OPINION – ACTIVISTS AIM TO HURT AUSTRALIA

After two days of hearings into the Senate Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources, one thing is abundantly clear: this inquiry is not about getting a fair return for Australians, it is about shutting down the gas industry altogether.

From the very first witness, The Australia Institute, the agenda was laid bare. This is an organisation that has openly campaigned for “no new coal and gas” projects and has played a leading role in forming coalitions dedicated to banning fossil fuel development entirely.

Let’s be honest about what that means. You cannot claim to support a stronger Australian economy while advocating policies designed to eliminate one of its most critical industries.

Even more concerning were comparisons made in one activist submission to the inquiry stating that fossil fuels should be taxed like tobacco, with the same explicit goal of wiping them out.

Statements such as this show the gas tax debate is really just a Trojan horse to end fossil fuel use and impact Australia’s economy.

We also saw repeated claims that Australia’s gas is somehow being “given away for free.” Yet Treasury officials themselves pushed back on that rhetoric, questioning the misuse of data and assumptions underpinning those arguments.

The reality is so inconvenient for activists that they have to make up falsehoods.

Australia’s gas industry contributes more than $100 billion to our economy each year. It supports around 215,000 well-paid jobs and thousands of small businesses across the economy. It is responsible for tens of billions in export income, with LNG alone delivering $65 billion in 2024–25.

And critically, it is already one of the most heavily taxed sectors in the country.

When you combine company tax, the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT), state royalties and other charges, the effective tax rate on gas projects sits between 50 and 60 per cent, making the sector our second-biggest corporate taxpayer.

Last year alone, it paid $21.9 billion. That is not a lightly taxed industry.

The structure of these taxes matters too. Offshore gas projects are capital-intensive and take years – sometimes decades – to become profitable. That is why the PRRT is designed to be back-loaded, with tax revenue increasing over time as projects move into profit.

Cherry-picking early-year data to suggest companies aren’t paying enough tax ignores how our tax system actually works.

We also heard strong warnings from industry groups like the Business Council of Australia and the Queensland Resources Council. They made it clear that imposing new export levies would be “spectacularly ill-advised,” reducing Australia’s competitiveness and deterring the very investment we need to secure future supply.

That matters, because investment is already under pressure from countries offering far more attractive incentives.

Since coming to office, the Labor Government has released just one offshore acreage opportunity, and even that came with difficult-to-meet conditions. At the same time, businesses face increasing red tape, hostile industrial relations laws. regulatory uncertainty, and constant speculation about new rules and changing taxes.

If you wanted to design a system to discourage investment, you would struggle to do better than what Labor is overseeing.

And now we are seeing calls from the Greens and associated groups for export taxes of 25 per cent or even 50 per cent.

Let’s be clear about what that would do.

It would make Australian projects less competitive globally. It would delay or cancel new developments. It would reduce supply. And ultimately, it would drive up energy prices for households and businesses.

In Queensland, where gas development coexists with agriculture, the benefits are tangible. Farmers receive land access payments worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Regional communities see investment in health services and infrastructure that would not otherwise exist.

Those benefits don’t happen if projects don’t proceed.

At a time of global uncertainty Australia’s gas sector is playing an important role in supporting regional energy security. Our exports help underpin supply-for-supply arrangements with key trading partners.

Undermining that capability for the sake of short-term political gain would be reckless.

This is the fundamental point: you cannot tax your way to more supply.

More gas and lower prices requires more investment, more projects, and more certainty.

We should be having an honest conversation about tax and energy policy but Australians are being asked to form opinions based on lies, slogans, selective data, and emotional campaigns that ignore or twist facts.

Once resources investment leaves, it does not come back easily, and neither do the jobs, the revenue, or the opportunities that come with it.

ENDS