David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this motion. Clearly, it is time for Australians to get a fair return on our gas exports. We're seeing the gas industry's propaganda machine go into overdrive. They know that they are losing this battle. They know that Australians have had enough. Australians are saying: 'You've had it very good for a long time. Now is the time we're going to get our fair share.' And that is through a 25 per cent tax on gas exports.

Beware of what you watch on social media, where the gas industry is pushing ads. At Canberra Airport, they seem to have every second billboard, telling you all sorts of things about how much tax they pay. Let's go straight to the horse's mouth. This is not the crossbench saying these things; Treasury itself has told us that the PRRT gives us $1.5 billion a year, and we know that a big chunk of that is actually from oil, not gas. Gas is probably a tiny bit of it, so small that Treasury couldn't even tell us what the split is. The beer excise gives us $2.7 billion a year. This is an industry that the ATO says are systemic nonpayers of tax, so they really have no credibility when it comes to this space. They are trying to tell us that they are such great corporate citizens and that they pay so much tax. Australians are seeing straight through that. They're seeing the great gas scam for what it is.

This is not demonising an industry. This is saying, 'You pay us what you owe us, and you owe us for the Australian gas that you export from this country.' So now is the time for a 25 per cent tax on gas exports to give Australians their fair share.