The “gas recovery” is nothing more than a sham, led by and designed for fossil fuel lobbyists with vested interests and deep pockets.
GetUp’s First Nations Justice Campaigns Director Larissa Baldwin said:
“This report was signed, sealed and delivered from the moment Scott Morrison hand-picked his mining mates to head the COVID Commission and push the vested interests of the gas industry.
“The National COVID Commission is unelected, it’s unaccountable and it’s overreaching at a time when Parliament isn’t even sitting.
“What is being recommended would be a catastrophe for our climate, our water, and will not provide anywhere near the number of jobs that the sales pitch promises.
“Cutting red and green tape is just fossil-fuel-lobbyist-speak for gutting environmental protections and trampling democratic oversight.
“Across the world we’re seeing oil and gas corporations saddled with billions of dollars In debt - is this the future that Nev Power and Scott Morrison want to bring to Australia?
“In the middle of a recession, with growing unemployment, gas isn’t the solution to the climate or jobs crisis.
“There is no need for new gas. Demand is plummeting, it won’t create jobs and can’t build a clean energy future.
“The last thing we need is to be gambling billions of dollars of public money on bad investments that have no social license and would destroy the climate.
“We need solutions that prioritise workers and a clean energy transition – not a government subsidising the vested interests of the fossil fuel lobby.
“The COVID Commission is nothing more than a front for the fossil fuel lobby - it’s time to bring back Parliament and get rid of the cronies. ”