Leaked Covid-19 commission report calls for Australian taxpayers to underwrite gas industry expansion

Exclusive: The report does not consider alternatives to gas, or mention climate change and the financial risk of investing in fossil fuel as emissions are cut

Australian taxpayers should underwrite a massive expansion of the domestic gas industry - including helping open new fields and build hundreds of kilometres of pipelines - according to a group advising on Covid-19 recovery.

A leaked draft report by a manufacturing taskforce advising the National Covid-19 Coordination Commission (NCCC) recommends the Morrison government make sweeping changes to create the market" for gas and build fossil fuel infrastructure that would operate for decades.