Gas is once again the hottest fossil fuel on the agenda, with the ABC reporting that the Coalition is close to announcing a domestic gas reserve.

This is because even the Coalition has to admit that nuclear is not going to happen at some point and needs a Plan B. And gas is stupidly expensive because we export most of what we have and therefore the price of gas is based on the international market, which is obviously volatile and a lot more expensive than domestic gas. Even the Coalition has recognised it, which is why it is promising a domestic reserve. But we don’t actually need any more gas than we already have. We can take what we have already and use it for domestic purposes. And before you ask – Japan exports gas despite having no gas fields. How? It’s importing more than it needs. So yes, it’s absolutely possible to use what we have.

https://australiainstitute.org.au/initiative/gas-the-facts/

Asked if Labor was thinking of a gas reserve, Jim Chalmers says:

“We’ve made it very clear with our future gas strategy that we’re striking the right balance here and making sure that there’s enough gas at the same time as we invest in cleaner and cheaper sources of energy into the future, so we’ve got our own policies and plans.”