Month: August 2023

The Greens have offered to pass the Government’s gas tax changes through the Senate if the revenue from the changes is doubled by lowering the deductions cap from 90% of assessable receipts to 80%.

Documents provided to the Senate under an Order for the Production of Documents show that this is within the range originally advised by Treasury to the Treasurer.

Greens Treasury spokesperson Senator Nick McKim has written to Treasurer Jim Chalmers to make the offer, which has the support of Senators David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie and Tammy Tyrrell. 

Gas companies are currently sitting on a staggering $277 billion of uplifted tax credits that they have to burn through before they will have to pay any super profits tax. This is greater than the GDP of New Zealand.

Doubling the minimum revenue that these gas giants will be assessed against from 10% to 20% of their assessable receipts would raise $2.6 billion in much needed revenue over the forward estimates period. 

This proposal will only affect five LNG projects that are raking in billions in unearned super profits off the back of the Ukraine invasion. The government’s proposal is intended only to plug the gap in declining revenue from the old Bass Strait fields as they run out. 

These five massive gas projects have never paid a cent in royalties or super profits tax.

Treasury spokesperson, Senator Nick McKim said:

“The gas cabal has been playing the major parties like fiddles. This is a chance for Labor to take a small step towards making fossil fuel corporations pay their fair share of tax.”

“Labor now has a very clear choice. It can work constructively with the Greens to double the additional revenue from gas companies, or settle for half that amount in exchange for weakening environmental regulations for gas projects to the satisfaction of the Dutton Opposition and the gas cartel.”

“Ten gas companies and lobby groups were in the room designing this tax with Treasury officials. These daylight robbers all signed non-disclosure agreements and came up with a proposal that wasn’t previously part of Treasury’s review.”

“No other taxpayer gets such access to the government that they can design their own tax rates.” 

“Labor appears to have forgotten that it is Parliament, not gas companies, that sign off on the laws of the land.”

Greens’ Social Services spokesperson, Senator Janet Rice, has slammed Peter Dutton’s policy of ripping money from the poorest Australians, and Labor’s paltry increase to income support that will leave millions on poverty-payments. 

Senator Rice will introduce a suite of amendments in the Senate to improve Labor’s Safety Net Bill and help the most vulnerable Australians out of poverty. 

The amendments will include raising the rate of Centrelink payments above the poverty line to $88 a day; implementing the Robodebt Royal Commission’s recommendation to re-instate a six year limit on Social Security Act debt-recovery that was removed by the Abbott Government; lifting the base rate of Centrelink payments to the level recommended by the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee; lifting the eligibility age of the Parenting Payment Single from 14 to 16 (recommended by the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce); increasing the amount people can earn while on income support; and Australia’s first ever legislated National Poverty Line.

Senator Janet Rice, Greens spokesperson for Social Services said:

“Labor’s Jobseeker increase is woefully inadequate. It works out to be around $4 a day, which is less than a cup of coffee and won’t help anyone pay their rent. Not that people on Jobseeker can afford to go out with friends for a coffee as it is. 

“This increase doesn’t even cover the record rent hikes or skyrocketing grocery prices, and still leaves people on payments well below the poverty line. Even Labor’s own expert Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee said these payments are nowhere near enough.

“$4 a day is not going to cut it for people who tell me they’re only showering once a week because they can’t afford the hot water. It’s not going to cut it for people who are only eating one meal a day. And it’s not going to cut it for people who are living in tents or in cars rather than being able to afford a roof over their head.

“We know the cost of living crisis has hit those on Jobseeker hardest. Labor managed to find room in the budget for $9000 a year in Stage 3 tax cuts for every billionaire and politician in the country, but can’t raise Centrelink above the poverty line for struggling Australians. 

“But it is outrageous the Liberals’ wont even support this paltry increase and want to leave many of the most vulnerable recipients, including those with serious health issues who can’t work, living in poverty with no increase at all. An income free area alone is not enough. 

“We want Labor to do far more to help struggling Australians, but we are outraged that the Liberals would rip away even this tiny increase in payments. 

“Peter Dutton is deplorable, and the Greens will fight tooth and nail against any attempts from the Liberals to take money from people who need it most.

“Centrelink payments must be raised above the poverty line to $88 a day. If Labor is serious about helping people, they should back the Greens amendments that will make life easier for millions of Australians.

“We know the community is supportive of these measures that are so important for people who are living in abject poverty on Centrelink payments. It’s vital that we don’t have a permanent underclass of people in this country that can’t afford to participate fully in society.”

The Greens warn that despite the Great Barrier Reef’s one year reprieve from being declared “in danger”, the iconic marine ecosystem remains under serious threat – including from the Albanese Government and its reckless approval of new fossil fuel projects.

Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said: 

“This Unesco decision isn’t kidding anybody who has had their eyes wide open to the unprecedented and troubling changes we are witnessing in global marine environments, especially from new marine heatwaves. 

“The world will still be watching the Great Barrier Reef moving forward. As a custodian of this great natural wonder the Albanese Government should remember this decision is no cause for celebration, but a clear warning: if we get another El Nino event this summer the Great Barrier Reef may still be listed in danger come February. 

“The burning of fossil fuels is literally cooking our oceans and degrading marine ecosystems across the globe, and nowhere else has this been more politicised than on the Great Barrier Reef. 

“The high-profile Great Barrier Reef is a barometer for the declining health of marine ecosystems everywhere, and the Albanese Government must show leadership on mitigating the root cause of the decline in these fragile ecosystems by not expanding or approving new fossil fuel projects.” 

Greens senator for Queensland, Larissa Waters said:

“The World Heritage Committee has kept the Great Barrier Reef on the “In Danger” watchlist for another year, so the pressure is now on for the Albanese Government to stop approving new coal and gas. 

“Labor continues to approve new fossil fuel projects putting at even further risk the Great Barrier Reef, which supports countless miraculous species of creatures, corals and plants, and provides a livelihood for 60,000 tourism workers.

“Recurrent bleaching as a result of the climate crisis has already changed the Great Barrier Reef forever. More than half the coral cover of the Reef has been permanently lost in successive mass coral bleachings of the Reef since 2015. 

“Climate change is the biggest threat to the Reef yet the Albanese Government has approved 3 coal mines in less than 2 months. How many more times do global scientists have to say no new coal and gas?”

The Coalition will not support Labor’s proposed Misinformation laws.

Shadow Communications Minister David Coleman said the Government’s exposure draft of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2023 would suppress legitimate free speech in Australia.

“This is a very bad bill. The Government should rip it up,” Mr Coleman said. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to our democracy, and the Coalition will always fight for it.

“The Bill gives the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) extraordinary powers. It would lead to digital companies self-censoring the legitimately held views of Australians to avoid the risk of massive fines.”

The many problems with the Bill include:

• The definition of “misinformation” is so broad that it could capture many statements made by Australians in the context of political debate.
• Authorised content by the Albanese Government can’t be misinformation, but criticisms of the Albanese Government by ordinary Australians can be misinformation.
• Nothing an academic says can be misinformation, but statements by somebody disagreeing with an academic can be misinformation.
• Good faith statements made by entertainers cannot be misinformation, but good faith statements made by ordinary Australians on political matters can be misinformation.
• Journalists commenting on their personal digital platforms could have their content removed as misinformation.
• If the Minister has a favoured digital platform, then that platform could be entirely removed from the application of the misinformation laws.

Under the Albanese Government’s proposed laws, ACMA would gain sweeping powers to require any Australian to appear at a time and place of its choosing to answer questions about misinformation or disinformation. Heavy fines would apply for non-attendance.

“The Albanese Government has got this horribly wrong,” Mr Coleman said.

“This Bill is appalling and will be strongly opposed by the Coalition.”