I rise to speak on the Domestic Gas Reservation Bill 2026. I want to begin by providing the context in which this bill was brought about. It was announced at a time when the government was facing increasing public pressure to introduce a tax on gas exports. Instead, it's chosen to do a gas reservation model. Let's be really clear about one thing from the outset. A gas reservation policy does not raise a single dollar in revenue that a gas tax would. A 25 per cent tax on gas exports would be expected to raise around $17 billion a year. It has incredibly strong support, with polling showing 72 per cent of Australians are in favour of this. In Mackellar, my electorate, that support is over 75 per cent. A gas tax would also create a direct incentive for exporters to redirect gas into the domestic market to avoid the tax, placing downward pressure on the prices for Australian households and businesses.

That context matters because this bill only goes partway to addressing Australia's gas problem. Let's be clear that Australia does not have a gas shortage problem; we have a gas export problem. Australia produces vastly more gas than it consumes, yet exports the majority of it. In doing so, we've exposed Australian households and businesses to volatile international markets and the price shocks that inevitably follow global instability. We are one of the world's largest gas producers, yet families are paying more for energy because domestic prices are increasingly linked to export markets. Since LNG exports commenced on the east coast in 2015, domestic gas prices have tripled. The domestic market has repeatedly experienced price spikes, not due to gas shortages but because export markets have been prioritised over Australian consumers.

In the long-term, the primary solution is the transition to clean, affordable renewable energy. Doing so is the most effective way to build our sovereign energy security and to genuinely insulate households from fossil fuel price shocks and bring energy bills down for good. In the meantime, we must ensure Australian gas supports local industry and households rather than flowing almost entirely overseas.

At the same time, Australians are rightly asking whether gas companies are paying their fair share. More than $55 billion worth of gas was exported in the last financial year alone. Since the Albanese government came to office, well over $300 billion worth of gas has been exported from Australia. Yet the petroleum resource rent tax, the Commonwealth's primary tax on gas, raised just $1.4 billion last year. Many companies also pay little or no company tax. Santos, for example, has not paid company tax in more than a decade despite reporting over $50 billion in total income. Australians see these figures and are frustrated that enormous volumes of publicly owned resources are leaving our shores, yet the public return remains remarkably small. I reiterate that this bill and this gas reservation scheme will not help Australians get a fair return from the sale of their natural resources.

I also want to make the point that a gas reservation policy should not become a mechanism for locking in new gas demand. Gas is not our future. It's expensive, polluting and finite. It's destroying our climate and our children's future. Australia is the world's second-largest fossil fuel exporter and the fifth-largest fossil fuel producer. The emissions associated with those exports contribute to the worsening climate crisis that is driving devastating fires and extreme weather events around the globe. Australia will be at the forefront of these consequences.