Cuts to the fuel excise, tax cuts and welfare prop-ups unveiled in the last coalition budget in March are all due to end in the coming months.

Chalmers said the new government was being upfront with people about the cost of living crisis, as he continues discussions with cabinet ministers and the energy sector about how to respond to increasing energy costs.

“Our job as the new government and my job in the October budget will be to bring down a cost of living package that encompasses areas like childcare, like cheaper medicines, like our efforts to get power bills down,” he told the Nine Network on Thursday.

But he would not commit to pulling the government’s gas trigger – enacting the Australian Domestic Gas Reservation Mechanism – to shore up domestic supply.

“I don’t want to pre-empt any of those kinds of discussions,” he said.

“It has its own challenges and it is not immediate. There is a series of processes that we would need to go through.

“We need to be upfront and recognise that there is not one thing that we can do to fix this overnight.”

Pulling the trigger could upset partners reliant on cheaper Australian gas, as prices in the international market spike due to a reliance on Russian gas with many long-term contracts locked in at cheaper rates.

“That is one of the challenges that the government and others would have to grapple with if we went down that path,” Chalmers told Sky News.

“I’m not suggesting … we will go down that path. I’m saying that that’s part of the discussions and deliberations that need to happen now.”

Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said the state was not about to have electricity shortages despite spiralling wholesale prices and threats to gas supplies in southern states.

“Queensland will continue to have a reliable electricity supply because Queenslanders own their electricity assets, unlike other states,” he said.

“What gas customers across the nation are experiencing with current high prices is the result of a near decade of energy policy chaos thanks to the former Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government.

“Instead of leaving Australia at the mercy of international energy prices, what should have happened was national action to exploit our renewable resources so we could establish our energy independence; and Morrison and the LNP failed all Australians on that.

“Despite the division of the former Morrison government, here in Queensland we are getting on with the job, bringing projects like the massive MacIntyre and Karara wind farms to Queensland, and deep storage schemes like Lake Borumba and Kidston pumped hydros.

“We know every dollar counts for Queenslanders, which is why the Premier announced a $175 Cost of Living Rebate to come off every household electricity bill and it’s why we’ll continue to invest in more renewables and storage through our $2B Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Jobs Fund.”