Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks to the member for Wentworth for her question. I want to acknowledge the substantial amount of work that the member for Wentworth does when it comes to thinking through options for tax reform. I also wanted to acknowledge that, on the specific question that the member for Wentworth has asked, there are a range of views about the best way forward. From the government's point of view, we haven't changed our policy on that. Our big focus, as you can tell from answers from the PM, the energy minister and others, is fuel security. That's our big focus and our big priority—releasing more fuel, securing more fuel in international markets, working with the ACCC and the like.

Now, of course, I more than believe that it's necessary that Australians receive a fair return from the natural resources that they own. We have taken some steps in the course of the life of this government to make sure that offshore gas companies, for example, pay more tax sooner. That was the motivation behind the changes to the PRRT that we landed in the course of the last parliament. What that meant was that the number of entities paying that PRRT went from 11 to 16 in the most recent data, and you can see that the combination of company tax and PRRT paid by the oil and gas sector has gone up compared to the pre-COVID average.

Once again, though, I acknowledge that there are a range of views about it. For our part, when it comes to tax, the big focus is on those tax cuts that we're rolling out in July and in July next year as well, opposed by those opposite but voted for by the member for Wentworth. Any further steps on tax reform would be a matter for cabinet in the usual way.

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