A case in point is Labor's recent decision to jump on board One Nation's policy of banning further gas development in the Cooper Basin in south-west Queensland.

One Nation's policy was widely derided at the time as absurd, and one that would turn up the heat on our energy crisis. Yet the Labor Party conference this year decided for political reasons to adopt the policy as its own.

At the heart of Labor's backflip is a "pristine rivers" policy, but only for the Cooper Creek catchment, and nowhere else in Queensland. This is expected to effectively ban resource exploration as an unacceptable use of floodplains.

The policy has provoked outrage from graziers, local government and energy companies, who all see it as destroying the viability of communities in south-west Queensland.

Foremost among the opponents is the Quilpie Shire Council. The shire CEO, Dave Burges, summed up the community's fear and anger.

"Any 'pristine rivers' legislation would increase environmental regulation in the most highly regulated area in Queensland. It makes it so difficult and onerous that it would preclude further exploration and resource extraction in the Basin," Mr Burges said.

In the past 20 years, the population of Quilpie, one of Queensland's friendliest towns, has fallen by about 25 per cent. The everyday Queenslanders who live there deserve jobs and opportunities just like people living in the cities.

As local MP Ann Leahy explains it: "This would close down oil and gas exploration, and that would be devastating.

"Oil and gas exploration keeps fuel and engineering businesses going. It provides roads that cattle producers use to get their stock to market and creates over 250 direct jobs in these remote communities. Without gas exploration, these towns will die."

Last year the gas industry accounted for $12.8 billion of economic activity. Out in the south-west, these are the drillers, truck drivers, mechanics, geologists and engineers who make the place tick.

If the policy does ahead, it won't just hurt regional communities, although that would be bad enough. It is also a policy that could lead to the lights going out in Brisbane, and the south-east corner of Queensland.

Gas from the Cooper Basin provides the equivalent of 14.5 per cent of the gas demand in Queensland. That's not just the gas needed to provide for cooking and industry, but also the gas that provides peak electricity for the Queensland market.

Gas from this area has been supplying Queensland and South Australia for 50 years. In this time, the methods used - including hydraulic fracturing - have done no damage to the Great Artesian Basin, or to any of the rivers of the Channel Country, which I know so well.

The simple fact is that oil and gas exploration, along with beef production, have not just protected the environment but made the region more accessible to ordinary Australians.

On the day the government announced a plan to limit airconditioning to 26 degrees, and impose a number of other electricity restrictions because of a lack of power, Labor's policy makes no sense.

While Canberra is trying to get more gas for the east coast, Labor and One Nation are, in effect, working to shut the industry down.

I hope the electors in Buderim and Inala enjoy the heat, because it is going to be a long, hot summer of discontent if Labor keeps pandering to One Nation.