Independent senator David Pocock has called Australia’s gas export system “a scam”, accusing successive governments of failing to secure fair returns for taxpayers from one of the nation’s most valuable resources.
On Monday morning’s episode of The Briefing, we sat down with Pocock to discuss what is behind the costly problem, and what it’ll take to fix it.
Click the link below and listen the full episode:
Despite being one of the top three gas exporters globally, Pocock says Australians are paying inflated energy prices while multinational companies export over half of our gas without paying royalties.
“We get very little revenue from our offshore LNG,” he said.
“These same companies, when they don’t pay for our gas, then turn around and find really creative ways to actually [avoid paying] corporate tax,” he added.
Despite claims from fossil fuel companies that they pay billions in taxes, Pocock said the reality does not match the rhetoric.
“We haven’t had a single cent from offshore” under the petroleum resource rent tax,Pocock said.
Pocock criticised both major parties for being too closely tied to the fossil fuel industry and pointed to Norway’s $2.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund as evidence that stronger regulation and fairer returns are achievable.
“Natural resources belong to all Australians… these companies can still make a profit, but they should be paying us for our gas and then paying tax on their profits.”
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