The federal Labor opposition intends to block the Morrison government’s proposed changes to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) that will see the green bank open to investing in new gas projects. Meanwhile, one backbench Nationals MP thinks coal is needed to strengthen Australia’s capacity to be resilient in withstanding problems that may come in the future, naming the pre-eminence of China as the biggest issue the country faces. It comes as a new report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) forecasted a shortfall of gas reserves on the east coast from 2026, and after almost a year of actions by Beijing that have seen tariffs slapped on a range of products that came under the Free Trade Agreement with China. Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said on Monday that while the labor opposition supported the creation of the federal government’s Grid Reliability Fund—which …