Gas giants warn against windfall gains tax as Pocock says ‘wartime profits’ should go to struggling Australians

## Summary
Independent senator David Pocock says Labor ‘might finally be caving’ to pressure to ‘tax gas companies making wartime profits’ amid the global energy crisis. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP View image in fullscreen Independent senator David Pocock says Labor ‘might finally be caving’ to pressure to ‘tax gas companies making wartime profits’ amid the global energy crisis. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Gas giants warn against windfall gains tax as Pocock says ‘wartime profits’ should go to struggling Australians Government faces political fight as industry says mooted 25% levy on exports would hurt Australia’s economy and energy security Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Gas giants will lobby against any federal government moves to introduce a 25% export levy on windfall profits, as crossbenchers pressure the prime minister to redirect billions of dollars in “wartime profits” to Australians struggling amid the global energy crisis. The ACT senator said it appeared the government “might finally be caving to the pressure myself, others on the crossbench and especially Australians in communities across the country have been putting on them to tax gas companies making wartime profits”. “Australians are already paying more on petrol and we shouldn’t be paying more on beer excise than the government gets for petroleum resource rent tax,” he said on Friday.

## Article Content
Independent senator David Pocock says Labor ‘might finally be caving’ to pressure to ‘tax gas companies making wartime profits’ amid the global energy crisis.
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
View image in fullscreen
Independent senator David Pocock says Labor ‘might finally be caving’ to pressure to ‘tax gas companies making wartime profits’ amid the global energy crisis.
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Gas giants warn against windfall gains tax as Pocock says ‘wartime profits’ should go to struggling Australians
Government faces political fight as industry says mooted 25% levy on exports would hurt Australia’s economy and energy security
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Gas giants will lobby against any federal government moves to introduce a 25% export levy on windfall profits, as crossbenchers pressure the prime minister to redirect billions of dollars in “wartime profits” to Australians struggling amid the global energy crisis.
It comes after the prime minister’s department asked Treasury to model the effects of placing a flat 25% tax on gas exports, the
ABC reported on Friday
, along with any further changes to the
petroleum resource rent tax
(PRRT) and corporate income tax.
The issue sets up a fierce political fight as parliament returns next week with crossbench MPs, including David Pocock, and advocacy groups demanding the government capture billions of dollars in potential revenue by imposing taxes on exported Australian gas as global prices rise after
Israel’s and Iran’s attacks on gasfields
in the Gulf.
Pocock has been pressuring the government in recent months to
offset struggling households
by collecting more tax from fuel exports, in a move Anthony Albanese
suggested was because he was seeking
“to promote grievance”.
The ACT senator said it appeared the government “might finally be caving to the pressure myself, others on the crossbench and especially Australians in communities across the country have been putting on them to tax gas companies making wartime profits”.
“Australians are already paying more on petrol and we shouldn’t be paying more on beer excise than the government gets for petroleum resource rent tax,” he said on Friday.
Never waste a fuel crisis: the Albanese government must seize the moment and start taxing gas companies | Greg Jericho
Read more
The tobacco excise is forecast to bring in $5.45bn across over 2025-26 with the spirits and beer excises expected to pour $3.4bn and $2.7bn respectively into government coffers, according to the mid-year economic and financial outlook. In that same period, the PRRT is expected to raise $1.5bn.
But the gas industry’s peak representative body, Australian
Energy
Producers, said a 25% levy against its exports would come at the “worst possible time for Australia’s economy and energy security”.
“Imposing higher taxes on Australian gas producers would stop investment in new gas supply, leading to gas shortfalls, higher energy prices, and the closure of Australian industries that rely on reliable and affordable gas,” AEP’s chief executive officer Samantha McCulloch said.
The federal government has so far resisted any push for steeper taxes against the industry, with the resources minister, Madeleine King, telling parliament earlier this month it “would discourage investment in the new supply we need to back up our transition to net zero”.
“We need gas as a firming capacity for renewables, whether they be solar or wind,” King said.
But on Friday the energy minister, Chris Bowen, did not rule out the consideration when asked.
“The treasurer’s made clear, the tax reform is on the government’s agenda, and is considering the way to maximise the efficient collection of tax in Australia,” he said on ABC radio.
The escalation in attacks since the Israel-US war against Iran began in February has sent shockwaves through the global energy market.
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On Wednesday night, Israel struck Iranian facilities
used to process gas from the nearby South Pars gasfield
, which it shares with Qatar.
Iran retaliated on Thursday by
attacking the Qatari gas hub
Ras Laffan, which reportedly damaged facilities that produced 17% of the state-owned company’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity. QatarEnergy told Reuters it would take three to five years to repair them.
The attacks have already driven up the price of gas internationally and Australian gas exporters are expected to reap the profits of increased demand and constrained supply.
A report by the progressive thinktank, the Australia Institute,
estimated Australia would have received
around $17bn a year in tax revenue from gas producers since 2022, based on pre-Iran war levels, if a 25% tax on gas exports had been in place.
The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, wrote to Albanese on Thursday offering the minor party’s support to pass a bill in the upcoming sitting fortnight, saying the revenue could be dedicated to “urgent cost of living relief”.
“Mill

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
- The issue sets up a fierce political fight as parliament returns next week with crossbench MPs, including David Pocock, and advocacy groups demanding the government capture billions of dollars in potential revenue by imposing taxes on exported Australian gas as global prices rise after Israel’s and Iran’s attacks on gasfields in the Gulf.
- The chamber’s chief executive officer, Aaron Morey, said the proposed tax would risk “undermining that reputation and damaging the living standards of future generations of Australians”. “At exactly the moment we need more gas, not less, this would dramatically escalate sovereign risk,” he said.

### Implications
- Independent senator David Pocock says Labor ‘might finally be caving’ to pressure to ‘tax gas companies making wartime profits’ amid the global energy crisis.
- Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP View image in fullscreen Independent senator David Pocock says Labor ‘might finally be caving’ to pressure to ‘tax gas companies making wartime profits’ amid the global energy crisis.
- Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Gas giants warn against windfall gains tax as Pocock says ‘wartime profits’ should go to struggling Australians Government faces political fight as industry says mooted 25% levy on exports would hurt Australia’s economy and energy security Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Gas giants will lobby against any federal government moves to introduce a 25% export levy on windfall profits, as crossbenchers pressure the prime minister to redirect billions of dollars in “wartime profits” to Australians struggling amid the global energy crisis.
- The ACT senator said it appeared the government “might finally be caving to the pressure myself, others on the crossbench and especially Australians in communities across the country have been putting on them to tax gas companies making wartime profits”. “Australians are already paying more on petrol and we shouldn’t be paying more on beer excise than the government gets for petroleum resource rent tax,” he said on Friday.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers gas, tax, energy topics. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 963.