GDP is not what you think it is, which is no accident
This is an edited extract of More Fool Me (Vantage Point Issue 6) by Richard Denniss, published by The Australia Institute. Available from the 4th of August.
Richard Denniss is a prominent Australian economist, author and public policy commentator, and has spent the last twenty years moving between policy-focused roles in academia, federal politics and think-tanks. He is a regular contributor to The Monthly and co-chief executive of the Australia Institute.
This is an edited extract of More Fool Me (Vantage Point Issue 6) by Richard Denniss, published by The Australia Institute. Available from the 4th of August.
Ever since the Liberals and Nationals split and reunited twice, the combined vote for the Coalition parties has collapsed, and support for One Nation has surged. But, it’s not just the Coalition whose once safe seats are no longer safe.
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Japan has no oil, gas or coal, yet it has better fuel security than Australia. And given Australia is the world’s third-largest energy exporter, that’s quite a feat. Meanwhile, Australians are regularly told we can’t have the same “nice things” as Japan or Europe because we don’t collect enough tax — when we could be taxing gas properly.
Australia has some of the largest gas reserves in the world, has tripled its gas production in the last 15 years, and is now one of the world’s largest gas exporters. But according to the Business Council of Australia (BCA), Australia needs new gas supply and faces ‘structural shortfalls’. Welcome to the topsy-turvy world of gas industry spin...
If you are thinking about buying an EV, the faster you can abandon the ‘rational’ way of thinking about ‘filling up’ with petrol, the more relaxed you will be, and the less you will spend, ‘topping up’ with electrons.
The decisions made by Anthony Albanese in the next month will likely define Labor’s legacy for decades to come. Surging energy prices give the PM a unique opportunity to tax the gas industry, fund the services Australians are crying out for, improve the budget bottom line and expose the shallowness of Pauline Hanson’s support for ‘ordinary Australians’.
Will a gas export tax harm our diplomatic relationships? No. Foreign companies being sad about having to pay some tax in Australia is quite different to foreign countries losing trust in Australia as a reliable trade partner.
The easiest way to understand the structural shift taking place in Australian politics is to understand that you can now win a landslide majority of seats in parliament even when your primary vote declines.
The gas export industry has been free riding off Australians for decades.
Australia doesn’t have a shortage of houses, a shortage of gas, or a shortage of bullshit about housing and gas supply. Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of gas, but we’re often told we don’t have enough gas. Likewise, Australia has more houses and apartments -- in absolutes terms and per person -- than we did in the 1960s.
