legacy of this government. It is more interested in internal party politics than governing and creating solutions to this issue which will affect jobs across Australia. It is important to reiterate the Labor policy on gas. Labor have been warning about the problems in the gas market for many years. Since 2015, we have advocated a gas export national interest test, and through 2017 we have been warning that more drastic measures were needed to address the short-term crisis that the Turnbull government has let develop under its watch. The government's policies on gas are not enough to secure supply certainty, reduce power prices and protect jobs for the long term. I believe that the gas shortage is going to get worse before it gets better. Labor has been urging the government to copy our policies and to adopt them, which are: a permanent national interest test for the gas market so that Australian businesses and households are at the front of the queue; establishment of a domestic gas review board to consider whether any new gas export facility or proposal to expand an existing one would meet Australia's national interest; and requiring foreign companies to say how much gas they plan to make available for local manufacturers and households. Indeed, my own union, the Australian Workers' Union, have been advocates for a domestic reservation policy for a number of years. I think their stance on this has been vindicated, unfortunately, by what we have seen over the last couple of months. What this motion also highlights, and what Senator Hanson's speech highlighted, is that One Nation will continue to sit on both sides of the fence when it comes to energy and coal seam gas. They hypocritically call for cheaper energy, yet also oppose coal seam gas exploration at the same time—they clearly want to have their cake and eat it too. One Nation's policy states—and this is directly from their website: One Nation opposes CSG Mining until there is substantial evidence that it does not affect people's health, the environment, our farming and water. Yet, here today, they are complaining about the price of gas that CSG mining creates. You would have to ask: where do they think the gas comes from? We also know of a topic that has substantial evidence that it does 'affect people's health, the environment, our farming community and water'. It is, of course, climate change. But One Nation do not care about that. It is CSG that they have focused on. Senator Hanson has had many different views on coal seam gas, even just in the last three years. It really depends on which parliament she is running for. In an article titled 'Hanson to lead One Nation against Lockyer CSG', on 16 December 2014, then candidate for the state seat of Lockyer Pauline Hanson argued against coal seam gas mining. The article says: Pauline Hanson has declared for the seat of Lockyer in the 2015 Queensland election saying she would fight for the farmers and against coal seam gas. Ms Hanson, who returned recently to lead the One Nation party, made the announcement at a Crowley Vale farm in the electorate saying she was prepared to "go in all guns blazing." This is the hypocrisy that we see from Senator Hanson on this issue: three years ago campaigning against this, ramping up community concerns about exploration, and now coming in here and bemoaning that it is being sold too cheaply overseas. While you cannot ignore the need for more exploration—sure it is not the most important issue in this debate—increasing gas exploration is one that is important if we are to see more supply to the domestic market. Then we have to look at Senator Roberts. I daresay a conversation between Senator Roberts and Senator Hanson on this issue would be quite an exciting one. Senator Roberts has said that when it comes to the Finkel review 'the only priority should be making energy as cheap and reliable as possible'. Then we see Senator Roberts responding to Josh Frydenberg on energy prices: Josh, the cause of power prices soaring is government intervention. The solution is not more government intervention. You cannot get a consistent line from One Nation on this important issue. A tweet from Senator Roberts on 8 February this year condemns the 'gutless Victorian Liberals' who 'want to ban gas drilling'. He is happy to target the Victorian Liberals on this issue but ignores the concerns that Senator Hanson has expressed. I think it should make for an interesting party room discussion between Senator Hanson and Senator Roberts. One Nation needs to get some consistency on this important issue. But once again it just shows how out of touch One Nation are. This is an important issue to Queenslanders and Australians. Jobs are at stake. They need a consistent line on it. Senator IAN MACDONALD: It is always interesting to hear what the Labor Party might and do what they might talk about. We have heard what the Labor Party's policy was in 2015 and 2017. In both years they were in opposition and they could not do anything. But what the previous speaker forgot to mention was the Labor Party policy in 2009. That was the time when the Labor government approved the construction of three LNG plants in Gladstone for export. In 2015, and now in 2017, they talk from opposition—when they do not have to do anything—about other policies. But if you go back to when they were in government and could do something about it, were they doing what the Labor Party is now talking about? No. They were issuing licenses for LNG plants for export only. The problems that the previous speaker and other Labor speakers have identified is really one of the Labor Party's own making. It is so typical of the ALP. They have all these wonderful suggestions and great policy ideas now that they are in opposition and do not have to deliver. But, when they had the ability to do it, what did they do? They issued licenses for export only. Perhaps, if there are other speakers in this debate, they might address this. The potential shortfalls of domestic gas have been addressed by the Prime Minister. As most senators know, the Prime Minister held urgent meetings with the gas producers to try and resolve the issue without the government intervening. The Prime Minister then acted very decisively on 27 April and announced the introduction of Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism. Given the abundance of gas resources in Australia, Australians do expect to have their gas needs met; notwithstanding that the Labor government had licensed these gas producers for export only. It is unacceptable for Australia to become the world's largest exporter of LNG but not have enough gas to meet Australian households and businesses. The mechanism takes effect from 1 July. It will apply across all LNG producers and will operate alongside other key gas market reforms currently underway, including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission gas market transparency work and the peak supply guarantee given by gas producers. It is a targeted and temporary measure of last resort and is designed to restrict LNG exports in the event that supply is unable to meet domestic market need. Any restriction or offset requirements would only be placed on export operations that are in effect drawing down supply in net terms from the domestic gas market. LNG companies required to operate under restrictions will have flexibility to find commercial solutions that meet their domestic market responsibilities, such as swapping cargoes out of portfolios or on the spot market. All LNG companies will be treated the same. As senators know, the exposure draft of the mechanism was released on 5 June, and the government is currently in the process of considering feedback from states, territories, gas producers, exporters and consumers, including the large industrial gas users, before finalising the regulations and guidelines. Hopefully, that will address the subject of this debate on why gas is more expensive in Australia than it is in Japan. Of course, it is a bit simplistic to compare one with the other. As Senator Williams pointed out, you must compare apples with apples in this debate, and I am not sure the debate as proposed does that. I was interested in the previous speaker's comments about the union that supports the gas workers—the AWU, I thought he said. They have been in favour of some domestic gas regulation for some time. I wonder why the AWU did not make that a condition of the money—the huge donation—they gave to Mr Bill Shorten when they got the money from the industry super funds. Remember the $53 million they got from the Australian super funds? That was the retirement nest-eggs of mums and dads and these super funds gave it to the AWU, which in turn passed it on to the Labor Party in a much publicised event in which the AWU gave that money to Mr Bill Shorten. If the AWU were worried about domestic gas reliability, perhaps when they initially gave the large sums of money to Mr Shorten for his election campaign they should have made it a condition that the Labor Party would do something about the gas market when they were in government. It is okay to say anything when you are in opposition, but take a look at what they did when in government. This whole debate, of course, is about cheaper electricity—cheap power. Australians simply cannot afford the sort of luxury that you see in Victoria, where the Victorian government—the Labor government there—with oodles of gas sitting under the ground has banned even exploring for gas. That sort of thing does push up the prices. As Senator Williams said before me in this debate, it is a matter of supply and demand. If you cut off the supply, obviously the prices go up, and Labor governments in Victoria are cutting off the supply by stopping even exploration for gas. In Australia we used to be so lucky, because, of all of the nations in the world, we had the best reserves of high-quality coal, and we used to use them during the forties, fifties and sixties to produce cheap power, which I know for certain brought one Korean zinc company to Australia to manufacture their zinc here. Why? Because we had the cheapest form of power. It was reliable. It was always there. It was good quality coal. We were fortunate as a nation to have that high-quality coal. But we have the Labor Party running around with their mates in the Greens saying that 'coal' is a dirty word—that we cannot have it. I am delighted that, first of all, we have an unexpected ally in Dr Bob Brown, the former leader of the Greens political party, who said that the coal-fired thermal power was the best centralised option we have. I do not often agree with Dr Bob Brown, but I certainly think he was on the mark when he made that very forthright and forward-thinking comment. I come from a part of Queensland where there are unlimited quantities of high-quality black coal. What needs to happen for Australia—for all those people who cannot afford electricity at the rate we are going in Australia because of Labor-Greens policies over the years—is that we need to get that coal out of the ground and use it to create cheap power for Australians. We are exporting it to other countries, including Japan. That might answer the question of why Japan has cheaper electricity prices than Australia—because they are using Australian black coal to create power that is very inexpensive, comparatively. What we need to do is start using that coal resource we have. Think of the jobs it would create for the miners. I can never understand why the CFMEU is so opposed to it. They have clearly become ideological, rather than being about looking after the jobs of their workers. I am delighted to see that Mr Tim Nicholls, the leader of the Liberal National Party in the Queensland parliament, made a firm commitment just last week to have, within 100 days of his election as Premier, a coal-fired power station, finally, with all of its approvals and hopefully based somewhere in the north of Queensland. I look forward to that. I know the Labor mayor of Townsville, Councillor Jenny Hill, joins me in welcoming that initiative. It will be great for the north, it will be great for Australia, and the sooner it happens the better. I wish the LNP leader in Queensland, Tim Nicholls, all the very best in his campaign and urge him to bring cheap electricity to my constituents in the state of Queensland.