Plans to set aside gas for the domestic market will bring power prices down, Peter Dutton claims, but Australians remain in the dark about how much better off they would be under the proposal.
The opposition leader visited western Sydney on the second day of the federal election campaign to spruik an east coast domestic gas reserve which would force exporters to set gas aside for use in Australia.
While Mr Dutton said modelling for the proposal would be released in coming days, the opposition has yet to commit to a dollar figure for how much homes would save on their power bills.
"There's no disputing the fact that if you put more supply into the market that prices will come down, and at the moment the government is choking the supply of natural gas into the economy," he told reporters at a brick factory in the seat of McMahon.
"People have spoken for years and years about an east coast gas reservation. We've put the policy on the table, and it's about action now."
Labor had said it would offer power price reductions of $275 before the 2022 federal election, but energy prices soon rose as a result of the war in Ukraine and global inflationary pressures.
Coalition campaign spokesman James Paterson said providing an exact estimate of power bill reductions would not be a good way to engage with voters.
"We say it'll get down to about $10 a gigajoule, but we're not going to make a specific household price promise, because we're not going to lie to the Australian people," he told ABC's Insiders program.
Approvals for gas projects would also be expedited under the coalition should they win office, with Mr Dutton saying it would provide more certainty to the sector.
"Natural gas is a key ingredient in the production of electricity in our country, and if we don't get the price of gas down, it keeps going up," he said.
Labor has promised to provide energy bill rebates of $75 per household each quarter until the end of the year.
Campaigning in Canberra on Sunday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government had been working to bring power prices down during its three years in office.
"The spot price is at $13 - when we were elected it was $30. We've taken action, we've increased supply and what we have done is work those issues through," he said.
"Peter Dutton can't explain anything about his policies, how it will work, how it will make a difference."
The prime minister has vowed to ban price gouging at the checkout by the end of the year.
Mr Albanese said heavy fines would be imposed on supermarkets who mark up prices, despite a consumer watchdog report being unable to substantiate claims price gouging was occurring.
"This is good for Australian families. It's good for Australian workers as well, and Australian farmers to make sure that everyone's getting a fair crack," he said.
But the opposition leader said the government's response was "weak as water", reiterating coalition plans to divest supermarkets if they had too much market power.
It comes after the first full day of campaigning saw both camps targeted by protesters, including activists from climate group Rising Tide.
Security will be beefed up to prevent further intrusions, with Senator Paterson saying it was concerning more police were being diverted.
"These ratbag protesters who are turning up at events might think they're being clever, but all they're going to do is make our politicians more removed from the public," he said.
The prime minister said he had full confidence in the federal police, while Mr Dutton said voters will "see through" the messages of protesters.
