The Safeguard Mechanism is failing to drive real emissions reductions across Australian industry because it enables polluters to rely on unlimited amounts of so-called “offsets”. Ahead of the Government’s review of the scheme, this report explains why the permission to substitute real emissions abatement with offsets undermines the integrity of Australia’s flagship climate policy, and

Mining companies in Australia used almost 8 billion litres of diesel in 2023-24, a quarter of Australia’s total, 3.5 times more than agriculture, and more than all of the country’s 2.9 million dual-cab utes combined. Eliminating diesel subsidies for mining would encourage electrifying mining equipment, improving Australia’s fuel security and budget balance while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

New data in the 2026 Federal Budget and Senate gas tax inquiry further demonstrate that Australia needs a gas export tax. Gas is still given away for free. Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) revenue is going down, not up. PRRT raises less money than HECS repayments or beer excise. Japan still raises more tax on Australian gas exports than the Australian Government does, even since the 2023 deduction cap took effect.

Since signing the Paris Agreement in 2015, Australia’s fossil gas exports have doubled, and coal exports have increased significantly. Large exporters of fossil fuels, like Australia, avoid scrutiny of their inaction on climate by emphasising domestic emissions and avoiding discussion on fossil fuel production. The Santa Marta Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels offers

Japan taxes energy imports through its Petroleum and Coal Tax, which raises AUD $8 billion per year on average. Of this $8 billion, around $1.8 billion comes from taxing gas imports into Japan. This is more than the $1.4 billion per year that Australia’s Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) raises in total. Japan raises $710

Australia’s gas exporters pay little tax and royalties, employ few people, push up gas and electricity prices for Australian families and businesses, and worsen the climate crisis. If the Albanese government again delays major reform to the taxation of Australia’s gas export industry, these costs to Australian taxpayers will continue to mount. Refusing to tax

Five news polls conducted for The Australia Institute reveal an overwhelming majority of Australians want a gas export tax to fund improvements in services like health and aged care.

Australia’s wealth of natural gas reserves mean that the Commonwealth could be benefitting from the high prices caused by conflicts in Ukraine and Middle East. If a 25% tax on Australia’s natural gas exports had been enacted in 2022 it would have already raised $63.8 billion, which could fund a range of social services for

Fossil fuel subsidies cost Australian governments $16.3 billion in 2025–26, an increase of 9.4% on the previous year. This is a larger increase than the 7.6% growth of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Growth in fossil fuel subsidies is driven by the federal government’s Fuel Tax Credit Scheme, which cost $10.8 billion in 2025–26. Growth

Low-income workers are suffering the most from falling real wages. LITO changes could give them a $2,300 tax cut. This would be fully paid for by a 25% tax on gas exports. Key beneficiaries would be young people and those in regional areas, with National Party electorates benefiting the most.

Australians are suffering from climate disasters that are accelerating as climate change worsens. Climate change is spurred on by the historical and present emissions of the fossil fuel industry. A levy on fossil fuel exports could make the fossil fuel industry pay for the harms it has caused and raise up to $100 billion every year.

Do beer drinkers pay more tax than gas companies? Yes, they do! Independent Senator David Pocock recently asked Treasury officials whether beer excise raised more money than a key tax on the gas industry, Australia’s Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT). A video of the response – that yes, more money comes from beer excise than

Redbridge, on behalf of The Australia Institute, surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,010 Australians about their knowledge of, and opinions on, Australia’s gas exports. One Nation voters are more likely to correctly respond that more than 59% of gas is exported and are among the most supportive of taxing Australian gas exports.

Unlimited gas exports over the past decade have increased energy prices for Australians, worsened climate change and raised little money for the public. Most gas exports pay zero royalties and Australia’s petroleum tax collects less revenue than HECS. The Albanese government’s response is a ‘gas reservation scheme’. While the details are currently being negotiated, the

The Albanese Government has acknowledged Australia’s gas export problem. However, rather than implement a tax that would reduce domestic prices, raise revenue and help the climate, the government looks to be weighing options that favour either Santos or its rivals Origin and Shell.

In the past five years, Australian governments have allowed export gas volumes equivalent to 20 years worth of Australian domestic usage. Gas exports, not green tape, are undermining Australia’s energy security and driving up energy prices for Australians.

The Australia Institute made a submission opposing the proposal to extend Peabody’s Wilpinjong Coal Mine, located near Mudgee, NSW.

The Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) mines are among the largest coal expansion proposals in Australia, representing potentially over a billion tonnes of total greenhouse gas emissions. The Australia Institute made a submission to the NSW planning process opposing the latest proposals. As with previous proposals to extend HVO North and South, emissions costs are underestimated and project

Adani sold coal for $100/t through a period that saw relevant coal prices reach $280/t, resulting in apparent royalty underpayments of almost $400 million. The Queensland Government’s decision to abandon its pursuit of these royalties may be linked to regulatory action around Adani’s Abbot Point coal terminal.

Soon after his election victory in May 2025, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke of “doing things the Australian way, not looking towards any other method or ideology from overseas”. He summarised this approach as “progressive patriotism”. Progressive patriotism should be urgently applied to gas policy in Australia. Despite being one of the world’s largest exporters

Scholarships, grants and other links between Australian universities and fossil fuel industries

Australia Institute research has long documented the comprehensive failure of government policies to prioritise the interests of Australians over multinational gas exporters. Our view is that the incremental technocratic policies of successive governments to solve these issues have failed, and that a fresh approach is needed. The ACTU’s proposal for a 25% tax on gas

Until the mid-2010s, wholesale gas prices in eastern Australia were low.

On July 2, 2025, the Executive Director of The Australia Institute, Richard Denniss, wrote to the Minister for the Environment and Water, Senator Murray Watt. The letter follows the minister’s provisional approval of the expansion of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas export operation in Western Australia, asking that he make public the conditions imposed on

YouGov conducted a national survey of 1,522 voters on behalf of The Australia Institute between 27 June and 3 July 2025, using an online survey polling methodology.

Over the past 10 years $125 billion worth of liquified natural gas was exported from Gladstone in Queensland.

Gas exports from WA cause more greenhouse gas emissions than 153 individual countries.

Australia and Qatar are two of the world’s largest exporters of liquefied natural gas, each exporting around 80 million tonnes in 2023, worth $85 billion. From these exports the Qatari Government received $A56 billion, while Australian governments received just $11 billion.

Companies exporting liquified natural gas from Australia have made windfall profits close to $100 billion since 2022, when energy prices spiked because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Most of these profits are based on royalty-free gas and no Petroleum Resource Rent Tax was paid. At best, $20 billion in company tax was paid on this

Australians are being ripped off by gas export corporations.