The fossil gas industry is attempting to blackmail Australians, and force our government into backing down on price caps, If the reports today are to be believed.
It's being reported that the industry is employing cartel behaviour to organise what amounts to a blockade, threatening domestic supply by cutting off east coast consumers from a resource that is rightfully theirs.
Friends of the Earth calls on the Federal Government to maintain its resolve and push ahead with legislation this week that will put a price cap on energy, no matter what threats come from this dirty, war-profiteering cartel.
The Energy Minster has the power to force the companies to hold back volumes of fossil methane gas through the Australian Gas Security Mechanism to avert fuel shortages. Friends of the Earth campaigners say she should not think twice about doing it.
"In response to this blackmail threat the industry should immediately be slapped with a super-profits tax, so that the Australian public can recoup some of the money these multinational giants are making out of the suffering in Ukraine," Friends of the Earth No More Gas Campaigner Freja Leonard said.
"The fossil gas cartel has been exploiting the environment and the hip pockets of Australian consumers for way too long," she said.
"The funds from a new fossil fuel super profits tax could then be spent on weaning Australia off fossil gas altogether so that we can fully convert to renewable energy and finally kick these greedy companies out of the country."
"A recent study by the Macquarie University and the University of Wollongong illustrated that fossil fuel companies receive almost five times more cash in government subsidies than they pay in tax, so another thing the government should do is cut off their access to public funds completely," Freja Leonard said.
