'Simply wrong': Government says gas job cut claims are a load of hot air

"All over Australia the rate of new homes connecting to gas is falling," a spokesperson said.

"It's simply wrong to say that the Victorian government is responsible for the challenges faced by this particular company."

On Tuesday, March 5, Seeley announced that over 120 jobs in Albury-Wodonga would be lost by December 2025, with the company set to consolidate its workforce in Adelaide.

Managing director Jon Seeley blamed changes to federal industrial relation laws and the Victorian government's "gas ban" for the decision.

The gas substitution pathway, which came into effect from January 1 this year, mandates all new homes to be 100 per cent electric.

"This illogical anti-gas obsession is accelerating disruption to our industry of gas heating," Mr Seeley said.

"They're taking taxpayers' money and paying consumers to rip out perfectly good Australian made gas heaters to replace them with imported reverse cycle air conditioners.

"(This) puts enormous load on the electricity grid, which is already stretched and at risk of blackouts ... and the electricity grid in Victoria is primarily coal powered."

Mr Seeley said he supports the transition to renewable energy, but in the short term, he doesn't believe banning gas appliances is the answer.

"It's uncontested that in the short term, every home that takes out a gas heater and then heats and cools the home with the reverse cycle is increasing emissions," he said.

"You have no chance of getting enough renewables in the grid for decades.

"We support a transition, but do it according to science, do it according to engineering, do it according to logic. They're doing it for political and ideological reasons and it's counterproductive even on environmental grounds, certainly on economic grounds."

In response, the Victorian government said rather than disrupting the gas industry, they are helping consumers transition to cheaper alternatives.

"As gas prices continue to climb, we're helping households access cheaper and more efficient electrical appliances - saving them around $1000 every year," a spokesperson said.

"Electric appliances use less energy to produce the same amount of heat - so even though the grid is not 100 per cent renewables yet - there are still less emissions from an electric appliance.

"We're working closely with the small number of gas appliance manufacturers in Victoria to support the expansion of their electric product lines to help them meet growing demand.

"We've always been clear gas has a role to play in Victoria's energy transition. With dwindling supply and gas companies continuing to prioritise export markets over Victorians, getting households off gas not only helps to reduce their energy bills but helps ensure there is enough left for manufacturing and power generation."

Farrer MP Sussan Ley echoed Mr Seeley's concerns, saying "these job losses sit at the feet of Anthony Albanese and Jacinta Allan".

"Seeley has attributed this closure directly to policy decisions on energy and industrial relations made by the Australian Labor Party at the state and federal level," she said.

"This is also a reminder that when you vote independent you get Labor and I expect Helen Haines to step up and explain what she did to confront the policies that led to these job losses, because it looks like she may have in fact supported them."

Indi MP Helen Haines said her thoughts are with all those who will lose their jobs.

"I understand Mr Seeley has cited the Victorian government's ban on new gas connections as the major cause of the company's decision to move all operations to Adelaide," she said.

"In regard to the federal government's recent changes to industrial relations laws, I met extensively with representatives of the business community and raised my serious concerns about the Closing Loopholes Bill publicly and with the employment and workplace relations minister.

"I voted against the bill in the House of Representatives when it was first introduced to the parliament.

"Provisions in the most recent bill relating to casual workers were extensively amended since the bill's introduction in response to concerns from the business community and I supported the senate's amendments."

Dr Haines also urged Mr Seeley to contact her office so she can take the details of how these specific changes are impacting his business to the employment minister directly.