David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (Senator Carr) to a question without notice asked by Senator Cash today relating to the proposed condensate tax and the North West Shelf project.

There are very, very few business operations in this country that could deal with and survive a $2.5 billion tax take over four years without notice. In fact, you could probably count them on one hand. This government has perpetrated the most direct picking of the pockets of Western Australians in Federation history. This company, Woodside, on the North West Shelf, and its joint venture partners have absolutely no alternative but to pass on this $2.5 billion slug. The only recipients of its domestic gas supplies are the people—including the mums and dads, and the pensioners—of Western Australia. They will be paying for this slug from Canberra. There is absolutely no doubt.

Can I say that, since the Varanus Island crisis, whereby the gas supplies to Perth were seriously reduced by virtue of a fire, Woodside has had to increase its output of domestic gas into the Perth market to make up for the shortfall. There is a shortfall of gas, and Western Australia is more dependent on energy generated by gas than any other state. Accordingly, the people of Western Australia are going to have to foot the bill for this tax slug. You cannot attack the bottom line, the balance sheet, of any corporate entity’s operational project without expecting them to pass it on. The really important issue is that, in every boardroom and on the desk of every CEO of every large oil and gas developer and explorer there has been a massive shudder, because until now our great country was viewed as a reliable sovereign risk in competing with Qatar, Kazakhstan, African countries and South-East Asian countries—but no longer.

Two very important things have happened in the very short nine months that the Rudd government have had the chequebook. They have single-handedly and successfully undermined Australia’s international reputation as a safe haven for large investment projects. Where in the world would you, without notice, see a government on a budget night simply go to a project, saying, ‘We’re taking $2.5 billion out of your bottom line, and you are also going to have to deal with our emissions trading scheme and we’re not going to provide you with any comfort in terms of you being a trade affected industry.’

Liquid natural gas is the best way to immediately reduce our carbon emissions. It is the best way to reduce the carbon emissions of China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. And what have we done? We have done the same as we are doing to the rail industry: we are giving it no assistance in the face of this green paper. So on two fronts, to the boardrooms in the United States, Japan, Europe and China, we are saying: Australia is now very questionable as a reliable place to build oil and gas projects. We have over $100,000 billion of investment on the table for places like Gorgon and Browse, projects at the North West Shelf. Investment in this country has stalled since this government was elected.