Labor has been warned its Future Made in Australia agenda will not be possible unless it ensures adequate gas development and supply for the nation\u2019s manufacturing sector.<\/p>\n
Bluescope Steel\u2019s CEO Mark Vassella on Wednesday will launch Manufacturing Australia\u2019s \u201cFair Gas Prices\u201d campaign where he will warn that Australia\u2019s steel industry risks a fate like the United Kingdom\u2019s industrial decline.<\/p>\n
A failure to fix the gas market, which supports renewable energy, will also doom the Albanese government’s plans to run the nation\u2019s heavy sector on green energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf industry and government are smart enough to navigate these conditions, our manufacturing sector will remain viable, and the federal government\u2019s \u2018Future Made in Australia\u2019 economic policy can be a reality,\u201d Mr Vassella will say at the National Press Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can\u2019t, we face a decline in manufacturing similar to that which we\u2019ve seen in the UK steel industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis looming risk to manufacturing is the result of the longstanding dysfunction of the domestic gas market.\u201d<\/p>\n
He will stress that Australia’s limited gas availability for domestic users would be destructive to local industry in the green shift.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Future Made in Australia depends on affordable gas being made available for Australian industry,\u201d Mr Vassella will say.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo Gas, No Future Made In Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
He will call on state governments in NSW and Victoria to enable new gas field developments as poor output on the east coast and massive demand for Australia\u2019s gas hurts local manufacturers.<\/p>\n
It comes as gas is essential to the nation’s decarbonisation efforts, Mr Vassella argues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis behaviour is particularly egregious when those same governments want industry to decarbonise,\u201d Mr Vassella will say.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey must understand that gas is fundamental to the decarbonisation journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cVictoria and NSW need to start supporting new gas developments, whether in Gippsland or Narrabri, as South Australian Premier Malinauskas called for recently.\u201d<\/p>\n
He will also lament the high prices Australia faces compared to fellow liquefied natural gas (LNG) producers such as the United States and Qatar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2024, Australian industry paid an average wholesale price of around A$10.30 per gigajoule,\u201d Mr Vassella will say.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis compares to LNG rivals Qatar and the United States at A$2.20 and A$3.00 per GJ respectively.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lack of a domestic gas reservation scheme or any sort of export permitting are also crucial aspects that need to be addressed by the government to help fix the gas problem, Mr Vassella argues.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be clear, no-one is calling for contracts to be torn up. And the energy companies should desist from that deliberate line of obfuscation about sovereign risk,\u201d he will say.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand the implications and importance of our reputation as a trading partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimilarly, we should ignore the self-serving objections of overseas energy companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Vassella\u2019s point comes as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission warns Australia\u2019s southern gas producers are not expected to produce a surplus of gas in the first three months of 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is the first time the producers are not expecting a surplus during the lowest demand period.<\/p>\n ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said concerns remained around the availability of gas in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, ACT and Tasmania.<\/p>\n \u201cThe supply-demand outlook remains tight in the southern states,\u201d Ms Brakey said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the first time, southern gas producers are not expecting to produce surplus gas in the first quarter of the year, when demand is usually at its lowest.<\/p>\n \u201cThis may create challenges for fully replenishing southern gas storage facilities ahead of winter 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n