Gas producers aren’t paying a fair share of tax and the government’s plans to cut back their future concessions do not go far enough, Synod’s Senior Social Justice Advocate Mark Zirnsak says.
In November, the government announced it would close a loophole allowing gas explorers to reduce the tax on offshore projects by transferring the deductions claimed against less profitable onshore projects.
Closing this loophole should increase the tax take by $6 billion over the next 10 years.
However, the new tax arrangements will only apply to future projects and gas producers, along with some other parties, are calling for a transition period before being denied the deductions against offshore drilling.
In a Senate inquiry submission made by the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Mark argued there was no reason to retain any of the overly generous concessions made to the gas industry.
Mark called for the current tax arrangements to be replaced with a 10 per cent royalty rate, which would deliver more money back to the community.
In the recently released pre-federal election statement Our Vision for a Just Australia,the UCA National Assembly said a key action was to work towards: “A national climate policy that drives down greenhouse gas pollution, including no new coal or gas mining in Australia and investment in renewable energy.”