Anthony Albanese has ignored a man who ambushed him on the street while demanding answers over ‘who benefits’ from Australia’s gas industry.
The Prime Minister was walking into the ABC Radio office in Perth on Monday when he was suddenly confronted by a young Aussie.
‘Prime Minister, good to see you, I just want to know who benefits from Australia’s gas industry?’ the man asked.
‘What I want to know is where is the money for the gas, how come teachers pay more in tax than the gas industry?’
The PM refused to answer the man upon arriving at the radio station and when he left, instead telling him to ‘have a lovely day’.
‘Are you gaslighting me?’ the man asked when Mr Albanese, surrounded by security, refused to respond.
‘Are you toxic?’
Anthony Albanese was ambushed by a man on the street in Perth who demanded answers over who benefits from Australia’s gas industry
The man was referencing information from independent thinktank The Australia Institute which claimed Aussie teachers pay more in personal income tax ‘than the entire oil and gas industry pays in company tax and Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT)’.
‘Over the last ten years, ATO data shows that all of Australia’s school teachers paid $95billion in personal income tax, an average of $9.5billion per year,’ the organisation claimed.
‘By contrast, the oil and gas industry paid $12.5billion in PRRT and $33billion in company tax over the last ten years, or an average of just $4.6billion per year.
‘The oil and gas industry employs few people and pays barely any tax. Instead, the profits from Australian gas extraction flow overseas to mainly foreign owners. Australians are largely missing out.’
The thinktank also claimed that six out of Australia’s ten facilities that export liquified natural gas (LNG) pay no royalties to state or federal government.
‘These facilities represent 56 per cent of Australia’s gas export capacity. This means that more than half the gas exported from Australia is given for free to the companies exporting it,’ the organisation said.
Gas companies are supposed to pay royalties for the right to produce and sell Australian gas, but the Commonwealth doesn’t collect royalties from most off-shore projects.
‘The Commonwealth chooses to collect royalties on gas from the North-West Shelf, but the Commonwealth chooses not to collect any royalties on other offshore projects,’ the Australia Institute’s executive director Richard Denniss said.
The Australia Institute said exports of royalty-free LNG were valued at $149billion.
The man was referencing information from independent thinktank The Australia Institute which claimed Aussie teachers pay more in personal income tax ‘than the entire oil and gas industry pays in company tax and Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT)’ (pictured is oil platform in Australia)
‘To put this another way: in the last four years alone, Australians have given away the gas that made $149billion worth of LNG, for free,’ it said.
Several gas and oil companies paid little or no corporate income tax in the 2020-2021 financial year, including oil giant Chevron that paid just $30 in tax.
The oil company claimed it didn’t owe anything after suffering $1.8billion in losses in its own tax transparency report.
Under the PRRT, companies must pay tax on profits from gas projects, but only after covering the initial costs of developing those facilities.
‘In the last four years alone, Australians have given away the gas that made $149 billion worth of LNG, for free,’ the Australia Institute report said.
An ATO crackdown saw the tax paid by these companies significantly climb, with the oil and gas industry now on track to pay $17billion in tax this financial year, according to the Australian Energy Producers’ latest survey.
The payment is up from the $16.3billion tax paid last financial year, and includes company income tax, Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT), state royalties and excise.
‘The latest survey results represent the highest revenue contribution to date, helping governments fund essential services and infrastructure like roads, schools and hospitals,’ Australian Energy Producers Chief Executive Samantha McCulloch said.
‘The survey also showed the industry will spend over $41billion on Australian goods and services this financial year, supporting local jobs, businesses and communities.’
Australia was the seventh largest gas producer in the world in 2022.
Exports of liquified natural gas was at a record 81 million tonnes.
