From Domainfax:
It’s a story of two resource-rich countries with two very different ways of harnessing the wealth they are blessed with.
By 2021 Australia will eclipse the Persian Gulf state of Qatar to become the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas.
In that year, when both countries are forecast to pump and ship roughly 100 billion cubic metres of LNG each, Qatar’s government will receive $26.6 billion in royalties from the multinational companies exploiting its offshore gasfields.
According to Treasury estimates, Australia will receive just $800 million for the same volume of gas leaving its shores.
The massive disparity – and prospect, first revealed by Fairfax Media, that Australia will receive no significant take from LNG for “decades” – has sparked calls for a public inquiry into the the petroleum resource rent tax or PRRT.
A letter co-signed by 21 left-leaning organisations and unions, including the ACTU, ActionAid, Greenpeace, the Australian Council of Social Service and the Uniting Church, has been sent to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull by the Tax Justice Network urging a Parliamentary inquiry into PRRT.
…In essence, the write-offs available for investors in mega LNG projects like Chevron’s $70 billion Gorgon facility in Western Australia are too generous. An example is exploration costs that are allowed to compound at an annual uplift rate of 18 per cent each year before they are written off against profits, sometimes years later.
An uplift rate of 18%! Lol. It’s supposed to be attached to the risk-free rate of the ten year bond (2.2%) plus a bit. Rorting the Australian tax-payer truly offers an unparalleled return on investment!
