The billboards explain that major gas companies in the NT pay no royalties or petroleum resources tax, and that NT drivers contribute 30 times more in vehicle registration to NT Government revenue than the gas industry.

Key Points:

• Australia Institute research has found over the last four years, multinational companies made $149 billion exporting gas they got for free, including $37 billion from the NT. If royalties had been charged on this gas, at least $13.3 billion ($3.4 billion from NT) in revenue could have been raised.
• Reasons provided by Darwin Airport to not run the advertisements include that they were:
  • Negative in nature.
  • Political in nature.
  • Directed at other clients of Darwin Airport advertising services.
• Similar billboards in other jurisdictions, such as Western Australia, have been accepted as legitimate advertising.

“Democracies function best when the public is well-informed, and this becomes a challenge when private companies are deciding what information people can see,” said Richard Denniss, Executive Director of the Australia Institute.

“I think most people would be surprised to learn that vehicle registrations contribute far more to Northern Territory Government revenue than the gas industry, but the reason they’re surprised to hear it is because, as we’ve seen, there are barriers to sharing this type of information in public places like airports.

“The Australia Institute was keen to use advertisements to share our research findings – just as the gas industry does – but unfortunately, we weren’t allowed the same opportunity to speak to Northern Territorians that the gas companies are accustomed to.

“The real loss here is for Northern Territorians. How can they make informed decisions about the future of their Territory when they’re not provided with information about the reality of the NT budget and the practices of multinational resource companies?

“At a time when there is so much debate about the relative merits of gambling advertising, it boggles the mind that a research institute such as ourselves has been barred from paying the market rate for a billboard for the public to see our research.”