Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources
Select committee of the Australian Senate
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The Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources was a select committee of the Australian senate, tabled on 7 May 2026. It was established to investigate the tax treatment of Australian oil and gas, among other issues related to gas taxation.[1] The committee consisted of 6 members, and 5 participating members and 6 secretariats. [2]
Type
Founded30 March 2026
Deputy Chair
Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources | |
|---|---|
| 48th Parliament of Australia | |
| |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 30 March 2026 |
| Leadership | |
Deputy Chair | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 6 |
 | |
Political groups | Government (2)
Opposition (2)
Crossbench (2)
|
| Meeting place | |
| Parliament House Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia | |
| Website | |
| Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources | |
| Rules | |
| Standing Orders of the House of Representatives | |
Background
A movement advocating for a significant increase in taxes of Australia's liquefied natural gas to a 25% tax levy on export revenue had garnered significant support online before the establishment of the committee.[3] This followed The Australia Institute report that Australia raises more money from beer excise than it does from the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax.[4] Independent Senator David Pocock received almost 10 million views on Instagram in campaigning for the gas tax,[5] and the movement was supported by conservative billionaire Clive Palmer, the Greens, a progressive political party, among others.[6]
Members
| Member | Party | State | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steph Hodgins-May Chair | Greens | Victoria | |
| Varun Ghosh Deputy Chair | Labor | Western Australia | |
| Lisa Darmanin | Labor | Victoria | |
| Susan McDonald | Liberal National | Queensland | |
| David Pocock | Independent | Australian Capital Territory | |
| Dean Smith | Liberal | Western Australia | |
Participating members
Hearings
| Organisation | Person | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 21 April, 2026[7] | ||
| The Australia Institute | Richard Denniss | Executive Director |
| Punter's Politics | Konrad Benjamin | Founder |
| Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis | Joshua Runciman | Lead Australian Gas Analyst |
| Australian Council of Social Service | Kellie Caught | Program Director for Climate and Energy |
| Peter Davidson | Principal Advisor | |
| The Superpower Institute | Baethan Mullen | Chief Executive Officer |
| Centre for Policy Development | Toby Phillips | Economic Director |
| Miles Prosser | Energy Transition Lead | |
| Climate Council of Australia | Greg Bourne | Councillor |
| Australian Conservation Foundation | Adam Bandt | Chief Executive Officer |
| Annika Reynolds | Head of Climate Policy | |
| Greenpeace Australia Pacific | Joe Rafalowicz | Head of Climate and Energy |
| Labor Environment Action Network | Janaline Oh | National Secretary |
| Future Group | Christina Hobbs | Policy and Advocacy Manager |
| Private capacity | Ken Henry | N/a |
| Ketan Joshi | ||
| 22 April, 2026 | ||
| Queensland Resources Council | Janette Hewson | Chief Executive Officer |
| Jana Dore | Policy Director External Affairs and Policy Director Economics | |
| Shell Australia | Celia Wake | Country Chair and EVP Integrated Gas Australia |
| Coralie Trotter | Head of Tax Asia Pacific and Middle East | |
| Business Council of Australia | Bran Black | Chief Executive Officer |
| Steven Wright | Director of Energy and Climate Change | |
| ConocoPhillips | James Matthews | General Manager of Government Affairs |
| Natalie Wallach | Head of Tax & Governance | |
| Origin Energy | Tim O'Grady | General Manager of Government Engagement |
| Catherine Feng | Head of Tax | |
| Tax Justice Network – Australia | Mark Zirnsak | Spokesperson |
| Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research | Jason Ward | Principal Analyst |
| Treasury | Marty Robinson | First Assistant Secretary |
| Susan Bultitude | Assistant Secretary | |
| Freya Carlton | Assistant Secretary for Domestic Demand, International and Trade Branch | |
| Australian Taxation Office | Michelle Sams | Deputy Commissioner on Public Groups Engagement |
| Suzie Emery | Assistant Commissioner on Public Groups Engagement | |
| Rhys Manley | Assistant Commissioner on Policy, Analysis and Legislation | |
| Australian Competition and Consumer Commission | Anna Brakey | Commissioner |
| Angela Woo | General Manager for Gas Markets Branch | |
| Wallace Starl | Director for Gas Markets Branch | |
| Department of Industry, Science and Resources | Sam Chard | Head of Oil and Gas Division |
| Norelle Laucher | General Manager of Offshore Strategy Branch | |
| Crystal Ossolinski | General Manager, Resources and Energy Insights | |
| Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | Linda McGrath | Head of National Energy Transformation Division |
| Hew Atkin | Acting Head of Gas Markets Division | |
| Andrew Pankowski | Head of Gas Transformation Strategy Branch | |
| 24 April 2026 | ||
| Centre for Mining, Energy and Natural Resources Law, University of Western Australia | John Chandler | Professor |
| Climate Analytics | Bill Hare | Chief Executive Officer |
| James Bowen | Climate & Energy Policy Analyst | |
| Thomas Houlie | Climate & Energy Policy Analyst | |
| Woodside Energy | Graham Tiver | Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President |
| Tony Cudmore | Executive Vice President in Sustainability, Policy and External Affairs | |
| Chevron Australia | Maggie McCourt | General Manager of Finance |
| Kynan Scarr | General Manager of Asset Development | |
| Australian Energy Producers | Samantha McCulloch | Chief Executive Office |
| Matthew Steen | Principal Advisor - Economic Policy | |
| INPEX Australia | Bill Townsend | Senior Vice President Corporate |
| Mike Gardiner | Vice President Finance, Treasury and Technology | |
| Cameron McPhie | General Manager Decarbonisation | |
| Conservation Council of Western Australia | Matt Roberts | Executive Director |
| Liam Lilly | Research Coordinator | |
| Greta Carroll | Fossil Fuels Senior Campaigner | |
| Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia | Aaron Morey | Chief Executive Officer |
| Steven Mills | Manager of Climate and Energy | |
| Private Capacity | Bill Johnston | N/a |
| Asia Natural Gas and Energy Australia | David Wawn | Senior Advisor |
| Santos Limited | Tracey Winters | Chief Strategy Officer |