The Greens and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation have unexpectedly landed on the same side of a major political fight over how Australia taxes its gas giants.
A widening alliance of independents, Greens MPs and One Nation representatives is demanding tougher rules, with many backing a 25 per cent gas export levy as global energy prices soar amid escalating conflict in the Middle East.
The war has sent liquefied natural gas (LNG) profits surging, intensifying criticism that Australia is failing to secure a fair return from its own resources.
Speaking to the ABC, One Nation recruit Barnaby Joyce said Australia has ‘not been getting a fair return from a substantial asset’.
While he dismissed the Greens’ proposed 25 per cent levy, warning it would ‘blow things up’, he supported tougher taxation paired with streamlined gas extraction.
‘I think you have to ask some, and you have to give some, and the give some is streamlining people’s capabilities to extract gas,’ Joyce said.
Despite both parties agreeing that the system needs an urgent overhaul, they are divided over how to implement the changes.
Greens Senator Steph Hodges‑May said a substantial export tax is not only necessary but widely supported by voters.
Barnaby Joyce (pictured left with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson) rejected calls for a 25 per cent tax, but said reform in the gas sector was needed
‘This could raise $17billion a year… to ease household energy bills, to fund disaster recovery and to accelerate the transition away from the gas that currently ties household energy bills to global conflict,’ she told the Senate on Monday.
But One Nation Senator Sean Bell dismissed the Greens’ approach as unworkable.
‘Under the Greens and what they’re proposing, Australians will get nothing, because 25 per cent of nothing is nothing,’ he said.
Bell argued One Nation’s blueprint is more realistic, pointing to the party’s push to reserve 15 per cent of Australian-produced gas for local homes and businesses, as well as changes to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax.
He also suggested the government adopt Norway‑style reforms, including taking equity stakes in major resource projects.
Labor, however, has refused to support a windfall tax.
Resources Minister Madeleine King warned such measures would ‘freeze gas production’ in Australia.
Yet behind the scenes, the Albanese government is actively weighing its options. Treasury has been asked to model potential levy designs, as well as further adjustments to the existing Petroleum Resource Rent Tax.
The Greens (pictured: Leader Larissa Waters) say the tax would raise $17billion annually
Teal Independent MP Allegra Spender, a vocal supporter of tougher taxation, pressed Treasurer Jim Chalmers during Question Time on Monday.
‘The war in the Middle East is driving gas-price spikes, which is great for resource company revenue, but Australians are hurting,’ she said.
‘Will you impose a windfall tax… to ensure Australians get a fair share of this wartime windfall from their natural resources?’
Chalmers acknowledged there was a ‘range of views’ on the issue but said the government had not shifted its position – leaving the future of the proposed levy firmly in political limbo.
