By Luke Voogt
The Labor State Government has refused to criticise its Federal party leader Bill Shorten after he sided with a local coalition MP on onshore gas.
Mr Shorten called on the State Government to reverse its ban on exploring gas reserves during a visit to Geelong last week.
“I think it’s reasonable if we can extract gas in Australia conventionally, safely (and) in consultation with communities,” Mr Shorten said.
A week earlier Member for Western Victoria Simon Ramsay urged the State Government to overturn its moratorium on onshore gas to combat rising prices.
Victorian Resources Minister Wade Noonan’s office declined to address Mr Shorten’s comments directly.
But a spokesperson said the Victorian Government had invested $42.5 million to investigate potential onshore gas.
“There are currently no proved or probable onshore gas resources in Victoria, but if there is gas in the ground, we will find it.”
Mr Ramsay defied the Victorian Liberal Party’s policy by calling for the government to overturn the moratorium.
“Our legislation was backed by all sides of the political divide in Victoria,” Mr Noonan’s spokesperson said.
“But Matthew Guy’s Liberals and Nationals have once again proven they are all over the place on this issue.”
Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio at the time accused Mr Ramsay of embarrassing “himself with another ill-informed rant”.
Corangamite MP Sarah Henderson also pressured the Victorian Government to lift the ban.
“The Victorian Government must reverse its ban on conventional onshore gas exploration providing landowners voluntarily permit such activities on their land,” she said. She added she strongly opposed fracking.
Victorians were struggling with rising gas and electricity prices due to Daniel Andrews’ closure of Hazelwood power station, his “reckless 40 per cent renewable energy target” and the moratorium, she said.
Mr Noonan’s office instead blamed the Federal Government’s lack of controls on gas exports.
Mr Shorten visited Geelong to call on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to “pull the trigger on gas exports”, which Mr Noonan’s spokesperson echoed.
“The Commonwealth is more interested in blaming the states than acting immediately to cap gas exports,” they said.
“The fact is Victoria produces more gas offshore than it consumes, and too much of our own gas is being shipped to Queensland and then exported to Asia.”
Ms Henderson yesterday welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement that it had reached an agreement with Australia’s three biggest gas producers to ensure supply.
Origin Energy, Santos and Shell have agreed to sell 45 extra petajoules (a quadrillion – one followed by 15 zeros) into the domestic market in 2018, the Turnbull government announced yesterday (Thursday),
