Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

Zero is the answer. Thank you, Senator Whish-Wilson. They get to take our finite resources—they extract it and export it—and Australians get pretty much nothing in return. Compare that to what happens with Equinor in Norway. They are a Norwegian state-owned company. In 2018, Equinor paid $22 billion into consolidated revenue. They also paid environmental taxes and fees of about $1 billion. And, because it's a state-owned company, the dividend Equinor paid to the Norwegian government was about $3 billion, which is a huge amount of money. This dwarfs the quantum being talked about in this chamber today.

If we had a proper tax arrangement in respect of oil and gas, we wouldn't be having this debate about how we split education and how we split emergency relief funding, because we would be swimming in money. The finance minister is sitting there; he's listening intently. I say: if Senator Cormann brings any legislation to this chamber that seeks to get more of what Australians deserve from their oil and gas, I will happily co-sponsor that. That's one of the problems we have. We are mucking around, playing around, moving money around, moving a very small pie around. I want a bigger pie. I want a tastier pie. While we spin our wheels while shifting around the size of the very small pie that we have, we are missing out on opportunity. We could have had both, is my point.

The new emergency fund is $150 million going to disaster recovery work. I welcome what Labor has put forward—not the quantum but the idea that $50 million will be put to preventative measures in respect of emergency funding. That is a good idea. Once again, I'm disappointed at the quantum, and I will be asking at the committee stage how it is that that money for the pre-emptive work will be distributed. You heard my colleague Senator Griff talking about the need for equity in respect of that.

Then we move to the $50 million to upgrade TAFE facilities. This is the area where Labor should be disappointed. I am happy to invite Senator Gallagher to crossbench negotiating school, because she desperately needs it. Think about the fact that a few months ago Senator Lambie secured $144 billion, just for Tasmania. In listening to Centre Alliance, the government is restructuring the oil and gas market—particularly the gas market—here in Australia, which is something that will benefit people on Newstart, retirees and people who are employed in jobs. It will also help businesses, small and large. In this $4 billion discussion, you managed to squeeze out $50 million. So, free crossbench negotiation training for you. If you want to pick up the phone, I know you've got—