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STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON PJ KEATING MPD
GAS REFORM TASK FORCE
I am pleased to announce today that Mr Ric Chariton, the former Chairman
and CEO of Shell Australia, has agreed to chair the Gas Reform Task Force
which is being created to oversee the implementation of reform in the national
gas industry.
The Task Force will include a senior representative from the Commonwealth
and each participating State and Territory and an independent project team
to provide it with the necessary support.
It will be roquirod to oonsul closely all rolevdr: i i itutrted parties, Incluaing
all sectors of the industry and users, environmental interests, consumers and
unions. This means that the Task Force, through Mr Charlton, will provide
stakeholders in the gas industry with a direct involvement in the gas industry
reform process.
Their invol vement will be vitally important to ensuring that the arrangements
implemented for the natural gas industry are technically, commercially and
environmentally sensible.
The historic agreement on national competition policy reform reached in April
this year set the framework for guiding competition reform across all
industries. It is now essential to ensure these reforms are implemented In key areas,
such as the natural gas Industry.
The first activity of the Task Force will be to produce a scoping report which
identifies the actions required to implement the Council of Australian
Governments' agreement to achieve free and fair trade in natural gas by
1 July 1996.
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These actions would be In light of the related reform processes underway,
including: the national competition policy reforms, specific reforms
undertaken by the States, Territories and the Commonwealth, and the
industry's own initiatives.
Part of this task will be to consider the extent of national coordination that is
appropriate for the Implementation of gas industry reform.
As well as large economic benefits, micro-economic reform in the natural gas
Industry will promote switching to gas from other fossil fuels and will therefore
contribute significantly to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
The Government's One Nation initiatives recently resulted in the opening of
the standard gauge railway line between Melbourne and Adelaide, linking for
the first time Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth via a common
rail gauge. Through a consistent approach to reform in key areas, such as
the natural gas industry, Australian governments are now in a position to
ensure that these * rail gauge" problems do not re-emerge elsewhere.
CANBERRA 6 July 1995