Labor’s natural gas promises still hot air

Source: Sykes Media Release

Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes has again called for an extension of the natural gas network in North East Victoria despite the State Labor Government’s persistent inaction on this issue for many years.

Speaking on the Energy Legislation Amendment Bill recently, Dr Sykes reminded Parliament of a 2002 pre-election commitment by Labor to deliver natural gas to 23 Victorian towns including Mansfield, Bonnie Doon, Alexandra, Yea, Bright, Mount Beauty and Myrtleford.

“Regrettably the money that we thought was earmarked for country local government areas was redirected to meeting the needs of the urban interface local government areas, at the expense of providing the opportunity for those country communities to have natural gas,” Dr Sykes said.

Dr Sykes said the Labor Government diluted the value of their $70 million natural gas extension commitment to regional Victoria by changing the rules to include 9 interface local government areas where a large percentage of the money was spent, leaving very little money for country areas.

“The situation is further exacerbated because many rural towns, such as Violet Town, have a natural gas pipeline nearby but locals are not connected because of the high cost of tapping in,” he said.

“A Violet Town resident recently expressed her frustration at having natural gas close at hand but is forced to rely on the more expensive LPG, as is the hospital, community centre, football ground, bowling club and local hotels.”

Submissions to a Parliamentary Inquiry into Regional Centres of the Future, initiated by The Nationals in 2008, to consider initiatives to assist strong growth in regional Victoria have identified an urgent need for incentives for businesses and industry to set up operations in rural Victoria. The extension of natural gas to country Victorian towns to provide affordable energy is one crucial need.

Dr Sykes told Parliament, “It has been very difficult to attract opportunities for employment and replacement of industries (such as the loss of the tobacco industry in the Ovens Valley) in areas affected by ongoing drought, bushfires and economic downturn.

“The Alpine Shire, for example, was wooing Ito En to put its green tea manufacturing facilities in Myrtleford or at Mount Beauty. One of the reasons why that did not proceed was the high cost of energy,” he said.

Dr Sykes told Parliament, “We need a sound legislative base to enable a better national approach to the supply and distribution of energy. However, we also need to have physical assets – physical structures – in place. We have to have the grids available for the distribution of electricity and gas.”

Dr Sykes said country people have not forgotten the promise made by the Labor Government to extend natural gas to rural areas.

“I question a government that sees fit to spend an estimated $750 million on a pipeline from the drought impacted north to the south of the state, which is not going to be able to deliver the water that is claimed and yet sees no case for extending the natural gas network to rural communities which would have sound economic benefits for residents, industry, businesses and communities.”