Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2026-2027

Ms MADELEINE KING (Brand—Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia) (11:13): I thank all members for their participation in this consideration in detail, particularly the members for Hunter, Forde, Pearce and Paterson. All are strong supporters of the resources sector. This government has put resources at the very heart of our policymaking because we know that a strong resources sector means a strong economy now and into the future and more jobs for future generations of Australians.

The government is determined to ensure that Australian gas works for Australians and that Australians can access that important energy source at affordable prices. This is the simple principle behind the Albanese government's gas reservation scheme. Gas is an Australian resource.

It comes from Australian land and Australian waters. It is developed by Australian workers. It underpins Australia's heavy industry and it is supported by Australian communities in the regions and the capitals right around the country.

So it is only right that Australian households and Australian businesses and industry should have access to reliable gas at fair prices. Gas remains critical to the energy security of Australia and that of our regional partners. Gas offers fast, flexible generation that backs up renewables and keeps the grid stable.

It will be essential to our net zero transformation. It is particularly important to support high-heat manufacturing, including critical minerals processing. We simply won't build a thriving critical minerals industry or maintain manufacturing capacity in this nation without reliable and affordable gas, and that's why we are taking action.

From 1 July next year, LNG exporters will be required to reserve the equivalent of 20 per cent of their LNG exports for the domestic market, and they will need to meet these domestic supply obligations before getting access to export approvals. Reserving Australian gas for the Australian community is the right thing to do. That's in stark contrast to the coalition, who, in the past, left the energy market in a diabolical mess.

We continue to put policies in place that work in the best interests of Australian gas consumers. Our plan for Australian gas is a better option for Australia. What the Greens political party, Clive Palmer, the teals and Senator Pocock have in common is their shared campaign for an additional flat tax rate on the gas industry or some kind of windfall profits tax.

This campaign has made for a clever slogan, and it certainly makes for some easy clicks and likes on social media. But the reality is very different. Many of these political groups and individuals spent the better part of their political careers campaigning to end Australia's gas industry altogether.

For some, a gas tax campaign is an attempt to engineer that outcome via stealth. It is prudent to see what happens in other nations when they bring in such a proposal. In the energy price spike of 2022 brought on by Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, the conservative United Kingdom government brought in a 25 per cent energy profits levy on oil and gas windfall profits.

The levy expanded to 35 per cent and then to 38 per cent two years later. Combined with company tax and other taxes, taxation on oil and gas projects in the UK and the North Sea rose to 78 per cent. At the same time, a handbrake was placed on new exploration and development in the North Sea.

The result is that revenue projections from the windfall tax have fallen by around 75 per cent, about 5,000 industry jobs have been lost since the introduction of this 25 per cent tax in 2022 and 58,000 jobs are forecast to be gone by the early 2030s. The UK is now relying more and more on imports for its energy. The experience in the United Kingdom of what started as a 25 per cent windfall tax on oil and gas production is that in four very short years 5,000 jobs have been lost, the industry has declined, production has reduced by 40 per cent and the UK is likely to import the vast bulk of its oil and gas by the 2030s, not to mention the end of the revenue base that was sought to be taxed.

This is what the Greens, Senator Pocock, Clive Palmer and the teals have in common: a plan for a windfall profits tax to destroy the gas industry of Australia. Well, I for one will not stand for it. The gas industry of Australia employs many thousands of people.

It has employed many thousands of people over the decades of its existence in this country. It has also generated an extraordinary amount of revenue for the communities that support the gas industry. It provides for our energy security.

It provides for the energy security of our region and therefore the peace and prosperity of our region. Nothing is more important. There's not a more important thing Australia could do for the peace of our region.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.