STEVE AUSTIN: Well it should have happened a decade or more ago when export gas contracts were written. Reserving gas for Australian industry use. Foolishly, years back it wasn't done. Now the Federal Government says gas companies will have to set aside 20 per cent of their gas exports for the domestic market, local use, from July next year. The Government says the East Coast gas reservation won't affect existing contracts and countries that rely on Australian gas have been consulted. Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the move will help avert a gas shortage. Queensland Treasurer, David Janetzki, says that Queensland is the East Coast gas market. 90 per cent of gas on the East Coast of Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, 90 per cent of it comes from Queensland.

So let's go and find out the Federal Government's thinking. Madeleine King is the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia. Madeleine King, your counterpart Chris Bowen says this will avert or help avert gas shortages. Is that a guarantee? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: We are introducing this policy ‑ and good morning, Steve, and good morning to your listeners ‑ it's a policy designed to ensure that Australian consumers, Australian businesses and Australian industry have access to more gas and more affordable gas over the long‑term. Indeed, as soon as possible. Of course we've been working on this process for some time, trying ‑‑ 

STEVE AUSTIN: Matt Canavan said you announced it last year. Can you clarify that? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: So we've been working on how to improve the gas market which we inherited. It was left in an almighty mess from the Nationals and the Liberals when we came into government. We did the Future Gas Strategy, a really thoughtful, considered, evidence‑based review of how gas fits into our national energy, but also processing needs. We did the gas market review which we launched in June 2025, and after that we announced intention to do this domestic gas reservation. 

STEVE AUSTIN: Okay. So how will it put pressure, downward pressure on gas prices? There seems to be a lot of debate about that, Minister. 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yeah. Well there's been a lot of focus on the rate, which is the 20 per cent of LNG exports, and that's a really important figure and it is putting a line in the sand, if you like, from the Government to the exporters saying, "This is what we will require". But really importantly, though we focus on the rate, and I heard Senator Canavan's comments before, very importantly it will be subject to export approvals. And that is the structural shift this Government will achieve. That means is it creates a buyer's market where the LNG exporters, instead of what they do now, which is simply ‑ and they do it in good faith and I don't argue that ‑ they offer gas into the market. Now they'll have to provide, they will have to sell to get that export permit to access international markets. And we will now embark upon an intensive consultation because we know and we respect those foundational contracts. So there needs to be flexibility built into the system to honour those, and we will honour those contracts. 

STEVE AUSTIN: So let me jump in there. This is what surprised many. You're consulting with industry after doing the thing that you say will help industry, but you haven't consulted with them yet. Isn't that putting the cart before the horse? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: No, I can guarantee everybody that I've consulted with the gas industry every moment since I've been a Minister since 2022. But ‑‑ 

STEVE AUSTIN: Well that's surprising because the Queensland Resources Council have put out a statement today saying, "Queensland gas producers and communities are now being punished being southern States spent years not developing their own resources", from the Queensland Resources Council. 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Look, I don't ‑ I don't agree with all of that statement. But I would say there's a good point in that, in that Queensland has developed its resources, like my home State of Western Australia does. And citizens of Western Australia and Queensland benefit from that, and it's a very good thing. In Victoria they did have the Bass Strait gas, and that was what drove the industrial heartland of Victoria, but yet bans over a decade have constrained that. But do acknowledge that the ‑ and just yesterday we announced another offshore production licence in Victoria, so that's a good thing. The New South Wales Government has recently released more exploration acreages, which is a good thing. But Queensland is ahead of the game and is doing the hard yakka here, I do ‑ I totally get that. 

STEVE AUSTIN: So this probably should have been done 20 years ago, it wasn't under previous Governments, wasn't it? It should have been done decades back. 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I think that's a very good ‑ yes, I agree with that. The better time to do it would have been before we set up the industry, similar to how Western Australia did it. That didn't happen so we're going to do it now. 

STEVE AUSTIN: And it's being done essentially for the fundamentals of the Albanese Government's Future Made in Australia policy, in other words you're trying to bring, as I understand it, the cost of energy down here in Australia so that Australian companies that manufacture stuff will have a cheaper or more affordable form of energy when they use gas, is that right? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yeah, we need to get the lowest possible prices for these inputs into industry, but as well as for Australian consumers and for gas‑fired power to back up renewables. But it is a really important input into industry. And Queensland knows how important new industry is in critical minerals and the processing of those things as well as other manufacturing processes are. So it is about feedstock and energy and heat sources into those industries and making them being able to compete as well. 

And it has been difficult and we acknowledge that, and that's why we think this is a good balance, the right balance. But there is work to do. And people say, you know, why don't you do it more quickly? But it's really important that government does do this in a considered way. We had to make an announcement around rate so we could move our work forward, and that is what we did yesterday. 

STEVE AUSTIN: BlueScope, the major steel manufacturer in Australia, says domestic gas must be provided at an affordable price of $8 to $10 a gigajoule to help deliver your Future Made in Australia policy. Can you guarantee that it will be delivered at $8 to $10 a gigajoule? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: We are guaranteeing more gas, more affordable gas for Australian consumers, for businesses and for industry. That is what we are setting about to achieve right now. 

We expect our ‑‑ 

STEVE AUSTIN: But that doesn't answer BlueScope's point, does it? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: ‑‑ I went through ‑ I went through ‑ and I'm very well aware of BlueScope's requests and I respect their participation in this debate. The export approvals system, the magnitude of this structural shift should not be underestimated. And the reason we're pursuing it is because we firmly believe that it will put very strong downward pressure on prices. Sometimes the issue is when you set a cap or a number is that prevents us from going under that number, and that's ‑ you know, we kind of want to ‑ we want to go low, right, we want to get the lowest possible prices. 

STEVE AUSTIN: Okay. Matt Canavan on Radio National this morning said this about your announcement. 

[Excerpt]

MATT CANAVAN: Not only do I think it's [indistinct] I was the Minister for Resources that first in a reservation policy at the Federal level for the Northern Territory. The Beetaloo Basin gets opened up. Now this Government's done nothing on that for years. It's trying to catch up now on this issue. But the problem here is we already on the East Coast, 35 per cent of our gas produced here goes to domestic sources. So the question has to be asked what exactly is this adding? If it's 20 per cent, that's below 35. So how this is actually adding gas to the domestic market? 

[Excerpt ends] 

STEVE AUSTIN: How is it adding gas, Minister? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well I go back to my comments earlier. It is about how we ensure that LNG exporters, and there will be ‑ there's not just Queensland here, how they are forced to sell into the market. So to get those export approvals they will have to sell gas into the market. And I saw the statistic and the number Senator Canavan said. Not all gas actually flows into the market. It's offered; it doesn't actually make it. So we want to force that sale. That's what we want to do. But I do appreciate and acknowledge and thank Queensland for its efforts because it has developed coal seam gas in places where it has been banned, and they still consume the gas from Queensland fields. Sometimes it's quite confusing why that is a problem for those in the southern States. 

STEVE AUSTIN: Yep. But the whole aim is to try and make Australian industry competitive by giving them cheaper energy. That's the bottom line as I understand it. Is that fair? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well that's fair, but it's also ‑ I mean definitely Australian industry is a priority for us and making sure they can be competitive and sustainable, but also ‑‑ 

STEVE AUSTIN: Right. 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: ‑‑ general Australian consumers, right, they're really important to the Australian Government. We want to make sure they are able to access affordable power as well, and gas is sometimes what sets the price on power. And it's an extremely important source of firming for renewables and that's what we want to shift to as well. 

STEVE AUSTIN: Madeleine King, I'll leave it there. Thanks very much for your time. 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Oh, it's a pleasure, Steve, great to chat again. 

STEVE AUSTIN: Madeleine King is the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia.