AWU national secretary Scott McDine will tell Congress on Wednesday that the absence of a national reservation policy was
'perhaps the most egregious modern example of our government selling out the interests of Australian workers for the benefit of private profits".
"We are allowing foreign gas companies to come here, extract the gas that belongs to all of us, and then sell it back to us at the same price a country with no gas is forced to pay," he said.
"I believe this represents a fundamental injustice, and a fundamental betrayal of ordinary working Australians.
"It's a disgrace that our nation's decision-makers have prioritised the interests of multinational gas exporters - and abstract ideals about a theoretical free global gas markets - over the interests of Australian workers."
The right-wing Australian Workers Union has struck a cross-factional alliance with the militant construction union to pressure Bill Shorten to back greater controls over natural gas exports at the ALP national conference.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union will support an AWU motion at the ACTU Congress on Wednesday calling on the union movement to lobby the ALP to back the creation of a national gas reservation scheme.
Unions want Mr Shorten and shadow cabinet to override the position of Labor's industry spokesman Gary Gray, who has argued against the "superficial lure" of increased controls over gas exports, claiming the policy would impose costs on buyers and sellers.
So the mining companies come here, suck our gas out of the ground, and sell it back to us for prices they would get on international markets.
I guess that's only normal business practice, but why is our government not reserving some of our gas - OUR gas, for domestic use, at a domestic price? Wouldn't that make sense if you're wanting to give Aussie businesses a kick-start to help the economy?
Too many politicians and ex-politicians in bed with the mining companies, and our government asleep at the wheel.
"Egregious" means outrageous.
