Canberra, Jun 5 (IANS): Australia's Energy Minister Chris Bowen on Sunday blamed the former government for the country's gas crisis.

Bowen said nine years of "denial" under the previous government "has ill-prepared our country for this crisis", reports Xinhua news agency

Australians are facing soaring gas and electricity prices as a result of increased winter demand, gas shortages and unscheduled outages at coal-fired power stations.

The former coalition government in 2017 legislated a "gas trigger" that allowed liquefied natural gas (LNG) destined for export to be requisitioned and deployed in the domestic market.

However, Bowen said the mechanism was poorly designed and would not come into operation until January 1 even if it was triggered immediately.

"The way they design the trigger, as I said, it's about as blunt as a basketball in terms of effectiveness in the short term. It is not the answer to this short-term crisis," he told Sky News Australia.

Bowen has convened a meeting of state and territory counterparts to address the crisis while resources minister Madeleine King has engaged industry leaders in boosting supply.

Peter Dutton, the new leader of the opposition, said Bowen's response to the crisis was demonstrating Labor's inexperience in government.

"They don't know which way to jump at the moment. And you know, it'll take them a while to find their feet," he said.