Wed 29 Apr 2026 15.45
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
How have a select few accumulated such colossal wealth while many Australians struggle?
On this episode of Follow the Money, Senator Larissa Waters, leader of the Australian Greens, joins Ebony Bennett to discuss the causes of Australia’s housing crisis, making gas exporters pay their fair share, and the Greens’ new ‘tax the 1%’ campaign.
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Guest: Larissa Waters, Australian Greens leader and Senator for Queensland // @larissawaters
Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebonybennett
Show notes:
The case for a gas export tax, explained by Richard Denniss, The Point (March 2026)
Japanese Government collects more tax from Australian gas than Australian Government, the Australia Institute (April 2026)
Australia’s Gas Giveaway, the Australia Institute
Santos records nearly $47bn in sales over a decade without paying corporate tax by Matt Grudnoff, The Point (April 2026)
Three ways Australia can tax wealth better by David Richardson and Richard Denniss, the Australia Institute (August 2025)
Inequality, Democracy, and Distributive Justice with Gabriel Zucman, Global Progressive Mobilization on YouTube (April 2026)
Oligarchy or Democracy with Wayne Swan, Global Progressive Mobilization on YouTube (April 2026)
Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au. Subscribe to Follow the Money on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
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.
One of the biggest myths perpetrated by conservatives is that Australia is a high-taxing nation, and that Australian workers are taxed more than other nations. The 2026 OECD Taxing Wages Report reveals that this is simply not true. Rather, the problem is that the government raises too little in other taxes.
