![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776635409_679_Tom_McIlroy.png\")
Tom McIlroy<\/p>\nPocock buys billboards to pressure Chalmers on gas export taxTom McIlroy<\/p>\n
Labor should use the proceeds of limiting tax concessions for property investors and a crackdown on gas export profits<\/a> to fund welfare increases and build housing, charities and social service groups say.<\/p>\n Ahead of next month\u2019s federal budget, the Albanese government is under pressure to wind back negative gearing rules and the 50% capital gains tax discount for property investments, and to tax more of the profits from soaring commodity exports, pushed up by the global energy shock.<\/p>\n ACT independent senator David Pocock has bought billboards in Jim Chalmers\u2019 Queensland electorate, calling for a 25% tax on gas exports, delivered through changes to the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) scheme.<\/p>\n The gas tax plan \u2013 backed by the Greens, thinktank the Australia Institute and key Labor-aligned trade unions \u2013 could raise as much as $17bn for the budget<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Australian Council of Social Service (Acoss) and a coalition of 50 charity and campaign organisations said money from the suite of proposed changes could help the most vulnerable, and fund sustained public investment in housing, renewables and disaster resilience.<\/p>\n The Acoss chief, Cassandra Goldie, urged the government to be bold, saying that:<\/p>\n double quotation markPeople on the lowest incomes are skipping meals, delaying medical care and rationing energy just to get by.<\/p>\n Frontline services are operating at capacity, facing growing demand and increasingly complex needs. Current policy settings are not meeting the needs of our communities \u2013 it\u2019s clear that significant and sustained public investment is essential.<\/p>\n Groups including Foodbank Australia, Jesuit Social Services and National Shelter have signed on to the push.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.24 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Australian life satisfaction lower than during Covid-19: poll<\/p>\n Fallout from the global energy crisis, rising petrol prices and the war in Iran has contributed to lower average life satisfaction in Australia, according to new research by the Australian National University.<\/p>\n A poll of more than 3,600 adults found average life satisfaction had fallen to 6.22 on a scale of 0 to 10, the lowest recorded, and below levels reached during Covid-19 lockdowns.<\/p>\n Nearly 35% of Australians reported finding it difficult or very difficult on their current income, while the majority have taken at least one significant financial coping action in the past year.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia in March 2026 is a country under considerable strain,\u2019\u2019 researcher Prof Nicholas Biddle said.<\/p>\n double quotation markUnlike the lockdown periods, this decline is not a sharp shock from a higher base: life satisfaction was already depressed, making the current reading the culmination of a sustained deterioration rather than a sudden fall.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776635410_80_2400.jpg\")
A billboard in Jim Chalmers\u2019 electorate in Queensland on Sunday, which was paid for by the ACT independent senator David Pocock. Photograph: Supplied<\/p>\nTom McIlroy<\/p>\n
![\"Catie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776635410_483_Caite_McLeod.png\")
Catie McLeod<\/p>\n