Letter from Australia: Canberra’s gas vision in crisis
Opposition politicians and media sniff blood over an economic revival strategy driven by natural gas, rather than renewables
Australia’s National Covid-19 Commission (NCC)—set up in March to advise the government on how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the economy—is facing increasing scrutiny over its staunch support for gas. The NCC’s advice to Prime Minister Scott Morrison is to underwrite investment in new gas pipelines. But, appearing before a mid-August Senate committee, NCC chairman Neville Power was quizzed on what role renewables could play and could offer only that the panel had not “looked at energy in that context”. Under-Powered He also suggested that it is not the commission’s role to “recommend specific projects”—seemingly ignoring the contradiction that it had suggested government
Also in this section
11 July 2025
Equinor and its partners at Norway’s largest oilfield have pulled the trigger on a fresh $1.3b investment that will maintain high output for longer
11 July 2025
Reassessment of the country’s export-facing gas policy coincides with worsening domestic market backdrop
10 July 2025
Without sanctions relief, there is little reason to believe the latest potential attempt at exports from the Russian liquefaction project will be more successful than the one last summer
9 July 2025
Efforts to restructure and boost investment appear to be working, but doubts remain about the plan to almost double crude production by 2030
