Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) for decades, mining companies have been making excessive profits that should have been taxed in order to put dental and mental health into Medicare, build affordable homes and fund the rapid transition away from coal and gas; and

(b) in Queensland, big mining companies have exported $634 billion of our resources but only paid nine per cent of that in royalties over the past ten years; and

(2) calls on the Government to rein in the excessive profits of mining corporations.

This country is run like an arm of the fossil fuel industry. When the fossil fuel industry says, 'Jump,' the major parties ask, 'How high?' For decades the fossil fuel industry and multinational mining corporations have taken this country for a ride. Their tax rates are among the lowest in the world, especially when compared with countries who have a similar economic make-up to Australia. Last year Australia's oil and gas industry paid a tad over $17 billion in taxes. That may sound like a lot of money, but let's compare that to Norway, another country that exports a lot of fossil fuels—namely, oil and gas. Norway imposes a corporation tax of 22 per cent on fossil fuel companies but then a further 56 per cent special tax on petroleum operations. This tax setup has been in place since 1996 and last year generated the country $127 billion in revenue. That is how we should be taxing the fossil fuel companies in this country, but instead they are operating on a model of environmental destruction and then asking not even to tax them fairly for the pleasure of doing it.

Let's say we tax the fossil fuel industry fairly. Let's say the mining industry paid just a bit more than the nine per cent in royalties they've been paying in Queensland over the last 10 years while at the same time they exported $634 billion of resources. Let's say we fix the tax system so that teachers aren't paying more in taxes than the oil and gas industry does, which is not a made-up statistic, as research from the Australia Institute has shown us that this is what is happening right now. Let's say we fix it. What could we do with that revenue? We could dramatically improve people's lives and protect the climate. We could bring dental and mental health into Medicare, saving people hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in healthcare bills every single year. We could wipe all student debt and make university free once again, providing everyone in this country the chance to pursue higher education without fear of the cost or being left with tens of thousands of dollars in student debt. We could raise JobSeeker above the poverty line and move on a path towards making sure that no-one in this country ever has to live in poverty. We could invest in renewable energy and the transition to a green economy so that Australia can live up to its potential as the powerhouse of the world, with ample wind, solar, batteries and new and emerging green technologies. We could be a world leader in tackling climate change instead of playing catch-up to the rest of the world, as we always seem to do. We are robbing ourselves of countless economic and social opportunities because governments refuse to challenge the power of the fossil fuel industry.

We cannot leave workers in the fossil fuel sector in the dust when this industry eventually ceases to exist, which it will. It is fundamental to a just transition to a renewable economy that workers in the fossil fuel sector are taken care of. We all have bills to pay, and these workers are no different. When we talk about a just transition, we need a job-for-job guarantee. A renewable economy still requires mining for critical minerals, and it is of fundamental importance that workers are centred in this transition. The climate crisis is caused by corporations, not by workers. We are running out of time to tackle the climate crisis and, the longer we leave it, the closer a large-scale rapid transition looms. We need a big plan that looks after workers and communities alike.

Previous industry collapses like steel in Newcastle and car manufacturing in Geelong and Adelaide have given us important insights into what we should avoid. Without transition plans in place at the time corporations announce plant closures, only a third of workers are able to find full-time employment again, another third can find only insecure work and the final third remain permanently unemployed. We cannot leave communities to face this alone. By making the fossil fuel industry finally pay their fair share of taxes, we could change the country immeasurably for the better. We could find a just transition for workers, bring dental and mental health into Medicare, wipe student debt and lift countless people out of poverty. The only thing stopping us from achieving this goal is the cowardice of the major parties.

Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to start by giving the Greens a dose of reality that will be hard for them to swallow, so I apologise in advance for any sobbing or whingeing you may hear coming from them. The fact is that as long as people want to buy our coal we will continue to sell them our coal. I want the last piece of coal ever to burn to come from our mines in the Hunter Valley because it is the best, most efficient and highest quality coal in the world. There will be no abrupt or enforced transition away from coal. Here is another fact for you. The vast majority of coal that we mine in my electorate in the Hunter is exported. So, while it's true that the market is moving away from using coal to power our country and this government has done amazing work to make sure this is happening as smoothly as possible, even after our last coal-fired power station is closed in Australia our coal will still be mined and exported for decades and decades to come. We will mine it and we will sell it until the day there is no-one who wants to buy it. So you can put your unrealistic pipedreams of a rapid transition away from coal to bed because it is just as much of a fairytale as the coalition's nuclear policy.

As always, the member for Brisbane has moved a motion without actually doing his homework. If he had done his homework before getting all worked up about how much he despises the mining industry, he would know that the most recent budget reports that the resources sector contributed to two-fifths of the company tax in the 2022-23 financial year. He'd also know that the mining, energy and water sector is estimated to have contributed $42.4 billion in tax in the 2021-22 financial year. I think he really needs a reality check. Instead of demonising the industry, he needs to open his eyes and think about all the ways that we really do rely on the mining industry.

Here is fact No. 3. We can't move towards net zero without the mining industry. I hope the Greens political party are listening today, because there is much to learn here. Without mining there are no solar panels, wind turbines or batteries. I'd like to see the member for Brisbane try to build a wind turbine without traditional resources like iron. It's not just us that will be relying on mining our rich deposits and critical resources so we can power our future; countries around the world will be as well.

Every day, every single person has a reason to be grateful for mining. Without mining we don't have the iron we need to build fridges, public transport or aircon. We won't have the copper we need for car brakes and plumbing. Without mining there is no gold for circuit boards, TVs and mobile phones and there's no aluminium for tinfoil hats or beer cans. That's right: if the member for Brisbane had his way, he would stop you from being able to crack open a few tins with your mates because he doesn't want us to be able to produce aluminium.

To the member for Brisbane, I say: Don't be ungrateful. Go thank a miner in your electorate or thank all of the miners around Australia for what they do. Get out of your inner-city office and have a look at electorates like mine in the Hunter that make our country run. The fact is that we need mining. Everywhere you look, we rely on mining in some way. Even as we continue to make amazing progress on reducing our emissions, mining is going nowhere. Thank goodness for that, because look at what we gain from it. Mining powers our economy. The sector directly employs more than a quarter of a million Australians, many of these in my electorate in the Hunter. The mining industry also supports more than 1.1 million indirect jobs. Mining has made my electorate what it is. Almost everyone knows a miner or has a family member who has worked in the mines or knows someone who has connections in the mines. It has provided good-paying, secure employment for generations and is firmly part of the identity of the entire Hunter region.

So the Greens can continue to hate on mining, but they live in a dream world if they think somehow they will convince us to rapidly transition away from mining. It's here to stay. The final fact of the day is that mining is definitely here to stay. I say to the miners in my electorate and all around Australia: thank you for the hard work you do, the long shifts and the time away from your families, friends and loved ones. Keep up the great work. We support you. We will continue to support you in the future. I look forward to continuing to see many of you in the Hunter but also around Australia as well. Hopefully the member for Brisbane can go and thank the miners in his electorate, because there are a lot there that do great, critical work for our country. I think you could go and say thank you to them, because mining matters. Thank you to all the miners in the Hunter. Cheers.

Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Big mining corporations are raking in obscene profits by selling off resources that belong to all Australians. What do we get back? Next to nothing. Over the last decade, mining giants have extracted $634 billion worth of Queensland's resources. You'd think that would mean well-funded hospitals, schools and public services, right? Wrong. These corporations have only paid nine per cent in royalties. That's crumbs compared to the billions they've pocketed. It gets worse. Ten of the biggest mining companies in Queensland pay zero corporate tax. These resources are ours. Mining companies pay royalties for the privilege to dig them up, but they do not own them. We do.

Look at Norway. They collect 55 per cent of gas and petroleum revenues for Norwegians' benefit. Here in Australia we collect a measly three per cent. Even Texas, of all places, charges 25 per cent royalties on coal and gas. Qatar exports roughly the same amount of LNG that we do, and yet they collect six times more revenue than Australia. It's Robin Hood in reverse. The government lets these massive mining companies take our resources for basically nothing. These corporations hoard the profits, often in overseas companies. Take a look at our gas exports. Australians have missed out on $13 billion of royalty revenue in the last four years because the government gave it away for free. In terms of gas, we only collect royalties from the North West Shelf. All other offshore gas projects are free game. If you're mad, you should be.

Here's the kicker: right now schoolteachers are paying more in income tax than the entire oil and gas industry. In the last 10 years, Australian teachers have forked out an average of $9.5 billion a year in tax. What about the oil and gas industry? They've forked out a measly $4.6 billion in petroleum resource rent tax. The government pretends it can't afford to properly fund public education, but it's happy to squeeze the teachers while letting the richest and dirtiest corporations off the hook.

Here in Australia the government is giving massive mining companies a free ride while everyday Australians are expected to scrimp and save and break their backs to pay for the bare minimum, like dental care or university fees, which just keep climbing. In fact, the government collects more from HECS payments than it does from the PRRT. We have a system that demands that teachers, who are absolutely vital to our children's futures, pay thousands of dollars for their degrees, work for less than minimum wage during placements and then face underfunded and overcrowded schools. On top of all of that, their profession ends up paying more tax than the oil and gas industry—an industry that is actively harming our kids' futures. Make it make sense.

Australians are subsidising the fossil fuel industry with their hard-earned tax dollars and they're getting nothing in return. In the last year, governments across Australia have handed out $14.5 billion in subsidies to fossil fuel companies. That's the equivalent of almost $30,000 of our money every minute of every day. It's time these corporations paid their fair share. In Queensland we can raise mining royalties to 35 per cent across the board. That could raise $61 billion over four years, even as we transition away from fossil fuels, to fund the future, to fund renewable energy and to fund the things that all Australians need to have a good life. Just stop giving handouts to mining corporations that squander our future, and, instead, fund public schools, fund GP and health clinics and fund social and affordable housing.

Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.