WA Premier Mark McGowan warned Alcoa to lift its game or face curtailed mining, but his successor Roger Cook slashed water supply protections after a possibly empty threat from the US miner.
In 2007 WA lost 30% of its gas supply, and Apache Energy workers were lucky not to lose their lives, after a corroded gas pipeline failed and produced a gigantic explosion.
Macquarie and Brookfield will have to sell exploration potential in their $4 billion float of Quadrant Energy amid concern its domestic gas plants could run dry in as little as six years.
