The head of the government's coronavirus coordination body Nev Power can't guarantee members of the commission won't personally benefit if their push for a gas expansion is taken up.
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Mr Power's commission believes gas projects would ignite the economy post-coronavirus.
"(I) stand by my view that we should be looking at competitive gas supply for its potential as a raw material for both existing and new manufacturing industry to preserve and create jobs," he told a Senate inquiry on Thursday.
"Australia has an abundance of energy sources and I agree with the chief scientist Dr Alan Finkel, whose view is there is a role for gas in firming up renewables as we transition to lower emissions technologies."
Mr Power was asked by Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie if he could guarantee that no members of the commission stood to personally gain.
"I can't do that senator," he said.
"I don't know what their individual circumstances are and it depends on what happens."
Mr Power - who is a non-executive director of Strike Energy - said he wouldn't attend board meetings or vote on strategic matters while in his commission role to prevent conflict of interest issues.
The commission also includes EnergyAustralia's managing director Catherine Tanna, property sector boss Paul Little, health expert Jane Halton and former Labor minister Greg Combet.
It was established in mid-March to provide the prime minister with advice on all non-health aspects of the pandemic.
It will cost about $3 million this financial year and about $2.4 million in the next period, for its initial six-month life.
Mr Power is being handed $267,345 for his six-month stint, while most of his commissioners are being paid $2000 a day.
The body receives advice from task forces focused on issues including manufacturing, charities and industrial relations.
The gas push has come from the manufacturing task force, which was asked what would create jobs.
Mr Power said the commission had also engaged with the renewables sector and that there was already a pipeline for such projects.
Greenpeace is calling for the commission to be abolished, saying it's conflicted and compromised.
The commission's ties to the fossil fuel industry and its gas focus have angered environmentalists, who are calling for the recovery from coronavirus to focus on clean energy.
GetUp launched a campaign on Thursday calling for a household clean energy guarantee to be part of the road to recovery.
The campaign also calls for a public interest banking system, access to housing and a guaranteed basic income.
Australian Associated Press
