Australia’s LNG industry is weighing a shock trade-off: accepting higher petroleum taxes if the government compromises on its domestic gas reservation plan.

Australia’s LNG industry is weighing a shock trade-off: accepting higher petroleum taxes if the government compromises on its domestic gas reservation plan.

The government’s proposed intervention risks delivering reduced supply, higher prices and import reliance – the very things the policy wants to avoid.

A mandatory reservation scheme is unabashedly protectionist intervention into a free market, but the risks of leaving our forecasted gas shortfall unaddressed are higher.