22 June

How did the gas industry respond to the price caps the government put on it? It refused to create any new contracts for supply with local users, forcing them to buy from the international spot market, which is way more expensive. On top of that it got what it had always said it wanted, more gas exploration (‘supply’), which will actually drive prices even higher, as it will sell its cheapest gas on the expensive international market, leaving us again all buying from that market. And to crown this complete clusterfuck, the price of $12/gigajoule that is the ‘cap’ already represents windfall profits for the industry. They’re at least doubling their money. Australia has been hijacked by fossil fuel companies, who play us for the fools we are. We pay them over $50 billon a year for the worst petrol in the world, they own nearly all of our coal mines and pocket most of the profits from those, and here with gas they’re taking our natural resources and sucking them dry, with all the profits going offshore. And still Australians resist being a world energy superpower with our extraordinary renewable energy capacity. The fossil fuel companies should be run out of town, but instead gullible numpties soak up political propaganda from the fossil fuel lobby and actually help them effectively rape us. Like I say, we’re too stupid to survive.