The one tax change that would make $17b and cut gas prices

Tuesday, 21 April 2026 18:40

Norway and Qatar have done it. Now there's a growing push for Australia to make the move that "solves all those problems".

A new tax on Australian gas sent offshore would bring in tens of billions of dollars a year, according to submissions to a Senate inquiry.

There's a renewed push to slap a levy on exports but resource groups and the opposition are warning it would threaten the industry's future.

A Senate committee examining changes to how Australia taxes gas, particularly LNG sent overseas, sat today.

The Australia Institute suggests a flat 25 per cent export tax would raise $17 billion and bring domestic prices down.

"An export tax solves all those problems," director Richard Denniss told the inquiry today.

"A windfall tax solves a lot of problems in theory and the one we've got right now solves virtually nothing."

The change would bring Australia closer to other major exporters like Norway and Qatar, which make vastly more money from their gas exports.

Labor backbencher Ed Husic said a gas tax would be simple and provide more "direct benefit" but Opposition Leader Angus Taylor was far from supportive.

"Do you want to shut down the gas industry in this country and do you want to have no fuel security in this country?" he said.

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Superpower Institute chief executive Baethan Mullen said some gas projects that would have gone ahead without the tax would no longer happen if it were imposed.

The gas industry argues it already paid $21.9 billion in tax last year alone.

Gas companies appearing tomorrow are likely to make the point that projects that don't go ahead don't generate tax revenue.

Dennis was dismissive of that line of argument.

"[Japanese oil and gas company] INPEX are currently seeking a new project in Norway. Right now," Dennis told the senate.

"They are taking the piss. They are mocking us. They are playing us for fools."

Konrad Benjamin, the face of popular social media channel Punter's Politics, said millions of regular Australians were now paying attention to how little Australia was making from gas royalties compared to Norway and Qatar.

"If it's profitable, they'll still come," he told the Senate.

"Just like in Norway. They said they'd leave, guess what, they didn't."

Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry has also been a vocal supporter of taxing gas exports more.