The Climate Council has warned the Albanese Government that its gas reservation policy must mark the end of gas expansion. Given Australia produces five-times more gas than we need, a functioning reservation policy leaves no excuse for new gas projects.
With the country highly exposed to global chaos because of our reliance on oil and gas, the Climate Council says the reservation plan should be explicitly tied to a national phase-out of gas use and exports.
Climate Council Councillor and energy expert Associate Professor Joel Gilmore said: "Reservation must be a tool for a managed gas exit, not a lifeline for more drilling. Australia has more than enough to meet our domestic needs, and a reservation policy is proof of that. Right now most of our gas is shipped offshore for profit while Aussie families and businesses pay a high price.
"The momentum is clearly with cleaner, cheaper alternatives. In the first quarter of 2026, batteries and renewables reached such record shares of power in our main grid that gas generation dropped to its lowest level since 1999.
"A reservation scheme should take control of our energy future, by kicking-off a real plan to get off polluting and expensive gas permanently. Gas only supplies 5% of our electricity – yet it still sets the wholesale electricity price up to 90% of the time. The sooner we can phase out expensive and polluting gas, the better off Australians will be.
"Australia can build an energy system that protects households, strengthens local industry and cuts climate pollution."
The Albanese Government should reject self-serving pressure from the fossil fuel industry to leverage the reservation policy into a license for more polluting gas extraction, which would leave Australians exposed to future energy shocks, higher costs and worsening climate harm.
"Developing new gas projects is like pouring more petrol on climate-fuelled fires. It drags out a sunset industry, while also driving more frequent and severe disasters." said Associate Professor Gilmore.
