Australia’s 2023 budget, unveiled on Tuesday evening by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, paves the way for new gas field developments, while recognising that carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and low-carbon hydrogen are crucial to meet the nation’s net-zero goals.

The budget allocated A$2 billion (US$1.32 billion) to accelerate the development of low-carbon hydrogen in Australia — the Hydrogen Headstart programme — and to catalyse clean-energy industries against the backdrop of proposed changes to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) that are forecast to bring in an extra A$2.4