PM Anthony Albanese has ruled out a 25% Gas Tax to raise $17 billion in the May budget but has so far said nothing about Fortescue Metals’ campaign to slash diesel tax rebates for big miners, which would save taxpayers an estimated $2.4 billion annually.
As it currently stands, Albanese and Labor have left almost $20 billion on the table for large miners, with many being foreign companies, to give to their shareholders that could be used by the government for the benefit of Australian taxpayers.
I’ll have a look at the 25% Gas Tax first and then look at the diesel tax rebates for big miners that Fortescue is running a campaign to have slashed.
Numerous politicians, groups and a few independent journalists / media have been pushing for a 25% tax on gas exports that are currently not taxed.
The SMH reported (29/4/26):
“The prospect of a new tax on gas exports has been killed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is staking his personal reputation on Australia’s relationship with its Asian neighbours Japan, South Korea and Malaysia that have warned against the move.
To shore up fuel imports and national security amid a global oil crisis sparked by the Iran war, the government has been seeking deals with Asian exporters of petrol and diesel.
Countries that supply Australia with much of its fuel, such as Japan, Malaysia and South Korea, depend on Australia as a major source of their gas supply and are also major investors in Australia’s huge gas export industry, based in Western Australia and Queensland. They have for years petitioned the government against imposing new taxes on the industry.
However, a campaign by left-wing think tank the Australia Institute and independent senator David Pocock to impose in the May budget a 25 per cent levy on all gas exports has gained widespread support in the community. (Click here to read more)
That’s right, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea are big investors in the Australian gas industry, and the Australian government allows them to take our gas back to their countries without paying anything for the gas.
Japan even exports Australian gas to other countries and makes a profit, but Albanese does not want to make Japan pay us anything.
The ABC reported (29/4/26) as per below:
In the above video Albanese makes excuses why he won’t make companies pay for Australian gas, but they sound like talking points from the gas companies.
Independent Senator David Pocock posted on “X” on the 24/4/26:
The PM and other major party politicians are getting their figures from the gas industry rather than the ATO and Treasury.
Whose side are they on? When you try and interrogate these figures from the gas lobby you get “PAGE NOT FOUND”.
You cannot make this stuff up! Head to ourgas.com.au to get involved. The only way we win this is if the major parties know they will continue to lose votes at the next election if they don’t put Australians first.
(The below video was attached to David Pocock’s above post.)
Diesel tax rebates for big miners
Fortescue Metals, owned by Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, launched a campaign, on the 21st of April 2026, to reduce diesel tax rebates for large miners.
The Renew Economy website reported (31/4/26):
Iron ore mining giant and green energy advocate Fortescue has launched a major public campaign urging government to strip big miners of fossil fuel handouts, saying diesel tax rebates are no longer going to the right people.
Fortescue, which is aiming to reach “real zero” emissions at its mines by 2030, if not earlier, by using renewables and electric transport and mining equipment, says research shows the 18 largest miners receive about a third of the $11 billion in fuel rebates returned to businesses this year.
“We are not talking about small miners, explorers, farmers, truck drivers or tradies,” Fortescue CEO Dino Otranto said in a statement.
“This is about putting a sensible cap on massive tax credits and restoring fairness to the system.”
Otranto says the federal government has adopted a number of good policies that support energy security, but says the diesel rebates it inherited is bad policy that is getting worse.
“It is leaving Australia more dependent on overseas fuel at a time when the world is becoming less stable. It makes no sense to keep subsidising that dependence. Capping the diesel tax handout is a practical step toward restoring energy security and building a fairer, more resilient, self-reliant system.”
Fortescue says the national campaign – which urges a $50 million cap on rebates for big companies – will run on radio and television. (Click here to read more)
Fortescue published the below video a few weeks ago titled “Real Zero in Motion: How Fortescue Is Electrifying Mining” on their YouTube channel:
On the face of it, you might think that Fortescue Metals is doing a Robin Hood routine by standing up for the battlers.
The reality is Fortescue is in the process of moving their mines to electricity, so they will not need the diesel tax rebates themselves for much longer, so they are happy to take the diesel tax rebate off others.
So, Fortescue is no Robin Hood.
But the bottom line is, Fortescue is right when they say the diesel tax rebates for large miners are not fair and should be reduced if not abolished.
Below is one of Fortescue’s ads to reduce the diesel tax rebates for large miners:
It will be interesting to see what, if anything, the Albanese government does in the May budget in relation to the diesel tax rebates, given billionaire miner Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue is the one driving the campaign to reduce the rebate.
If Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party government continue to allow large miners to abuse the political and tax system for minimal taxes and large government handouts, they will lose a lot of voters.
Admin: Twenty-two weeks ago, I launched a campaign with a simple goal: find 200 new monthly supporters so I can keep doing this work as a fully independent journalist, running this website and the YouTube channel without corporate backing or paywalls.
Since then, 168 wonderful people have stepped up and become monthly supporters. That’s huge, thank you!
We’re now at 32 to go.
If you’ve been enjoying the work and aren’t yet supporting monthly, I’d be incredibly grateful if you’d consider joining them. Here’s the situation:
Like most independent journalists, I’m basically a one-person small business. Right now, a lot of us are feeling the squeeze, just like many small businesses and households are. To stay afloat and keep bringing you the reporting I do, I need roughly 200 more people chipping in whatever they can comfortably afford each month.
Anything from $3 to $100 (or whatever works for your budget) makes a real difference. There’s no lock-in, you can cancel or adjust anytime.
If that feels doable for you right now, you can see all the options on the donations page by clicking here.
Your support, whether it’s a monthly donation, a one-time donation, or just sharing the work, is what keeps independent voices like this one alive.
Please use Facebook, “X”, email and the other buttons below and help promote this article.
Kangaroo Court of Australia is independent media and is 100% crowdfunded by readers like yourself so please support on the links below. Click on the PayPal button below to donate or for other donation options click here to go to the Donations page.
Thank you for your support.
For the KCA t-shirt shop click here.
For the Fugitive Clothing t-shirt shop click here
Join the free email subscription below and you will be notified immediately I publish new articles which is normally twice a week.
Discover more from Kangaroo Court of Australia
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
All the electric machinery that they will be using, where are they manufactured? Does it create real jobs for Australians?
As I’ve written before, I’m most unimpressed with Albanese. Cowardice is not leadership. He leaves himself, and Australians by proxy, fully able to be manipulated. Does he even realise this?
That nearly $30 billion would be a godsend for Australia, if not to help reduce the nearly trillion dollar debt.
Its easier for Albanese to walk away, than stand his ground for what Australians know is right. He might be totally gobsmacked at the next election when he finds himself fighting for his political life against The Greens. They’re fired up and really making headway.
Australia’s current PM is not a coward. That gives him to much credit for the ability to make even a weak choice to not take a stand.
He is a pathetic, craven, self-interested puppet, with his strings being jerked around by those who see Australia as nothing but a sandpit. His ambition extends to serving as PM for longer than the lying rodent or pig-iron bob, two milestone idiots of bygone generations. The sooner he retires to wedded bliss and a corporate sinecure the better off we will all be.
His prime-ministerial portrait legend will read
“A. Albanese. PM. 2022-???? Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda, NADA”
As soon as Australia’s fuel supplies became stretched and the prices went skywards after the israelis and the septics bombed Iran, the government stepped in and cut the fuel excise by 50%. “To save the taxpayer”.
This loss of revenue is going to bite us ALL in the arse, and cost us billions in extra interest payments on our National Debt.
If, at the same time, the feds had slapped a tax on JUST THE WAR PROFITS on gas, the extra income that the LNG producers and exporters were making hand over fist as a result of events in the middle east since late February, nobody would have had a leg to stand on, Australia would have been in a much better position, and this entire situation would be moot.
Ther would then be some argy-bargy after/if the dust settles and the price of LNG/oil goes back down as to whether the tax should be removed entirely or at least some of it remain on normal operations, but the tax would be there as a start. A bargaining chip with the provable income to back it up.
Now, we have NOTHING.
Albanese will reap the political whirlwind at the next federal election, but the ultimate loser will be Australia.
He who pays the piper calls the tune. Elmo knows which side his bread is buttered.
the demise of Albo!
David Pocock is doing what far too few in Canberra are willing to do – demanding transparency and evidence-based policy instead of INDUSTRY SPIN.
TREASURY and ATO data, not gas lobby talking points, should be driving decisions on tens of billions in resource revenue and fuel rebates. That’s basic accountability and it’s overdue.
Anthony Albanese and Labor are wavering and defensive on resource taxation, while the Coalition is all at sea with no coherent alternative beyond criticism and slogans. Neither major party is engaging this issue with the seriousness it deserves.
From me it’s a clear thumbs-down for the drift, hesitation, and confusion from both Anthony Albanese’s Labor government and the Coalition.
BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO! for David Pocock!