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“Reduced global supply of energy commodities following the implementation of Russian sanctions (over its invasion of Ukraine) has raised the vulnerability of gas/LNG/coal prices to supply outages and demand spikes,” it said. “As such, there is more uncertainty than in the past around how energy prices may develop through the northern hemisphere winter and summer demand peaks.” LNG export earnings are seen benefiting from higher prices in recent months, with the annual forecast lifted $2b to $73b, down from $92b last financial year. It remains Australia’s biggest resource earner behind iron ore, with metallurgical and thermal coal set to place third and fourth on $52b and $36b respectively.

Billionaire Chris Ellison has promised a sweetener as he pursues official backing for a huge gas export project, offering the State Government the right to redirect gas heading overseas to the local market in the event of a shortage. Mr Ellison’s Mineral Resources hopes to build a $1 billion plant at the Lockyer field in the Perth Basin, but he has warned the project can’t go ahead at that scale without an allowance to export most of the gas. His pledge comes one day after the Australian Energy Market Operator revealed a worsening shortage of the critical fuel in WA, with 27 per cent of demand likely to go unmet by 2033.

West Australian Premier Roger Cook says his government will continue to help fund the Environmental Defenders Office despite his veiled swipe at the organisation and green groups for dividing Aboriginal communities to block major projects. The mining and resources industry, including Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, welcomed the Cook government’s proposed overhaul of environmental approvals on Wednesday, which the premier launched a day earlier along with his broadside at green groups.

It’s a pre-Christmas surprise that will add even more stress to families struggling to balance the household budget The independent Australian Energy Market Operator says WA is likely to face a gas shortage next year, pushing prices higher amid an already crushing cost-of-living crisis . And the budget pain won’t only be felt through the household gas bill. The gas shortage will also affect manufacturers and businesses. That means it could cause the cost of just about everything to rise.

2023 | Statement from Tania Constable, Chief Executive Officer

Seven in 10 WA businesses are struggling to find workers for specific skills as they battle what the State’s leading business group has described as a “tax on success”.Rising operating costs are being fuelled by what the chamber calls the State’s excessive payroll tax burden — hitting small and family businesses hardest. “We know that WA pays the highest payroll tax in the country, despite the fact that our State’s finances are the best in the nation,” CCIWA chief economist Aaron Morey, said.

Australia will likely need gas for electricity, industry and exports for decades to come and politicians have been warned not to shut down technology options too early, new modelling reveals.“Preparing for only one pathway leaves Australia extremely vulnerable to developments that are outside Australia’s control,” the report says. “Should any energy pathway or technology face challenges in its deployment, it will be critical to have alternative energy sources in the mix to maintain energy security and affordability and to keep emissions reductions efforts on track.”

CCIWA chief executive Chris Rodwell said the biggest losers would be casuals themselves.
“Christmas is a great time of year for casual workers, many of whom are university students or working parents because they can take on more hours,” Mr Rodwell said.c“Employers will see casuals as a liability, knowing they could be forced to convert them to permanent after just six months if they have a regular pattern of work, regardless of any legitimate business reasons they may have to keep the worker as a casual.

The Government is already ending the year on an absolute shocker with the complete farce over the concerning list of people released from immigration detention. And now it has pushed ahead with controversial industrial relations laws and Tania Constable, the head of the Minerals Council of Australia, says the Government has started a “war” with the booming industry.