In a move that should win a gold medal for tone-deafness, the Victorian Coalition has launched a new pro-gas campaign in the middle of the worst bushfire conditions the state has experienced since Black Summer.

In the major advertising campaign, the Victorian Liberals and Nationals announced that ‘We will reverse Labor's ban on gas’ if elected at the Victorian State Election in November.

The Coalition deciding to launch a pro fossil fuel campaign while Victorians brace for a dangerous heatwave shows that they couldn't be more out of step with reality.

Here's what we know, and what the Victorian Coalition needs to hear from us loud and clear:

1. Fossil gas is a major contributor to global warming. In a benchmark report from 2021, the International Energy Agency (IAE) noted that to ‘give the world an even chance of limiting the global temperature rise’ then there can be ‘from today, no investment in new fossil fuel supply projects’. 

2. We are in a cost of living crisis which is being made worse by expensive gas and costly impacts of climate change. We know that no amount of drilling for new gas will bring prices down, so the only sensible option is to ramp up the energy transition already underway in Victoria. 

3. Victorians want to get off gas! Victoria is already enacting a plan to substitute our dirty, expensive gas with affordable renewable electricity over the next decade. Victorians are eagerly embracing this opportunity and are electrifying their homes in ever-increasing numbers. Why won't the Coalition support policies to help us electrify?

This is the first major energy policy announcement we've seen from the Victorian Liberals since Jess Wilson took over as leader. Jess Wilson stepped up with a promise to lead a 'new generation' of the Liberal Party.

Instead, the Victorian Coalition is dragging us backwards into a debate that's decades out of date. In the lead up to the Victorian State Election, we need to see a race to the top on policies to help us get off gas - not a baseless pro-gas Culture War.

Let's make sure the Victorian Coalition feels strong pushback for their decision to announce a pro fossil gas policy during a dangerous heatwave.