One Nation under fire for abandoning gas reservation plan in favour of policy benefiting Gina Rinehart

Pauline Hanson’s gas policy and the party’s relationship with Rinehart is examined in a new Guardian podcast series, The Populist

One Nation has come under fire for quietly shelving support for a new domestic gas reservation policy in preference for a policy that favours the party’s billionaire patron, Gina Rinehart .

The Albanese government has announced it will establish a new reservation policy for Australia’s east coast, requiring gas exporters to supply a portion of the gas they produce to the domestic market. The policy is aimed at “modestly” supplying the domestic market to put downward pressure on prices for consumers.

Pauline Hanson moved a Senate motion as recently as March in support of a domestic gas reserve, saying it would “increase the supply of gas and lower the price of electricity directly”.

But the reservation plan has been vehemently opposed by Senex, a $900m company that is 49% owned by Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, and 51% owned by the Korean company POSCO.

In June, One Nation abandoned its longstanding support when it unveiled its gas plans after “consultation with industry and stakeholders” saying the policy risked “killing domestic Australian gas companies”.

The Guardian has been examining Hanson’s gas policy and the party’s relationship with Rinehart in a new podcast series on One Nation, The Populist.

The resources minister, Madeleine King, told the Guardian that One Nation’s decision to abandon its policy suggested it was influenced by the industry’s position.

“One Nation was hoping nobody would notice they had abandoned any form of gas reservation policy,” King said.

“One Nation claims to support Aussie families but the truth is they are always on the side of their big business backers.”

The Coalition is considering supporting the proposal, while the Greens are pushing for a 25% gas export tax instead.

The opposition spokesperson for energy affordability and security, Garth Hamilton, said that the party had “dramatically” changed its position to one that benefited Senex and Rinehart.

“This policy backflip must be for the benefit of her donors, because it is not for the benefit of the Australian people,” he said.

In One Nation’s policy statement in June, it said: “One Nation has previously considered an East Coast gas reservation policy”.