Nationals leader David Littleproud was in Shepparton on Wednesday to tout the Coalition’s East Coast Gas Reservation scheme.

Mr Littleproud and Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell toured Shepparton’s SPC Global factory in Andrew Fairley Ave, a company throwing its support behind the scheme that promises to bring more gas into the domestic market.

SPC Global chair Hussein Rifai said the scheme made sense.

“The Coalition’s proposal for an East Coast Gas Reservation scheme is both overdue and essential,” Mr Rifai said.

“It is simply unacceptable that Australia, one of the world’s largest gas exporters, forces its own industries and households to pay some of the highest gas prices globally.

“Manufacturers are now paying between $10 and $14 per gigajoule, compared to $2 to $4 per gigajoule in major competitor countries like the United States.

“As a result, Australian-made food products are increasingly undercut by cheaper imports and struggle to compete in export markets, where price sensitivity is critical.”

Mr Rifai said Australia risked losing manufacturing capacity, regional jobs and long-term food security.

Mr Littleproud, who viewed Goulburn Valley orchards and saw peaches being canned in the fruit processing plant that morning, said the Coalition’s modelling showed the scheme would result in a 15 per cent energy cost reduction to SPC, which uses 46 megawatts of power each day.

He said those savings would flow on to the price of food produced by the company on supermarket shelves.

“The Coalition’s national gas plan, including an East Coast Gas Reservation, a $1 billion critical gas infrastructure fund, a $300 million strategic basins plan, will reduce wholesale gas prices by 23 per cent,” Mr Littleproud said.

“If in place as of February, gas prices would be 15 per cent cheaper for industrial consumers.

“Energy is the economy. We will give you, in our first act, a 25-cent reduction in your fuel bill every time you fill up.”

Mr Birrell said SPC had been an icon of the Goulburn Valley and Australia for more than 100 years.

“My grandparents worked there and so many people in our region have a personal connection to this place,” he said.

“Regional Australia’s food manufacturing relies on affordable gas. We’ve got a lot of it in Australia, and the Coalition is determined that, in addition to exports, a proportion of Australian gas is reserved for Australian businesses and households to continue to operate profitably and competitively.”

Agriculture visas

While in Shepparton, Mr Littleproud confirmed the Coalition’s support for an agriculture visa.

He said they had “made it very clear that an ag visa will return and we will protect the working holidaymaker”.

“The government has been tinkering around the 88 days for working holidaymakers and taking that away so they can stay another year if they work in regional areas.

“But we’re being very upfront, we’re prepared to make the tough decisions about our nation’s future, because we need workers out here and this is where we’ll bring them to, and we’ll bring the right workers, whether they be agricultural or to build some homes.”

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