Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his ministry are enjoying the world’s attention as they battle to regulate Big Tech. Australian gas policy, on the other hand, is a subject this Labor government would clearly rather not discuss (despite the fact, loathed in ALP branches around much of Australia, that the country is one of the world’s most important gas exporters).
Like it or not, the region is watching. This was clear at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday when Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher defended Australia’s gas industry and provided an overview of its lacklustre last decade.
“Australia’s LNG industry has stagnated. We could have grown, but chose not to,” Gallagher said.
Meanwhile, two of Australia’s closest security partners, America and Canada, are muscling into the lucrative market.
“This is not a future risk,” Gallagher said.
“It’s happening now as investors and customers in Tokyo, Seoul and Kuala Lumpur look to shore up their long-term LNG security – and hedge against the uncertain outlook they perceive for Australian LNG.”
Many will dismiss the Santos CEO’s address as self-interested. The audience in the room told a more complicated story.
Yes, there was a host of gas executives along to lend support as the industry tries to reduce the damage from the government’s soon-to-be detailed reservation policy, among them Beach Energy’s boss Brett Woods, Amplitude Energy’s chief Jane Norman, the CEO of Comet Ridge Tor McCaul, the head of Mitsui E&P Australia Ken Yamamura, chair of Exxon Australia Margaret Rogacki and CEO of Tri-Star group Andrew Hackwood.
More ominous for the Albanese government was the diplomatic representation from countries that are major importers of Australian gas.
Margin Call spotted Yosuke Yoshida, the first secretary of the Japanese embassy, Ju Hyeon Kwon, the first secretary at South Korea’s embassy, Singapore’s High Commissioner Anil Nayar and the new energy attache at the US Embassy, Sandra Dickison.
Representing the Australian government: Justin Hayhurst, the deputy secretary of international and security at the PM’s department, who was seated next to his former DFAT colleague Michaela Browning (now a partner at Brunswick Group). Hayhurst was Australia’s previous ambassador to Japan, so the anxiety of key strategic partners about Canberra’s gas policy will be depressingly familiar.
The industry hopes the still-to-be-released draft legislation on the gas reserve will address many of their concerns. We heard pleas in the room that the PM listens to Resources Minister Madeleine King and Hayhurst’s former boss Foreign Minister Penny Wong, while muffling input from Energy Minister Chris Bowen (not a popular figure in the industry).
The ball is in the PM’s court. And there’s a mighty audience watching.
What really happened at the Lodge?
Speaking of the PM and courts, one more update on Anthony Albanese’s charity tennis match at the Lodge with budget critic Joseph Daoud.
On Tuesday evening, we reported that Albanese had won in straight sets. But let the record show that while Daoud admits that he lost, the founder of mortgage broker It’s Simple Finance disputes the final scoreline.
He conceded to Margin Call that the first set was a whitewash, but Daoud told us he reckons he won a few games in the second set. “I’m pretty sure it was 6-2,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PM on Wednesday morning confirmed our report. “The score was 6-0, 6-0, 6-0,” Albanese said, emphatically.
Like it or not, the region is watching. This was clear at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday when Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher defended Australia’s gas industry and provided an overview of its lacklustre last decade.
“Australia’s LNG industry has stagnated. We could have grown, but chose not to,” Gallagher said.
Meanwhile, two of Australia’s closest security partners, America and Canada, are muscling into the lucrative market.
“This is not a future risk,” Gallagher said.
“It’s happening now as investors and customers in Tokyo, Seoul and Kuala Lumpur look to shore up their long-term LNG security – and hedge against the uncertain outlook they perceive for Australian LNG.”
Many will dismiss the Santos CEO’s address as self-interested. The audience in the room told a more complicated story.
Yes, there was a host of gas executives along to lend support as the industry tries to reduce the damage from the government’s soon-to-be detailed reservation policy, among them Beach Energy’s boss Brett Woods, Amplitude Energy’s chief Jane Norman, the CEO of Comet Ridge Tor McCaul, the head of Mitsui E&P Australia Ken Yamamura, chair of Exxon Australia Margaret Rogacki and CEO of Tri-Star group Andrew Hackwood.
More ominous for the Albanese government was the diplomatic representation from countries that are major importers of Australian gas.
Margin Call spotted Yosuke Yoshida, the first secretary of the Japanese embassy, Ju Hyeon Kwon, the first secretary at South Korea’s embassy, Singapore’s High Commissioner Anil Nayar and the new energy attache at the US Embassy, Sandra Dickison.
Representing the Australian government: Justin Hayhurst, the deputy secretary of international and security at the PM’s department, who was seated next to his former DFAT colleague Michaela Browning (now a partner at Brunswick Group). Hayhurst was Australia’s previous ambassador to Japan, so the anxiety of key strategic partners about Canberra’s gas policy will be depressingly familiar.
The industry hopes the still-to-be-released draft legislation on the gas reserve will address many of their concerns. We heard pleas in the room that the PM listens to Resources Minister Madeleine King and Hayhurst’s former boss Foreign Minister Penny Wong, while muffling input from Energy Minister Chris Bowen (not a popular figure in the industry).
The ball is in the PM’s court. And there’s a mighty audience watching.
What really happened at the Lodge?
Speaking of the PM and courts, one more update on Anthony Albanese’s charity tennis match at the Lodge with budget critic Joseph Daoud.
On Tuesday evening, we reported that Albanese had won in straight sets. But let the record show that while Daoud admits that he lost, the founder of mortgage broker It’s Simple Finance disputes the final scoreline.
He conceded to Margin Call that the first set was a whitewash, but Daoud told us he reckons he won a few games in the second set. “I’m pretty sure it was 6-2,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PM on Wednesday morning confirmed our report. “The score was 6-0, 6-0, 6-0,” Albanese said, emphatically.