‘I felt your pain’: Wayne Swan criticises Labor’s ‘future gas’ strategy in address to party activists

Exclusive: ALP president and former treasurer tells environment group he shared their disappointment over the contentious pre-budget announcement

The Labor party’s national president, Wayne Swan, has criticised the Albanese government’s future gas strategy, opposing its encouragement of new gas fields and telling the party’s environment activists they should push for a plan to lessen domestic demand.

In an online address to the Labor Environment Action Network (Lean) on Tuesday night, Swan sympathised with the activists who were dismayed that the strategy, released a week before the budget and which frustrated some inner-city Labor MPs, emphasised a role for gas “to 2050 and beyond”.

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Leaks and loose lips undermine Labor unity ahead of campaign postmortem

A decision on the Coalition’s tax cuts is the first item on the agenda as Anthony Albanese aims for aspirational voters

On the Labor side of politics, the beltway saga of Anthony Albanese versus John Setka has grabbed the headlines in recent weeks, with the public spat lumbering towards a decision point at the party’s national executive meeting on July 5.

But the troublesome Setka losing his ALP membership is only one item of business for the looming national executive. Another important consideration for that meeting is Labor’s post-campaign review: who does it, and how broad is the scope of the inquiry.

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