Pauline Hanson has raised the question of the national ownership of Australia’s natural resources, while speaking at her One Nation Party’s Tasmanian campaign launch in Launceston.
After a speech largely concerned with limiting foreign ownership of property and agricultural land, opposing vaccine mandates, and explicitly doubting the science of climate change, Hanson replied to a question put by Crikey as to whether she thought a trillion dollars of public debt constituted a problem for the country, and what should be done about it.
In a long and pretty focused answer Hanson suggested that many of our budget problems arose from the “free kick” being given by the Morrison government and Resources Minister Matt Canavan to Exxon, Chevron and Shell.
She focused in particular on the export gas industry coming largely out of Western Australia’s North West Cape:
“We have 200 years of gas there, and currently we are giving it away to multinationals, to Exxon Mobile, Chevron and Shell.
“They have exported tens of billions in gas over the last few years, and we have barely got a billion in tax.”
Hanson noted that with Australia’s unique “cost-plus price” credit to resources producers — which, for accounting purposes, values the gas produced at zero — has, with other credits, helped take the gas producers’ tax burden down to zero in several years.
Resources expert Diane Kraal suggests that the “cost-plus” credit alone has cost us $10 billion a year in lost taxes.
“Qatar made $26 billion from its gas export and it’s got the same output,” Hanson noted Saturday. “I’ve had this argument with Matt Canavan several times.”
Qatar’s gas and other resources are state-owned, with strictly limited foreign and in-country private shareholding.
One Nation did not respond to a request for clarification of their position, put to Tasmanian Senate candidate Steve Mav.
The party is running a full slate of candidates in Tasmania, in a bid to gain the state’s sixth Senate seat.
