They are promising the next wave of the resources boom and hundreds of billions in tax dollars, which could underpin Australia's economy for decades to come.
Australia's natural gas industry says it can keep the cash flowing once the mining boom is over, but its vast potential is under threat from excess green tape and a lukewarm political reception.
The peak industry body launched a multimillion dollar campaign on Monday to warn Australia risks losing $150 billion in new gas projects to competitors in North America and East Africa.
The Australia Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) wants politicians of all persuasions to realise the huge revenue opportunities natural gas projects presents.
APPEA director Michael Bradley said the sector paid nearly $9 billion in tax last year and created more than 100,000 jobs, and that's just a taste of things to come.
"We can even do more than that," Mr Bradley told AAP on Monday.
"We can help you fix this budget, but we can't help you if these projects aren't built here."
It's a tempting offer as Labor's razor gang finalises its pre-election economic statement, which will provide the latest snapshot of where the economy and government finances are heading.
APPEA says the next parliament - irrespective of who wins the election - will need to ease regulatory burdens on the sector if it doesn't want projects going offshore.
Natural gas projects are currently regulated by more than 150 statutes and overseen by dozens of government agencies, resulting in duplicated and inefficient processes.
Mr Bradley said it took four to five years and significant extra cost to build an LNG plant in Australia, not to mention around 13,000 pages of environmental impact statements.
"You need a couple of wheelbarrows to carry these things around," he said.
The campaign was not motivated solely by community concerns around coal seam gas (CSG) exploration and was not "anti-Greens", he added.
But the minor party wasn't convinced, saying APPEA had reached "new heights of desperation" with this campaign.
"They have no social licence with the community and are now throwing millions at trying to buy one and fool people that their industry is safe," Greens senator Larissa Waters said in a statement.
The anti-CSG Lock the Gate Alliance said the industry not only threatened farmland and water sources but drove up domestic gas prices for local manufacturers.
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