Chinese, Singaporian pipeline firm wants Aussie handout

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
 
Sir – A loan financed by the Australian taxpayer should not be spent on a new gas pipeline that would send fracked gas from the NT and Queensland to export terminals.
 
There are reports that gas pipeline company Jemena, which is owned by China State Grid and Singapore Power, was eyeing off a Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility loan.
 
It makes no financial sense for Australian taxpayers to have to fork out for this polluting gas pipeline.
 
Jemena signed a binding agreement for this Galilee gas project back in 2017. It’s ridiculous that Jemena is now making a dash for Australian taxpayers’ cash to fund their pipeline plans.
 
Jemena is making millions of dollars in profits every year from its pipeline tariffs. According to the interim report of the ACCC: “Current pipeline tariffs remain too high. Measures to address the monopoly pricing by pipeline operators have commenced, but are not yet in full effect.”
 
For FY18 its gas distribution segment operating profit was $295m, being 48.5% of Jemena’s total $609m operating profit.
 
Jemena is wholly owned by the Chinese and Singaporean Governments – it can absolutely afford to build its profit making gas pipelines without money from Australia.
 
Piping incredibly expensive fracked gas from the Galilee or the Northern Territory will only serve to keep gas prices high for Australians – there are suggestions NT gas would cost as much as $11.10-$11.50 a gigajoule – about three times what Australians used to pay prior to 2015.
 
Taxpayer money could be spent far better helping businesses and families get off expensive and polluting gas altogether.
 
Fracking gasfields across Queensland and the Northern Territory are dirty and risky, using and polluting massive amounts of precious water.
 
Parts of Australia are in never before seen extreme drought, plus we are the sunniest nation in the world. These simple facts should stop the Australian Government from handing out cash to prop up water guzzling fracking and multinational owned gas pipelines.
 
Naomi Hogan (pictured)
Lock the Gate Alliance
 
 
 

2 COMMENTS

  1. If you don’t boycott China all together now, that pest of a nation will destroy and poison everything that’s good about Australia, and eventually the entire planet.

  2. Australia, thanks to our pathetically weak politicians and the apathy of the population, is seen as a soft touch by foreigners, we sell our assets for SFA and then provide the infrastructure needed to transport it.
    It won’t be long and the foreign takeover of Australia will be complete and we can be thankful for the few scraps the new owners throw us.

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