I rise to speak to the amendments circulated in my name for the Domestic Gas Reservation Bill.

In my second reading speech, I said that this bill is a step forward, but that it leaves too much to ministerial discretion. These amendments deal with one of those discretions.

Section 27 lets the minister make an adjustment to an exporter's obligation to supply gas domestically under the reservation scheme. That means lowering or deferring the obligation.

As drafted, the Minister can do that in three ways: if the exporter can't reasonably supply enough gas to the domestic market, for instance because of existing contracts; if it's already supplying gas under an existing reservation scheme, such as in Western Australia; or if infrastructure constraints stand in the way.

On their face, those are reasonable grounds. But the bill already recognises that there is more than one way to meet a domestic supply obligation. Under section 19, the gas market code can count things as domestic supply even though they are not a direct gas sale.

Supplying renewable gas, reducing a gas exporter's own gas use, or helping other energy users cut their gas use, including through electrification.

I welcome this deemed supply provision because it recognises that the cheapest gas is the gas Australians never have to buy.

The problem is that in Section 27 the Minister’s discretion to adjust gas supply obligations ignores this part of the bill. An exporter could say, "We can't get the molecules to market," and have its domestic supply obligation reduced without the Minister interrogating whether it could have met that obligation another way.

My amendment seeks to strengthen the domestic supply obligation by ensuring that the Minister cannot make an adjustment unless the exporter is unable to reasonably meet its obligation through renewable gas or demand reduction.

Before we let an exporter off the hook, we should check whether it could have helped a household switch to a heat pump or helped a factory electrify its process heat.

These amendments make the deemed DSO component of the bill consistent with the DSO adjustment part of the bill. They ensure that before companies are given a free pass, they should try the cleaner options offered by electrification.

Every adjustment to an exporter's domestic gas supply obligation is gas Australian households and businesses do not receive.

So if an exporter can still meet its obligation by lowering demand, the domestic market gets the same benefit, and a more enduring one that lowers cost of living, improves energy security and reduces emissions.

While the gas reservation scheme might protect Australians from international gas prices, electrification means they do not rely on that gas anymore.

I commend the amendment to the House.