Both the Australian Pipeline Industry Association (APIA) and the Australian Gas Association (AGA) have given ringing endorsement to the decision to revoke coverage of the MSP Mainline between Moomba and Marsden, but not between Marsden and Sydney.

The AGA even went as far as saying it "strongly welcomed" the decision - a far cry from some of the adversarial positions the two lobby groups have taken with the energy policies of both state and federal governments.

Not being completely happy however, AGA chief Bill Nagle said at the Distribution 2003 conference in Adelaide that the electricity and gas networks sector should no longer be treated as a "doormat" over which policy-makers trod in their eagerness to meet the interests of energy producers and large energy consumers.

In that speech he did acknowledge policy-makers and governments were beginning to recognise the contribution that the energy networks sector makes in providing all energy consumers with a reliable and growing energy network in Australia.

APIA boss Allen Beasley said "The Minister's decision is an important step in the right direction."

He qualified that saying, "However, the decision in no way changes the transmission industry's overarching concerns with the way regulators interpret and apply the Gas Access Code," Dr Beasley said.

"It remains APIA's view that substantial improvements to the Code are warranted, including the move to a commercial negotiate/arbitrate model as set out in APIA's recent submission to the Productivity Commission's Review of the Gas Access Regime," he said.