‘Not radical, it’s fair’: Australian households would receive compensation in proposed ‘polluter pays’ levy scheme

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/29/australia-polluter-pays-levy-fossil-fuels-rod-sims-ross-garnaut-superpower-institute-report?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

10 Comments

  1. death-of-humanity on

    >It said the new gas levy – similar to calls from other organisations in recent years – would ensure companies paid “their fair share for extracting the gas resources that belong to all Australians”. Institute modelling suggested the levy would be “economically neutral” and not affect gas industry investment returns or export prices.

    The biggest solution for the gas industry is to nationalise it. But our polies are cowards.

  2. Albanese is utterly beholden to his fossil fuel donors. He has trotted out the same lines that Scott Morrison, Tony Abbott did.. He was asked about why we give away gas for free, and why not tax it: he trotted out the “sovereign risk” bullshit.

  3. Fuzzy_Collection6474 on

    Subsidies are great to build up green tech industries but unless we’re willing to penalise fossil fuel extraction decarbonisation is going to be slowed down. And the longer we wait to penalise FFs the larger any penalty will have to be to make up for lost time. So if we’re gonna do it 2011 would have been a great time but 2026 is better than waiting for 2035
    Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02497-6

  4. Say_Something_Lovin on

    Its nice to day dream. What next? limiting the number of investments properties you can own?

  5. EmergencyLavishness1 on

    I’d rather compensation from the mining companies for fucking the land and not paying their share of taxes

  6. Surv1v3dTh3F1r3Dr1ll on

    It’s a nice idea in theory. But won’t the companies affected just raise prices and pass it back to the taxpayers and consumers anyway?

  7. fairness **is** radical to the neoliberal think tanks, corporate lobbyists & media oligarchs that will kill this idea dead.

  8. It’s unreal to me watching the government take the issue of

    >Australia keeps giving away our national resources at pennies on the dollar due to private enterprise

    And decided the solution was

    >So we should tax Australians

    And not

    >We should nationalize the gas, electric and water industries and, insofar as is possible, do the same for mining and production, such that the Australian government secures the profits from these industries and pass the benefits onto its citizens instead of sending them overseas.