Australians might be waiting a while for lower power prices under the coalition's gas plan, with new projects taking years rather than months to get up and running.
Central to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's cost-of-living election pitch is ramping up domestic gas production as "the only way to drive down power prices quickly".
A commitment to force gas producers to reserve a proportion of supply for domestic use rather than sending it overseas also featured in Mr Dutton's budget reply speech, an idea Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley welcomed in theory.
"The reality will be very different," he said.
A reservation plan accompanied with ramped-up production would lead to taxpayer cash going towards new gas infrastructure and power plants, he said, which would take years to come online and lock in emissions-intensive gas for decades.
"The gas industry will be delighted by this proposed policy," he said.
"More subsidies. More gas production. More profits for the long term."
Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis lead gas analyst Joshua Runciman agreed there were few projects, including the North West Shelf, set to benefit from fast-tracked approvals and such a policy would do little to boost supply and lower prices this decade.
"The coalition's proposal to fund new gas infrastructure faces key risks, including the risks of poor financial returns for taxpayers due to asset stranding," he said.
The peak body for the gas industry applauded the commitment to fast-track new supply but argued forcing producers to earmark gas for Australian users would lead to to an oversupply on the east coast and "drive away investment".
"This glut of gas will deter investment in new supply and undermine our trading relationships," Australian Energy Producers chief executive Samantha McCulloch said.
Mr Dutton, pressed for more detail after the prime minister kicked off the election campaign on Friday, said an oversupply was "exactly what we want" to push down prices.
"I'm not here to argue for the gas companies," he told reporters in Brisbane on Friday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended his government's response to the "gas market crisis" characterised by high prices and a looming shortfall for southern states.
The mandatory gas code of conduct his government introduced - legally enforceable domestic supply commitments - had secured almost 650 petajoules of gas for Australian homes and businesses, he said.
"We've heard this before from the coalition, where they said there would be a gas-led recovery," he told reporters in Canberra.
"But under the coalition, gas prices went up seven-fold, and they left us with a gas market crisis to clean up."
The political debate is unfolding as the consumer watchdog predicts gas supply for the east coast could come up short from July to September.
Yet Resources Minister Madeline King said the government had secured assurances from gas producers to make the necessary extra nine petajoules of gas available for the quarter.
The Australia Institute has long been calling for limits on gas exports, with 80 per cent of the Australian resource sent overseas and half given to multinational corporations royalty-free.
"Gas exports have tripled prices for Australians and the only way to stop that is to restrict exports and to switch Australia's energy demand to cleaner sources," said Mark Ogge, principal adviser at the progressive think tank.
