Pauline Hanson announces Norway-inspired gas policy as she decries 25% export tax as ‘economic vandalism’ | One Nation

One Nation has pledged to replace the controversial offshore gas profits tax and acquire 30 per cent stakes in new companies as part of an interventionist policy designed to extract “much greater returns” for Australian taxpayers from the resource.

The proposal for the Commonwealth to co-own the gas projects has sparked a mix of criticism and cynicism from government, industry and the Coalition, which has accused One Nation of importing ideas from Venezuela.

Pauline Hanson used a speech at a major gas industry conference in Adelaide on Thursday to detail a policy first reported on the night of One Nation’s Farrer by-election victory.

Hanson said the public was “rightly unhappy” and “public unrest is growing” over taxpayer returns from Australia’s oil and gas sector, expressing the same concerns as the broad coalition of groups campaigning to replace the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) with a 25 per cent export levy.

The One Nation leader has criticized a 25% export tax as “economist vandalism”, despite some opinion polls suggesting supporters of her right-wing populist party support the idea.

Instead, she proposed abolishing the PRRT – which she called a “failure” – and introducing a royalty regime for new projects.

Appearing before a room of gas industry executives in Adelaide, Hanson also announced a Norwegian-inspired proposal to acquire stakes in new companies and put the profits into a sovereign wealth fund.

Under the proposal, the government would offer companies a 30% discount on the cost of exploration in Commonwealth waters in return for taking an equity stake of up to 30% in the operation.

The deal would give taxpayers a share of potential profits, but also expose them to financial risks, which could last for decades given that One Nation has proposed that co-ownership begin at exploration and continue until the project is decommissioned.

It typically takes more than a decade for a project to move from exploration to production, meaning taxpayers won’t get an immediate return.

Government involvement would be overseen by a new Commonwealth investment body.

One Nation has just two fewer seats in federal parliament but has risen in opinion polls, leading to more attention and scrutiny over its policies.

Speaking before Hanson’s speech, Liberal MP James Paterson said he was skeptical of government-owned oil and gas companies.

“I mean, it’s a policy borrowed from Venezuela and Hugo Chávez, not Australia,” Paterson told Sky News.

“Of course I understand the principle that Australians want to get a better return on their natural resources, it’s a reasonable principle, and we can have a debate about the details of tax policy, but nationalizing our oil and gas industry, I don’t think that’s the solution.”

Hanson denied the proposal was a “socialist takeover”, insisting the government investment body would not play a day-to-day role in running the partner gas company.

The One Nation leader said there had been no resistance from the industry during private briefings on the proposal. She said mining billionaire Gina Rinehart was not consulted.

Australian Energy Producers – the main industry group and host of Thursday’s event – ​​praised Hanson’s support for the oil and gas sector in a statement defending the amount of taxes he contributes.

“As the recent federal budget confirmed, our current tax system is already working as intended, generating more tax revenue when international oil and gas prices are high,” said Samantha McCulloch, executive director of the AEP.

But the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) – which represents the entire mining sector – has opposed government stakes in a “mature” industry such as the oil and gas sector.

“It doesn’t work. You start these things for nascent industries, you don’t start them mid-stage when we have a mature industry. So generally speaking I think equity in projects is not the way to go,” said MCA chief executive Tania Constable.

Resources Minister Madeleine King made a similar argument when asked about Hanson’s proposal.

“Now is the best time for Australia to invest in this part of the [gas] the industry was 30 or 40 years ago. So this moment has passed. We can’t go back,” she said.

“Furthermore, I think there are a lot of people in the country who don’t think Australia, an Australian government, should be investing in the gas industry given the capital they’re able to put into projects.”

In his speech to the AEP conference, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor renewed his commitment to abandon the net zero emissions target, remove the safeguard mechanism and promote more “digging and drilling” to achieve what he describes as “energy abundance”.

Taylor urged the oil and gas industry to “start making some noise” and fight back against its critics while reaffirming the Coalition’s opposition to a 25 per cent export tax.

“The Coalition cannot lead the fight for your sectors alone. You need to start making noise. You need to use every campaign tool at your disposal, including social media. Push back against your critics,” he said.