Hundreds of residents gathered on Wednesday night, September 23, calling for multinational gas exporters to pay a fairer share for Australia’s gas, at a community forum hosted by Mackellar MP, Dr Sophie Scamps with independent ACT Senator David Pocock and Surfers for Climate CEO Josh Kirkman.
The “Tax Our Gas Exports” event at Warriewood Community Centre brought locals together for a panel discussion and audience Q&A on how the Australian Government taxes its gas exports, why the current system is failing to deliver an adequate public return, and how reform could fund essential services and ease cost-of-living pressures.
Modelling by The Australia Institute estimates that a flat 25 per cent tax on gas exports could raise around $17 billion each year. Polling by the Australia Institute also shows strong local support for reform, with 75 per cent of Mackellar voters backing a 25 per cent gas export tax.1
In 2024–25, the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax raised about $1.3 billion while Australia’s LNG export revenues exceeded $65 billion.
Dr Scamps and Senator Pocock, along with other Independent MP's currently representing their communities, have both been outspoken critics of the Australian Government's inability to ensure Australians benefit adequately from the resources extracted by others in this country.
Dr. Scamps has pointed out 'Australians could benefit from an extra $17 billion every year if the Government had the courage to tax gas exports fairly'.
On March 31 2026 Dr. Scamps, after submitting a Letter on a Matter of Definite Public Importance to current Speaker the Hon. Milton Dick MP, spoke in the chamber of Australia's Parliament, stating:
''Australians don't like being taken for a ride, and right now they're being taken for a ride by the gas giants operating in this country. These are foreign owned corporations that treat Australia like a doormat, profiting from global conflict and raking in billions from our natural resources, while everyday Australians are left struggling with rising energy bills. That's why so many Australians are calling, right now, for a fair return for the export of our gas.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Australia Institute have put forward a straightforward proposal that would replace the broken petroleum resource rent tax with a 25 per cent flat tax on the value of exported gas. This would ensure that Australia actually receives revenue when our gas is shipped overseas.
Other sensible options have been proposed—including a price based royalty, whereby gas companies would pay royalties based upon the price of gas sales, allowing tax rates to increase as prices go up and to decrease as prices drop. This option would ensure that Australians benefit from windfall profits but would also protect industry when prices drop. The successful Queensland coal and gas royalty scheme is based on such a measure.
We have known for a long time that the current system is failing Australians, allowing multinational gas companies to pay little or no tax despite earning eye-watering profits. The current petroleum resource rent tax is riddled with loopholes that allow profit-shifting, compounding, carry-forwards and accounting tricks, which all equate to minimal tax being paid on company profits. Added to that is the fact that 56 per cent of our exported gas attracts zero royalties. We give away more than half of our gas for free.
The system is broken and Australians know it. That's why support for a gas export tax or a Commonwealth royalty scheme is so strong. Polling from the Australia Institute shows that voters across Australia support a gas export tax, including 75 per cent support in my electorate of Mackellar, and there is broad backing across the political spectrum, with some of the strongest backing coming from One Nation voters.
Right now, the gas industry uses more gas to process into LNG for export than Australian manufacturers use, combined. Meanwhile, some of our biggest trading partners are making tidy profits onselling our gas. Research from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis shows Japanese companies onsold 600 to 800 petajoules of Australian LNG in 2024, more than the entire gas demand of eastern Australia. Those resales alone likely generated more than $1 billion in profit for Japan.
A gas export tax would raise significant revenue. Currently, the Commonwealth makes more from beer excise and from HECS than it does from the PRRT. A 25 per cent gas export tax would generate up to $17 billion a year. In fact, figures released this week from the Australia Institute suggest Australia misses out on nearly $350 million in revenue every single week. Other countries are way ahead of us. When gas prices spike, the Saudis, Qataris and Norwegians benefit because they tax their exports properly. Australia is the outlier here. We have massive gas exports but receive minimal public revenue. Norway has a sovereign wealth fund worth $2 trillion. We have billions in debt. Australians want answers and they want action.
Some are talking about a windfall profits tax, and that has its merits, but it's not enough on its own. Windfall taxes only apply during price spikes and are easy to minimise. A flat 25 per cent gas export tax delivers revenue every time gas is exported, not just during boom years. It's stable, it's simple and it's much harder to avoid with accounting tricks. Similarly, a price royalty scheme would be comprehensive, capture windfall profits, be relatively simple to administer and implement, be low risk for taxpayers and, importantly, would not materially discourage investment.
Momentum is building, and it's positive to see new modelling being requested by government on levy options and an inquiry established into windfall profits. So the call for the government is simple today. Please fix the broken system that is ripping off Australians and ensure we start getting a fair return for the sale of our gas. I'd like to now cede the second half of my time to the member for Kooyong.''
On March 2 2026 Senator Pocock tabled 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.
Senator Pocock said then 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.”
The 'Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources' was subsequently established and has tabled its report in May 2026.
Independents, unions, Greens MPs and think tanks like the Australia Institute heavily campaigned for a 25% levy on gas exports ahead of the federal budget to help ease cost-of-living pressures. However, gas industry lobbyists, along with WA Premier Roger Cook, were pushing against the move, Premier Cook warning it could jeopardise major regional developments like Woodside's $30 billion Browse project, or the Woodside 'climate bomb' as it has been named by environment lobbyists.
Prime Minister Albanese formally ruled out introducing a new or increased export tax on existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts while in WA in April. The Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources noted the Prime Minister's stated concerns about timing and invited the government to reconsider this issue following the resolution of the current conflict in Iran.
The government tied the decision to national fuel security, noting that alienating major Asian trading partners who import Australian gas could jeopardise vital inbound shipments of diesel and petrol during the ongoing global energy crunch.
The Committee view, in its Report, was:
'The committee received a wide range of evidence examining the current and future taxation of Australia's gas resources.
The committee thanks the substantial number of organisations, experts and members of the general public that made a submission or provided evidence at a public hearing, especially considering the demanding timeframe for the inquiry.
The committee received substantial evidence that Australians want to receive a fair return for Australia's gas resources, and a range of proposals were put forward. The committee received evidence from gas industry representatives that the current tax settings are sufficient.
While unable to reach agreement about the impact of any proposed changes to taxation of gas resources on fuel security during the current global supply shortage, the committee notes the Prime Minister's stated concerns about timing and invites the government to reconsider this issue following the resolution of the current conflict in Iran.
The committee finds that lack of timely, transparent entity-level data continues to make it difficult for industry, government and the community to have a shared understanding of revenue, profits, and PRRT liabilities.
In considering the diversity of views expressed in submissions and at the hearings, the committee has not been able to reach agreement on a set of recommendations on Australia's approach to the taxation of its gas resources. As such, the views and recommendations of committee members are presented in additional comments to this report.'
On May 2 2026 Senator Pocock disclosed that 'an analysis of ATO data on company tax paid, PRRT revenue from the federal budget papers, excise data from the ATO, Commonwealth royalties from the federal budget papers and State royalties reported by relevant jurisdictions suggest the gas industry is significantly overstating the total tax it pays and may have misled a senate inquiry'.
The Australian oil and gas peak lobby group, Australian Energy Producers, claimed it paid a record $21.9 billion in taxes and royalties in 2024–25, but the accuracy and source of these figures is contested by independent analysts and politicians.
The AEP cited a Financial Survey 2025 as the source for this data which simply linked through to an AEP media release rather than any survey findings or other reliable data.
Relying on official government data sources revealed that tax, excise and royalty revenue collected from oil and gas in Australia in 2022-23 was $19 billion, and indicative figures for 2023-24 were $15 billion, with all relevant data from 2024-25 not yet available.
It shows Petroleum Resource Rent Tax receipts falling from $1,725m in 2022-23 to $1,483m in 2024-25, Commonwealth Royalties falling from $2,079m in 2022-23 to $933m in 2024-25 and even Queensland State Royalties from $2,350m in 2022-23 to $1,689 in 2024-25.
Every tax, excise and royalty figure in every jurisdiction with reported data over the three financial years was trending down.
Australian Energy Producers and their members who fronted the inquiry have also refused to disclose who has sponsored their access-all-areas passes to Parliament House.'
ACT Independent Senator David Pocock said more transparency and greater accountability was needed in the figures being used to prosecute arguments in this tax debate.
He suggested they fact check themselves prior to tabling such anomalies as facts - as others certainly would - and any discrepancies simply raise the stink of duplicity that will not wash off.
“The Coalition, the oil and gas industry, the Prime Minister and even some in the media have been levelling accusations of misinformation at the community-backed campaign pushing for a fair return on the export of our gas resources without fact checking their own figures first,” Senator Pocock said.
“As I've repeatedly said, the gas industry makes a contribution, but nowhere near enough. What I am arguing for - reflecting the view of the majority of Australians - is that we should get a fairer return on the export of a finite resource.
“While countries like Norway have built a $3 trillion dollar sovereign wealth fund, Australia has a trillion dollars of national debt.
“Australians are constantly told we live in one of the wealthiest nations on earth but for more and more people it doesn’t feel like that. Getting a fair return for the export of our finite natural resources can help fund the services Australians rely on, especially in times of global conflict that drive up cost-of-living, while paying down debt and putting some into a sovereign wealth fund for our future.”
At the “Tax Our Gas Exports” event Dr Scamps and Senator Pocock called for a straightforward 25% export tax, while remaining open to other reforms that ensure Australians receive a fair return from resources they collectively own.
Dr Sophie Scamps MP, Independent Federal Member for Mackellar, said:
“Australians own these gas resources. When multinational companies make billions exporting them overseas, it is only fair that Australians receive a proper return.”
“At a time when families are under real cost-of-living pressure, a fair gas export tax could raise billions for the hospitals, healthcare, schools, childcare and infrastructure our communities rely on.”
“Three in four people in Mackellar support a 25 per cent tax on gas exports. This is not a left or right issue—it is a question of fairness and whether Australia is prepared to secure a better deal from resources that belong to all of us.”
Senator David Pocock, Independent Senator for the ACT, stated:
“Australians are being dudded. Multinational gas companies are shipping out gas that belongs to all of us and paying next to nothing for it. Both major parties, government after government has let this go on for far too long.”
“A 25% gas export tax would raise around $17 billion a year. Money that should be building things here, paying down our $1 trillion of debt and building our Future.”
“If the government can't bring itself to legislate an export tax, the least that can do is bring in a windfall profits tax to make sure we stop missing out while international gas prices remain high.”
Josh Kirkman, CEO of Surfers for Climate, stated:
“The current deal does not pass the pub test. Local tradies, families and small businesses pay their fair share, and multinational gas companies should too.”
“Coastal communities understand that our natural assets are precious and finite. If companies profit from exporting Australia’s gas, the public deserves a proper return that helps build a stronger and more resilient future.”
“Tonight is about cutting through the spin and giving the community a clear account of how gas is taxed, what reform could deliver, and why this conversation matters to household budgets and our climate.”
Dr Richard Denniss, co-CEO of The Australia Institute, said in April this year:
“Australians understand that we only get to sell our gas once, and Australians understand that it is the job of the Australian government to get us the best deal they can for our scarce resources.
“The Prime Minister’s inclination to kick the can down the road might feel politically easy right now, but it is going to come at an enormous cost to both the budget and the Australian voters’ faith in their government.
“Voters get that they’re being ripped off by multinational gas companies and it would be optimistic for the Albanese Government, and the gas industry, to think this issue will blow over.
“The wave of support for a gas export tax has grown rapidly. It now includes everyone from the Greens and David Pocock to Clive Palmer and One Nation. Even the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank, the most valuable company in Australia, understands that it is time to end the farcical situation where more than half of the gas exported from Australia is given away for free.
“Australia Institute research shows that every week the Albanese Government fails to implement a 25% gas export tax results in $350 million in lost revenue. That is around $1.4 billion per month. If the Government delays the implementation of a 25% tax on gas exports until the next election, the result will be a gift from ordinary Australians to the multinational gas export companies of over $30 billion.”
