Your gas. Their profit.
Australia is one of the world's biggest gas exporters. Multinational companies dig it up, ship it overseas, and make billions. But almost none of that money comes back to you.
Since 1988, the gas industry has exported $527 billion worth of Australian gas. Australians got back just $42 billion in tax — that's 8.0%.
For every $100 of gas sold, Australians got roughly $8 back. The rest left the country as corporate profit.
Latest Export Value
$52.8B
2024
Latest PRRT
$1.8B
2024
Effective PRRT Rate
8.0%
All-time average
Zero-Tax Entities
8
In ATO data
The Grand Divergence
Total LNG export value vs. PRRT collected — the gap that keeps growing
Peak Export Value
$70.4B
2022
PRRT That Year
$2.6B
3.7% effective rate
Total Exports (35yr)
$527B
1989–2024
Total PRRT (35yr)
$42B
1989–2024
What is the PRRT? (And why should you care?)
The gas under Australia's seabed belongs to all Australians. When companies extract and sell it, they're supposed to pay a special tax called the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT). Think of it as rent — payment for taking something that belongs to the public.
But here's the catch: the PRRT has a massive loophole. Companies can deduct the cost of building their gas platforms and pipelines — plus an extra bonus called "uplift." Uplift lets them inflate those costs by up to 15% per year, compounding. A $50 billion platform can become $100 billion in deductions on paper — even though the actual cost hasn't changed.
The result? Companies like Chevron, Shell, and INPEX have exported tens of billions of dollars in Australian gas while paying zero PRRT for years — sometimes decades. It's all perfectly legal. The law was written this way.
🏗️
Step 1: Build
Company spends $50B building a gas platform with borrowed money
📈
Step 2: Uplift
PRRT lets them inflate that cost by up to 15% per year, compounding. $50B becomes $100B+ in deductions
💸
Step 3: Pay nothing
Profits are "offset" by inflated deductions. Tax bill: $0. For years. Sometimes forever.
In plain English: Imagine you own a house and rent it out. Your tenant says "I spent a lot renovating, so I'm not paying rent for the next 20 years." Oh, and they also get to charge you interest on what they spent. That's essentially how the PRRT works for multinational gas companies extracting Australia's natural resources.
Zero-Tax Outcomes Under PRRT
Gas companies with $1B+ revenue and their reported tax positions, as published in the ATO Corporate Tax Transparency reports. Zero-tax outcomes reflect the legal operation of the PRRT uplift mechanism, not any allegation of wrongdoing.
The Global Comparison
Four major gas exporters, four very different public returns. Norway, Qatar, and Malaysia prove that collecting real revenue from gas isn't radical — it's the global norm.
LNG Export Volume (Million Tonnes)
Government Revenue ($AUD Billions)
Australia collects 28× less than Norway per tonne exported
Norway
$1170M
per million tonnes
Qatar
$727M
per million tonnes
Malaysia
$571M
per million tonnes
Australia
$42M
per million tonnes
2022 data. Norway exports mostly pipeline gas (88 MT LNG-equivalent). Malaysia revenue = Petronas dividend to government (RM50B, includes oil & gas). Sources: Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Qatar Ministry of Finance, Petronas Annual Report, DISR.
The "What Could Be" Calculator
What if Australia applied a flat Ad Valorem royalty on offshore gas exports instead of the PRRT? Drag the slider to model the revenue. Period: 2015–2024.
An Ad Valorem royalty is a simple percentage charged on the gross sale value of the resource — the government takes a fixed cut of every dollar earned, regardless of a company's costs or deductions. Most resource-rich nations (including Qatar and Norway) use some form of this model. Australia's PRRT instead taxes "super profits" after companies deduct capital costs with generous uplift rates, which is why collections can stay near zero for decades.
That surplus alone could fund any ONE of these:
Each row shows what the full surplus would deliver if spent on that single priority.
Oil refineries (fuel self-reliance)
We only have 2 refineries left and import 80% of our fuel. 4 new refineries would cut fuel imports down to ~29% — no more price shocks every time a war breaks out
4
$40.0B
Hospital EDs expanded — urgent wait under 30min
Every public hospital ED in Australia upgraded — 280 emergency departments expanded with more beds, resus bays, and short-stay units. Enough to meet AIHW triage targets and end ambulance ramping
280
$42.0B
Km of urban motorway built
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane choked — population growing, roads and rail can't keep up
453
$45.3B
Uni or TAFE places fully funded
Enough to give every new Australian student free uni or TAFE for 4 years — ~500K students per year graduate debt-free instead of owing $30K+
2.3M
$45.3B
Home solar + battery systems installed
34% of Australia's 11M households would never pay a power bill again — solar + battery on every roof, energy independence for families
3.8M
$45.3B
Public housing homes built
58% of the 175K families on the public housing waitlist would have a roof over their head — some have been waiting 10+ years
100.7K
$45.3B
Pay down government debt
Australia's net government debt is ~$940B. This surplus alone would cover 4.8% of total net debt.
4.8%
of national debt
Actual PRRT Collected
$12.9B
Effective rate: 3.3%
Royalty at 15%
$58.3B
On $388B exports
Surplus Revenue
+$45.3B
Additional public revenue
What the Industry Contributes
A balanced view requires acknowledging what gas companies do pay and provide. These are real contributions — the question is whether they represent a fair return on a finite public resource.
Corporate Income Tax Paid (2014–2023)
$9.5B
Total corporate tax paid by the 6 largest gas entities across 4 years of ATO transparency data (2014, 2019, 2022, 2023).
Source: ATO Corporate Tax Transparency
PRRT Paid (1988–2024)
$42.0B($1.2B avg/year)
Total Petroleum Resource Rent Tax collected over 36 years since the tax was introduced in 1988.
Source: Federal Budget Papers
Direct Employment (2024)
30,100
People employed in oil and gas extraction (ANZSIC Subdivision 07). Single-year snapshot — does not include indirect or supply-chain jobs.
Source: ABS Labour Force Survey
Capital Investment (cumulative)
$150B+
Combined capital expenditure on major LNG projects including Gorgon ($54B), Ichthys ($45B), Wheatstone ($34B) and Prelude FLNG ($17B). Spent over decades of construction — these are not annual figures.
Source: APPEA / Company annual reports
These figures represent the industry's direct contribution. They do not capture the full public cost of the resource — including environmental impact, carbon emissions, and the opportunity cost of selling a finite national asset at a structurally low tax rate.
What the Research Says
Peer-reviewed research and independent analysis from credible institutions. 10 papers covering PRRT policy, gas export revenue, and the gap between what Australia earns and what it could.