Price relief before profits, says Bowen
Andrew Brown |
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has warned energy companies their profits should not come at the expense of their customers.
Parliament will be recalled on Thursday for federal MPs to debate the government’s energy price relief plan, which will include capping gas at $12 a gigajoule for 12 months and coal at $125 a tonne in NSW and Queensland.
The plan will also see a mandatory code of conduct for gas retailers, which will regulate the supply and purchase of gas.
However, businesses in the industry have hit out since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled the plan on Friday.
Shell announced it would suspend plans for a gas supply deal that would help prevent energy shortfalls on the east coast while it examined what impact the government plan would have on the operation.
Meanwhile, Woodside has urged the government to reconsider the proposal, saying it would exacerbate structural problems in the energy market.
Mr Bowen said it was critical the government stepped in to offer relief measures for rising energy costs.
“Gas companies want to maximise their profits. That’s their job,” Mr Bowen told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.
“We have a different job. Our job is to protect the Australian people.
“We will not see Australian industries close at the expense of gas company profits – we just won’t. Gas companies are entitled to protect their profits but not at the expense of Australian industry and Australian households.”
Mr Bowen hit out at Shell’s announcement it would suspend its role in the gas supply arrangement.
“They can make as much profit as they want doing that but Australians have a right to this gas at a fair price,” he said.
Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill said the government had failed to consult with industry before announcing the relief measures.
She said the intervention would not ease cost of living pressures and would make the energy supply situation worse.
“The unprecedented market intervention announced risks driving investment out of the system,” she said in a statement.
“The policy will not address falling domestic gas supply and the increasingly critical role of gas in providing dispatchable power.”
Woodside had called on the government to increase supply in the market.
“Unfortunately, the proposed market intervention will make it very difficult for industry to economically invest to increase supply,” Ms O’Neill said.
“We must develop a comprehensive, longer-term solution that addresses gas supply and reliability, the overall energy mix and infrastructure, without undermining the market-based economy.”
AAP
