Australia’s gas industry under fire

The energy crisis on the country’s east coast is fuelling calls for resource nationalism

Spiralling energy prices in eastern Australia have prompted criticism of the gas industry. But analysts suggest the sector is not at fault and are warning against the calls for windfall taxes and for LNG shipments to be diverted for domestic use. The spike in energy prices has been driven by “coal outages, relatively low levels of renewable power generation due to the weather and global market pressures arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine”, according to upstream trade body the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (Appea). The association also emphasised that “the majority of manufacturers” take gas under long-term contracts, and so are shielded from the curr