Gas companies are mounting a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to fight against a new export tax, prompting the Labor MP Ed Husic to accuse the industry of \u201cdefending the indefensible\u201d.<\/p>\n
Shell Australia is among half a dozen oil and gas companies contributing around $1m to an Australian Energy<\/a> Producers (AEP) campaign that attempts to justify the amount of tax the industry pays, a parliamentary inquiry heard on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The advertising blitz is part of a rearguard action from the industry as public support builds for the Albanese government to replace the existing petroleum resources rent tax (PRRT) with a 25% levy on gas export revenue.<\/p>\n The pro-tax campaign<\/a> has gained traction with the independent senator David Pocock, social media influencer Konrad Benjamin<\/a> \u2013 known online as Punter\u2019s Politics \u2013 and the Australia Institute thinktank prosecuting the case that gas companies were ripping off taxpayers.<\/p>\n The gas industry\u2019s peak body is now running a counter-campaign, which claims the oil and gas sector was expected to contribute $21.9bn in various taxes and royalties to federal, state and territory governments in 2024-25.<\/p>\n Under questioning from Pocock at Wednesday\u2019s hearing of the parliamentary inquiry into a new gas tax, Shell<\/a> Australia\u2019s country chair, Cecile Wake, said the campaign was necessary to \u201ccounterbalance\u201d the \u201cvery selective\u201d claims pushed by advocates.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we are trying to do through that [campaign] is to counterbalance the very selective and misleading representations of a number of other social commentators. It is a modest and proportionate amount to spend to put some salient facts in front of the Australian public. It is balanced, it is fact based,\u201d Wake, who also chairs AEP\u2019s board, said.<\/p>\n \u201cI am comfortable that it is an appropriate and commensurate figure that is simply putting facts in front of the Australian people and they can draw their own conclusions from that.\u201d<\/p>\n