Coalition vows to “go after gas” as it suggests “massive corruption” in renewables build-out

Victoria’s shadow energy minister David Davis has launched a scathing attack on the state Labor government’s energy legacy, singling out “massive corruption” as a real risk to the state’s wind energy and transmission projects, while talking up the prospects of gas power and prospecting.

In a speech delivered to a CEDA luncheon event in Melbourne on Tuesday, Davis pulled no punches in his critique of the Victorian Labor government’s more than a decade-long management of the energy transition, describing it as a “broken and ramshackle approach” underpinned by an “ideological war on gas.”

Davis delivered his speech shortly after new state energy minister made her first public appearance since inheriting the role from Lily D’Ambrosio, promising to “stay the course” on renewables, develop offshore wind, and help homes transition from gas.

The Victorian Coalition, on the other hand, has mirrored One Nation in promising to scrap one of state’s major transmission projects, the contested VNI West line that will link Victoria to New South Wales and open up the state’s north-west to additional renewable energy capacity.

In its place, the Coalition is proposing a Plan B that will install urban solar farms on factory roofs, backed by batteries, and that will double down on new gas exploration and power generation.

“A [Coalition] government will pause and review the long-distance wires and transmission proposals, the Victorian transmission plan, and the renewable energy zones, and we will do so – as I’ve said before – in a short, sharp, and independent review,” Davis told the luncheon event.

“It is not our intention to allow this process to extend, but it is our intention to review what is undoubtedly a broken and ramshackle approach adopted by the current government.”

Davis had a great deal to say about gas, including in connection with the state Coalition proposal to launch a tender for firming capacity, which he said will be at least partially about gas.

“We believe there is gas to be got out there – I suspect that some of the firming capacity will be about gas. Some of it might be batteries, but we’ve been technology neutral in that decision, so people, whoever that might be, can come forward with proposals,” he said.

To support this approach, Davis points to forecasts from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) that Victoria could face energy supply shortfalls in 2028, when EnergyAustralia’s Yallourn coal plant is due to exit the system.

Asked how conventional gas exploration starting in 2027 will resolve a supply gap in 2028-29 – when the average time from discovery to market is 10-plus years – Davis said the answer lay in reversing Labor government decisions and “smoothing” the regulatory process.

“The delays are not of our making,” the shadow minister said. “The delays are the making of the current government. They’ve been for 12 years there. The delay on offshore wind is their fault. The delay on VNI West is their fault. The delay on Western Renewables is their fault.

“I’m not going to take on the burden of answering for Labor’s 12 years,” Davis said. “What I will say is that we are aware that gas is important.

“We will reverse the gas decisions that the government has taken …we will go after gas. We have every reason to believe that it’s more available than people have characterised.

“Certainly, talking to the sector, there is gas to be got. Now, I accept that there’s a time delay. I can’t wish that away, but I can work with the regulatory processes to smooth that through as far and as fast as it reasonably can be done.”

On Offshore wind, Davis was more positive, despite describing Labor’s approach to the brand new industry as “diabolical,” and describing the failure to get EPBC approval for an offshore wind dedicated port at Hastings as “a legendary cockup.”

The shadow minister stressed that the opposition did not oppose the offshore wind bill, and has “seen the merit in supporting proposals for offshore wind.”

“The opposition will adopt a responsible approach, given that tenders have formally commenced last month and are due to be returned through the bidding process in August 2027,” he told the luncheon.

Davis also said the state Coalition would form a cabinet subcommittee to make sure that projects “don’t get lost and and and just float” in the development pipeline. He also said the party was “open to engagement” with the Commonwealth on state-federal EPBC harmonisation.

“If we can find a way to subsume the EPBC regulatory work into state EESs, we will do so. We see that that is a constructive win for all of the projects in the state, whether they be minerals projects, whether they be renewable energy projects, or whether they be traditional energy projects,” he said.

Davis also took the opportunity to bring up the corruption allegations plaguing the Labor government over its Big Build program, saying that nobody should assume that “construction of energy projects, including long-distance wires,” was immune from the “rampant corruption” under Labor.

“On the contrary, all the evidence shows that there is a real risk that energy projects, whether wind farms or long-distance wires and connectors, will need to be watched very closely,” Davis told the gathering.

“We should be aware that this massive corruption is a risk, and unless you missed it, Labor have tagged that our energy or our electricity projects are the new big build.”

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