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Australian opposition

leaders heal divide over gas

POLICY THE Australian Labor Party’s (ALP) leaders
have reportedly managed to agree on a docu-
ment that unifies various opposing party view-
points under one banner.
Australia’s opposition was split in the
wake of the government’s announcement in
August of plans for “gas-led recovery” out of
the country’s coronavirus (COVID-19) led
recession.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his cab-
inet have backed plans to develop gas reserves,
with a focus on feeding domestic manufacturers
with cheap gas. While the vision drew criticism
from both environmentalists and, surprisingly,
the gas industry itself, it also managed to expose
an ideological divide with the ALP that some
have warned will see it lose the next national
elections due in 2022.
Shadow resources minister Joel Fitzgibbon’s
decision in August to throw his weight behind
the government’s plans to underwrite gas infra-
structure with taxpayer money, despite there Joel Fitzgibbon’s support for gas has alienated some within the ALP .
being a lack of firm details, drew the ire of both Image: The Guardian
ALP leader Anthony Albanese and energy
spokesman Mark Butler. The daily reported on October 28, however,
“Why would we give support to a secret that the shadow cabinet had met that week to
report the government refuses to show the work on an acceptable middle ground for coun-
Australian people – and whose central recom- try’s gas sector in order to heal the divide. Out
mendation appears to be a taxpayer-funded of the meeting, both the left and right wings of
gas pipeline from Western Australia – a pro- the shadow cabinet have agreed to recognise gas’
ject the government itself said just two years role in the country’s economic growth as well as
ago doesn’t stack up,” Butler told the Guardian in meeting the needs of the residential, industrial
Australia on August 12. and power sectors. The fuel has also been recog-
nised as an important bridging fuel for intermit-
tent renewable energies such as solar and wind.
ALP will back gas as a key piece of its plan for
Australia to reach net-zero emissions by 2050,
with new projects to be considered as long as
they receive environmental approvals and are
consistent with the party’s 2050 goals.
At the same time, however, both sides have
reportedly agreed to criticise Morrison’s “gas-led
recovery”, calling instead for a focus on renewa-
ble energy solutions.
The move comes as union officials warned
party members that unless they backed cheaper
gas supplies for manufacturing and industry,
then they risked losing voter support.
Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining
and Energy Union (CFMEU) president Tony
Maher and Australian Workers Union (AWU)
national secretary Daniel Walton told 30 to 40
Labor MPs last week that gas would be core to
the successful transition towards renewables, the
Guardian Australia reported on October 31.
The two urged the ALP to support “blue
Anthony Albanese (R) and Mark Butler (L) have been wary about supporting gas. collar” jobs during process of transitioning the
Image: The Guardian economy towards a clean energy future.™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 44 05•November•2020