The Labor government will conduct an urgent review of the "trigger" designed to shore up domestic gas supplies, as it races to find solutions to prevent future energy crisis.
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Resources Minister Madeleine King said "nothing was off the table" in a review aimed at avoiding a repeat of the gas shortages which have struck Australia's east coast.
Ms King announced the review during a press conference with Energy Minister Chris Bowen, who yesterday afternoon convened an emergency meeting with his state and territory counterparts to discuss the evolving crisis.
The ministers agreed to 11 actions, including handing the Australian Energy Market Operator new powers to purchase and store gas to prevent future shortages.
It is also fast-tracking the design of a mechanism which would require retailers to pay energy providers to maintain capacity in the system.
Mr Bowen said ministers had agreed that the so-called capacity mechanism should support new technologies, such as renewables and storage.
But he didn't explicitly rule out it being used to prop up coal and gas plants, which the former Coalition government had planned to do.
Mr Bowen said the Energy Security Board would release a draft design for consultation in the coming days, before ministers had the final say.
As wholesale gas prices surged, the new Labor government faced immediate pressure to pull the trigger on a mechanism - introduced under former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull - which would force companies to restrict exports when domestic shortages arise.
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The government cautioned that the intervention wasn't a quick fix because even if it was pulled it wouldn't come into affect until next year.
With the tool due to expiry on January 1, Ms King said cabinet had agreed to renew the trigger to ensure it could be used in the future.
The government will also conduct an urgent review of the mechanism.
Asked if the review would consider slashing the time to activate the trigger, Ms King said: "nothing's off the table".
"Right now it [the mechanism] is a long and complicated, convoluted, ineffective mechanism that takes a very long time for it to produce results," she said.
"We are determined to change that.
"We are determined to make sure that this mechanism, as well as the other tools available to us, are all on table so that we can ensure that gas supplies are appropriate, adequate and affordable for Australians right across the country."
