Australia Institute research shows over half (56%) of gas exported from Australia attracts zero royalty payments, effectively giving a public resource to multinational gas corporations for free. It’s time the gas industry started paying its fair share.
Speakers:
+ Senator David Pocock, Independent Senator for the ACT
+ Senator Jacqui Lambie, Jacqui Lambie Network Senator for Tasmania
+ Rex Patrick, Former Senator for South Australia
+ Steve Murphy, National Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union
+ Mark Ogge, Principal Advisor, the Australia Institute
Premier Roger Cook wants Western Australians to believe the state is facing a looming gas crisis so severe that environmental protections, emissions targets, and community opposition must all give way to the urgent national interest of drilling more gas – and exporting it.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has decided that 'ramping up' is his go-to phrase to use about the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT). The problem is that only one fossil fuel item is actually going up, and it’s not the PRRT. It’s the Fuel Tax Credit, a subsidy to the fossil fuel industry.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is facing backlash after quoting inaccurate statistics from the gas lobby, while defending his decision not to impose a 25% tax on gas exports in the federal budget. Mr Albanese was interviewed on radio during a post-budget trip to Perth, during which he claimed that “gas companies paid $22 billion of tax last year”. The $22 billion figure is not an official estimate by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), but a figure produced by a gas lobby group.
When things move quickly in politics, the less nimble players can find themselves exposed. Those who react slowly to the changing reality of energy politics in Australia are likely to face consequences.
