The federal government is consulting on a gas reservation scheme it hopes will ensure that people in this gas-rich country can get the gas they need at an affordable price. The draft design will not deliver this objective in the way the government wants, or lead to a market that works for producers and consumers. It can be fixed.However desirable the objective, government intervention in markets should be done with surgical instruments rather than sledgehammers. And adverse consequences must be carefully managed. The draft scheme framework includes an unnecessary sledgehammer and several impractical proposals that do not recognise the way markets work in practice.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles