Australia’s gas belongs to all of us. The benefits should be shared fairly rather than hoarded by companies that pay some of the lowest taxes in the world
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
We now know that the Albanese government will very likely introduce an extra levy imposed on gas producers’ high profits. The prime minister’s department has requested Treasury modelling of additional levies on gas companies in response to the Iran crisis that is driving up energy costs for Australians. The department was reported as saying that energy producers “should not benefit from high international prices at the expense of domestic customers”. Precisely. There can be no going back now from such a statement.
But this is also a time for longer term thinking. We cannot have a temporary extra tax. We must deal with Australia’s chronic undertaxing of those utilising the gas resources that belong to all Australians. Indeed, there will never be a better time for the federal government to adopt a fair share levy (FSL) – as set out by the Superpower Institute, which I chair – to ensure gas companies pay their fair share of tax to boost Australia’s prosperity and provide cost-of-living relief to Australians. The levy is based on the taxation model used by Norway, and similar to one used by the UK.
Rod Sims is chair of the Superpower Institute and an enterprise professor at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne. From 2011 to 2022 he was chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
03/23/2026 - 17:15
03/23/2026 - 13:25
Trump administration announces deal with TotalEnergies to redirect investment in wind to oil and gas instead
As a fuel crisis triggered by the war in Iran drives up global fossil fuel prices, the Trump administration has announced it will pay French energy major TotalEnergies $1bn to kill plans to construct wind farms off the US east coast.
The deal is the latest blow to the US offshore wind industry, which has faced repeated disruptions to multi-billion-dollar projects under Donald Trump.
Continue reading...
03/23/2026 - 10:00
The EU’s reluctance to replace petrol cars and gas boilers keep it hooked on foreign fuels, say industry groups
Europe has made “staggering progress” in producing clean power but neglected efforts to phase out fuel-burning machines, the head of an industry group said as the global oil crisis deepens.
Adrian Hiel, director of the Electrification Alliance, said the EU has “radically transformed” its power supply and must now focus on getting “more electricity into the stuff we use every day”.
Continue reading...
03/23/2026 - 10:00
Woodcocks and pochard, pintail and goldeneye ducks among threatened species protected by proposals
Hunters will be banned from shooting a rare and beautiful duck under new proposals to halt the decline of six British wild birds.
The new rules would restrict the shooting of species including the distinctive woodcock, and the striking pintail, goldeneye and pochard ducks, all of which are classed as under threat and have seen their populations fall sharply in recent years.
Continue reading...
03/23/2026 - 09:03
People evacuated on Oahu and Maui as rains lifted houses and cars, swept through stores and left streets mud-clogged
Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox
Hawaii is assessing the extensive damage left by the worst flooding the islands have seen in more than 20 years.
Heavy rains and floodwater forced thousands on the North Shore of Oahu to evacuate over the weekend and triggered evacuation orders for parts of Maui. Floodwater from rains lifted houses and cars, inundated farms and swept through grocery stores on the islands, leaving behind a thick layer of mud.
Continue reading...
03/23/2026 - 09:00
Global heating consistent with current projections would cost average millennial $130,000 and $165,000 for gen Z, according to Deloitte modelling
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
The next generation of Australian workers will cop a $185,000 bill over their lifetimes if the country does not act more urgently to address the climate crisis, according to new modelling by a team of young economists at Deloitte.
The new report finds that global heating consistent with the current projections would cost the average millennial about $130,000 over the rest of their lives, increasing to $165,000 for gen Z.
Continue reading...
03/23/2026 - 07:00
Sixty years after the discovery of a colony of Juan Fernández fur seals, previously thought to be extinct, a landmark agreement extends ‘no take’ zone around the wildlife-rich archipelago
Six decades ago, pioneering oceanographer and conservationist Sylvia Earle made a bittersweet discovery while diving off Chile’s oceanic islands with the US National Science Foundation vessel, the Anton Bruun. She found the remains of a baby fur seal, one of the world’s most isolated aquatic mammals.
Endemic to the Juan Fernández archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean, and once prized for its fur and meat, the species, Arctocephalus philippii, was believed to have been hunted to extinction in the 19th century. But, Earle said: “A baby must have a mum and dad somewhere.”
Pioneering oceanographer and conservationist Sylvia Earle. Photograph: Andy Mann/Blue Marine Foundation
Continue reading...
03/23/2026 - 06:01
A survey has revealed the vast array of wildlife – some never seen before – living within the south-east Asian country’s karst ecosystems. The work was led by international wildlife conservation charity Fauna & Flora in collaboration with Cambodia’s environment ministry and field experts
I discovered three new geckos in Cambodia’s limestone caves – and that’s not all we found
Continue reading...
03/23/2026 - 06:00
Exclusive: Food systems of low-income nations projected to deteriorate seven times as fast as those of wealthy ones
The number of countries falling into critical food insecurity could almost triple to 24 if global temperatures increase by 2C, research has shown.
Analysis by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) shows the climate crisis will disproportionately affect food systems in poorer nations, widening the gap between the most and least vulnerable countries.
Continue reading...
03/23/2026 - 03:00
Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland is ferret-free after £4.5m five-year partnership led by RSPB NI
Predatory feral ferrets have been removed from an island for the first time ever, in a boost for Northern Ireland’s largest seabird colony.
Rathlin Island is ferret-free after a £4.5m five-year partnership led by RSPB NI involving islanders, charities, volunteers and a red labrador called Woody.
Continue reading...
