On Tuesday 24 March 2026 I asked the Treasurer when he would make big gas corporations pay their fair share.
You can read my full speech below or in the official Parliamentary record of proceedings (Hansard) here.
Mr BERKMAN: My question is to the Treasurer. Last year’s budget sees Queenslanders paying more in vehicle rego than big gas corporations pay in royalties—they are paying just eight per cent— and they are set to make billions in war profits thanks to the US-Israeli war, supported by Labor, the LNP and One Nation. When will the Treasurer raise royalties and finally make gas corporations pay their fair share?
Mr JANETZKI: Our first budget last year was proudly a ‘no new or increased taxes’ budget. We did that because we wanted to send some clear messages about investment and regulatory and taxation stability across Queensland. After a decade of those opposite breaking tax promises, lifting taxes, introducing new ones, promising that they would not increase taxes but then they would, being out of touch with the everyday concerns of everyday Queenslanders, we wanted to a send a clear message to the investment community and, in fact, to the broader Queensland community, that we were a government that was serious about fiscal discipline. Part of that meant that we brought down a ‘no new or increased taxes’ budget. We made it very clear that we wanted to drive investment, stability and certainty throughout the Queensland economy and that was the best way we could do it in our first budget so that is what we delivered.
I note the honourable member’s question, which is an important question in terms of how Queensland is placed in the national framework. Recently people will have heard me speak about gas royalties. Given that Queensland will make up 90 per cent of the national east coast gas market by 2027, Queensland’s role in the gas market across the nation is increasingly important. Anybody who has heard me speak recently about Queensland’s position in the broader national context of the gas industry will know that I have argued pretty hard for a fair deal in the GST distribution. What has happened across the nation is that other jurisdictions such as New South Wales and Victoria, which make policy decisions not to explore and develop gas, are ultimately receiving Queensland’s GST distribution. That is not fair.
Mr BERKMAN: Mr Speaker, I rise to a point of order on relevance. The GST and the national market are both interesting, but the specific question was: when will the Treasurer raise royalties and finally make gas corporations pay a fair share?
Mr SPEAKER: A section of the question was about raising royalties. Treasurer, you have 30 seconds.
Mr JANETZKI: I have answered the question by saying that it was a ‘no new or increased taxes’ budget. That answers the question. I will finish my point by saying that it is not fair that Queensland is
penalised for developing an industry that leads to not just state wealth but also national wealth. It is well beyond time that the federal government recognises that and Queensland finally is given its fair share of the GST pie because the GST pie is growing larger but Queensland’s share of it is growing smaller