Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane said on 15 March that “the
underlying priority is to see Australia claim its rightful place as one
of the world’s top five LNG exporters”, reported The Advertiser (16/3/2006, p.72).
Australia still outside top 10: It was “currently still outside
the top 10, despite our vast resources, but (growth had) to be backed
by a solid domestic usage program”. The top five LNG exporters in 2004
were Indonesia, Malaysia, Algeria, Qatar and Trinidad.
Long-term industry framework: Macfarlane said a new
industry-backed strategy was designed to make Australia more attractive
to foreign investment through “a clear, longer-term framework for the
industry that makes Australia as attractive a capital investment
destination as we can responsibly make it”.
APPEA plans to boost domestic use: The strategy would also focus
on the domestic gas market, with APPEA targeting 70 per cent of new
electricity generation to come from gas by 2015. APPEA said current
domestic use for power was around 14.5 per cent.
The Advertiser, 16/3/2006, p. 72