ACT Independent Senator David Pocock is today tabling a motion proposing to establish a special senate committee to inquire into the extraordinarily low rates of revenue Australians receive from the export of our gas resources.
Proposed as the “Select Committee on Why Gas Companies Pay Less for Offshore Liquid Natural Gas than Australians Pay in Beer Excise”, it would examine the amount of Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) paid on Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and why it is so low, comparable policies in other jurisdictions like Norway and Qatar and the Australian Council of Trade Union’s proposal for a 25% tax on gas export revenue.
The inquiry would also examine the impact on Australian businesses and households of the increase in gas prices since 2016 and what could be done with the additional revenue generated by effectively taxing the offshore LNG industry.
It would comprise 2 Labor, 2 Coalition and one crossbench senator alongside Senator Pocock as Chair and report in May 2026.
The proposal will be put to a vote in the Senate tomorrow.
Senator Pocock said Australians have had enough of multinational gas companies profiting off our resources without providing a fair return.
“We get one chance to capture the benefits of the LNG boom and invest in the things Australians need most: housing, health, education,” Senator Pocock said.
“Currently we are squandering what Norway has turned into a $3 trillion dollar sovereign wealth fund.
“Governments of all political persuasions are constantly telling us budgets are about priorities and asking for solutions, this proposal ticks both those boxes.
“I call on the major parties to stand up for what the people they’ve been elected to represent want to see and that’s big companies paying more to export our gas than Australians pay on beer excise.”