Call to step on the gas
Outgoing Brickworks boss hits out at energy ‘nonsense’
Retiring building industry veteran Lindsay Partridge has landed a parting shot at the nation’s race to renewables, describing current energy transition policies as “nonsense” while renewing calls for gas projects to be fast-tracked to avoid supply shortages on Australia’s east coast.
The Brickworks boss announced on Tuesday that he was stepping down as managing director in July, after 39 years with the company, including 25 years in the top job.
While declaring himself supportive of general efforts to reduce carbon emissions, he said net zero and renewable energy targets were too ambitious, and failed to consider the potential impact on manufacturers and large industrial users of natural gas.
“Gas is a vital energy source to use for this transition, but the approval process is almost impossible to get through,” he said on Tuesday, following his retirement announcement.
“No one seems to be able get a new gas field approved – we’ve got plenty of gas but nobody can get the approval.
“If we continue the way we are, it’s all going to end in tears. We need to be aggressively allowing the development of these so that we can reduce our emissions, even if it’s not net zero.
“It’s (net zero and renewable energy targets) a nonsense because electricity is only a small fraction of the entire energy used in the country.”
Mr Partridge, who is 69 in
July, has helped transform Brickworks from a small brick manufacturing operation to a $4.4bn multinational one.
In 2022, in response to growing concerns about gas shortages, the company struck an 11-year supply agreement with Santos for gas from the oil and gas giant’s Moomba site in SA. It came after a doubling of Brickworks’ gas costs in the previous five years.
Australia’s oil and gas industry group Australian Energy Producers is calling on the federal government to fast-track new gas projects to avoid looming shortfalls, which according to the Australian
Energy Market Operator could emerge as soon as next year under extreme weather conditions.
Mr Partridge said energy costs remained a challenge for Australian manufacturers, along with increasing taxes, red tape and bureaucracy that put a handbrake on businesses and continued to weigh down the Australian economy.
On a more positive note, Mr Partridge said the prospects for the construction industry, and for Brickworks, remained strong, with the wave of immigration into Australia supporting demand for building materials.