Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I will start off by giving you a very clear figure. The Australian people lose $2 million per hour in revenue because we are failing to tax the gas export industry appropriately—or some $50 million per day. I ask all government members and backbenchers: how much budget repair and good could we be doing to help Australian households deal with the cost of living and the cost of transport, fuel and so many other things—and offer small-business support—if we just got something fair for Australians' very own resource? Gas is Australians' own resource, and Australians should get the dividend, especially when export prices surge.

We are a gas-exporting powerhouse. Around three-quarters of our gas production is shipped overseas. In 2022-23 alone, LNG exports were worth about $92.2 billion. This represents a potentially transformative opportunity for the federal budget, yet, throughout the discussion on this matter of public importance, what we've heard is platitudes and government talking points but nothing really genuine when it comes to tackling why we are not getting fair revenue for an Australian resource.

The PRRT is a failed government policy. The returns have been patchy and delayed because deductions and project features can push cash payment out for years, and successive budgets have downgraded revenue expectations for the PRRT. I don't have my hopes up that in the upcoming budget, in May, those predictions will be any different. In fact, a couple of weeks ago I asked the Treasurer, in here, if the government would acknowledge that it actually got the PRRT settings wrong and that the Treasury had recommended it be tighter—an 80 per cent deduction, not the 90 per cent deduction. But, no, the government doesn't want to acknowledge it got those settings wrong. It's digging its heels in despite all that revenue lost for Australians. The Australia Institute estimates that we've forgone so far about $63.8 billion since July 2022—and the government made that policy choice—by not taxing gas export windfalls. It's around $2 million per hour, as I said, which is just mind boggling.

Australians are entitled to ask a pretty basic question: how is it that one of the world's biggest gas exporters can raise less from taxing offshore gas profits than the Commonwealth raises from beer excise? Treasury evidence cited publicly this year put beer excise at about $2.7 billion, compared to the PRRT revenue of about $1.5 billion. It is absurd, and Australians know it's absurd; they all know. There is so much support and consensus for us to be properly taxing our gas exporters. To put it plainly—in Australia a night at the pub is being taxed more effectively than the export of a public natural resource. That's not a tax system designed in the national interest.

We know that the government collects more from students through HECS and HELP repayments than it does through the PRRT. What do I say to the young people who are here? These are students who are hoping to go to university and will have to pay HECS debts. They will be contributing more to Australia's future than the gas export industry. A fair share is not anti industry; it's pro Australia. We need a rules based charge on extraordinary export rents. The proceeds of a 25 per cent tax on natural gas exports should be used for responsible cost-of-living relief and to fund a clean industry transition.

We know that every time there are international shocks they have an impact. When Russia invaded Ukraine, global fossil prices spiked and gas exporters made record profits. The price went up and the profits rose about 45 per cent above the pre-2022 average. Yet Australians did not see any of that benefit. At the heart of the problem is this: global shocks send prices sky high and gas companies enjoy the upside, but the Australian public does not capture a fair share of that windfall. The government just has to get on board with doing something to properly bring back some revenue for the Australian people.

What can we do here? We're here discussing it. We've got young students here watching this debate with the hope that they're not going to inherit intergenerational inequity and that they're going to have some revenue in the bank from this government to ensure the right things can be paid for. First, we need to legislate a meaningful tax on gas exports so that the Australian public receives a fair return when global prices surge. Second— (Time expired)

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