1.        Policy certainty beats policy generosity. Charlotte Morton’s clearest point: a modest incentive investors can rely on for 10–15 years outperforms a generous one that changes abruptly. Australia’s biggest gap isn’t the size of any single scheme — it’s the absence of a national strategy with measurable, sector-specific targets (agriculture, food processing, wastewater, municipal waste, transport, gas grid) that survive election and funding cycles.

CTA: Australian governments should commit to a national biogas/biomethane strategy with published targets, insulated from single-term political cycles — using the WBA’s nine-pillar regulatory framework as a starting reference rather than building from scratch.

2.        The industry is being asked to compete without its costs being reflected. Fossil gas benefits from mature infrastructure, embedded tax treatment and public support; biogas projects are paid for only one or two of the many public goods they deliver (avoided methane, nutrient recycling, waste diversion, clean water). Todd Settle’s NSW Renewable Fuel Scheme is a working model of correcting this via a certificate-based market mechanism — but Joe Oliver’s frontline experience shows CAPEX and multi-agency approval timelines (9–18 months for a development approval alone) remain the real handbrake.

CTA: Extend certificate/market-based mechanisms (modelled on NSW’s RFS) to other states, and pursue parallel-track approvals (environmental, utility, network connection, EPA licensing) rather than sequential ones, to cut project lead times without weakening standards.

3.        Regulatory harmonisation across states is now more urgent than any single new subsidy. All three speakers converged on this independently: Charlotte on global harmonisation lowering the cost of capital, Todd on the practical difficulty of shifting a federal model but the achievability of state-to-state cohesion, Joe on digestate rules differing state to state as a live example of the cost this creates.

CTA: Prioritise a Commonwealth-level or National Cabinet-endorsed harmonisation push — starting with digestate classification and landfill levy settings, where inconsistency is actively blocking bankable offtake agreements.

4.        Social licence has to be built continuously, not secured once. Todd was explicit: there’s no single point where community and political support is “achieved” — it’s ongoing, and requires consistent, transparent messaging from day one of a project, not after a planning application is lodged. Charlotte’s certification scheme (ADCS International) is offered as a mechanism to protect the whole industry from one badly run plant damaging collective trust.

CTA: Adopt independently audited certification standards for new facilities as a condition of support or approval, paired with proactive community engagement — not a substitute for it.

5.        Fuel/energy security has overtaken decarbonisation as the primary political driver. Todd’s read: recent global events have pushed Australia’s import dependence and East Coast gas shortfall to the top of the agenda, ahead of climate framing. This is a useful framing shift for BD and advocacy conversations with government and industry alike — security-of-supply may land better than emissions-reduction framing with some audiences.

CTA: Position biomethane’s fuel security value (reducing import dependence, addressing East Coast gas shortfalls) alongside its climate value in advocacy and member communications — it may open different doors with different stakeholders.