Liberals rule out fracking, back gas exploration

THE Liberals will encourage more conventional gas exploration across Victoria if they win November’s state election, while ruling out any move to lift the state’s ban on fracking.

The opposition says the policy would increase local gas supply, lower energy prices and improve energy security for homes and businesses.

Under the plan, a Liberal government would launch a statewide request for proposals within 60 days of taking office, inviting gas producers to identify conventional gas projects that could be brought into production quickly.

Proposals would be assessed under existing environmental laws and safeguards, with the party also promising to streamline approval processes.

The announcement comes after significant community opposition to unconventional gas, or fracking, across the Geelong region during the previous decade.

Several towns declared themselves gasfield-free, while the City of Greater Geelong and Surf Coast Shire opposed the industry.

Labor permanently banned fracking in Victoria in 2016, but a moratorium on onshore conventional gas exploration ended in 2021.

A Liberal Party spokesperson said the new policy related only to conventional gas.

“We do not support fracking,” the spokesperson said.

“Our policy invites business to tell us where they think the best opportunities for conventional gas are across Victoria, then these proposals will be considered in the usual way.”

The Liberals said the policy built on what they described as limited progress under Labor, arguing the government issued two onshore conventional gas exploration permits last year – the first in more than a decade.

“Labor has spent more than a decade talking down Victoria’s gas industry,” opposition leader Jess Wilson said. “We’ve ended up with less local gas, higher prices and growing concerns about future supply.

“We’ll put Victoria back on the map for investment by inviting the industry to bring forward its best gas projects and by cutting the red tape that has held them back for years.

“More local gas means lower prices, greater energy security and a stronger economy.”

A Liberal government would also scrap the planned ban on new households and businesses connecting to the gas network and abandon the requirement for existing buildings to replace gas hot water systems with electric alternatives from March 2027.