'You are such a joke': Steggall and McKenzie clash in heated exchange over East Coast reserve, domestic gas usage
Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie and Independent MP Zali Stegall have debated the need for a new gas reserve off Australia's east coast, the pair clashing on air over residential gas usage.
Resource Minister Madeline King delivered a clear message to the gas industry this week that a focus on domestic gas distribution was fundamental.
Ms King said it was clear Australians were fed up with overseas exports dominating the market while they pay some of the highest prices in the developed world, pointing to an imminent government review of the industry.
Australia exports about 80 per cent of the gas that it produces.
Anonymous industry sources revealed to the Australian Financial Review the Albanese government was prepared to consider the development of an east coast gas reserve as part of the review.
Senator McKenzie and Ms Stegell traded barbs over the potential development, the latter agreeing domestic markets should be the priority, but not at the risk of accelerating climate change.
'We need to look at how we best use gas - its best use is industrial, not residential… We need to have policies that accelerate the transition from gas to electrify homes," Ms Stegell said on Sky News.
'That's a way of bringing down the price for energy for our residential use and prioritising that use of gas where it's needed in those heavy industries that still rely on it.
'We have to be honest with the Australian public, gas is an accelerant to our warming situation. So when we look at farmers facing drought, we have to be very mindful that if we increase the use of gas in the system, we accelerate warming'.
Senator McKenzie launched into a brutal rebuke of the independent MP, declaring: 'Zali doesn't clearly care about prices. She doesn't care about keeping manufacturing and industrial jobs here at home because the people that Zali cares about are very affluent people in the heart of Sydney.'
Ms Stegall accused the Nationals Senator of sticking to pre-planned talking points and not 'listening to a word I said'.
'What I've just identified is we need to prioritise the use of gas for domestic markets and for our industrial markets, because that is where it's needed," she said.
"You have no credibility, Bridget. You are such a joke.
'I mean, seriously, I'm talking about regional communities facing drought, I am talking about regional communities, facing floods and all you want to do is keep accelerating and increasing the problem'.
Senator McKenzie conceded the potential reserve was a 'positive move" from the Labor government.
'I'm encouraged that they've realised that their own policies at a commonwealth level and state Labor government's policies around energy and renewable rollout and energy security aren't working,' she said.
'There does seem to be a bit of a reality check - I think that's a positive move because we all need to be working towards a prosperous and sustainable future for our country and that means using our gas resources for our prosperity.'
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