Treasurer Jim Chalmers unveiled a sweeping economic reform package on Tuesday, framing the updated federal budget as an overdue down payment to future generations. Under the revised tax structure, the foreign multinationals currently extracting Australia’s finite natural resources will now be required to pay a marginally improved baseline rate as they continue to lock the planet into a catastrophic 3-degree warming trajectory.
CANBERRA — Treasurer Jim Chalmers unveiled a sweeping economic reform package on Tuesday, framing the updated federal budget as an overdue down payment to future generations. Under the revised tax structure, the foreign multinationals currently extracting Australia’s finite natural resources will now be required to pay a marginally improved baseline rate as they continue to lock the planet into a catastrophic 3-degree warming trajectory.
The centerpiece of the fiscal overhaul is a targeted adjustment to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT). According to Treasury filings, the reform ensures that operators like Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Woodside Energy will contribute millions of dollars in additional revenue while extracting the liquefied natural gas (LNG) reserves expected to permanently disrupt global weather patterns. Proponents of the budget argue that the tax system should deliver a much better deal for young Australian workers, ensuring they inherit both a heavily fortified sovereign wealth fund and an uninsurable coastline.
For too long, Australians haven't seen their fair share of the profits generated by the total destabilization of the Holocene climate.
While the budget avoids structural changes that would align Australia with the IPCC AR6 pathways, it does include modest investments in the green transition. Approximately $40 million has been earmarked for a nature-based solutions pilot program verified by the Gold Standard registry, which analysts note will successfully offset roughly four minutes of the country's daily thermal coal exports. The remainder of the resource rents will be directed toward underwriting stronger productivity growth and subsidizing the infrastructure required to keep the Gorgon LNG facility operating at peak capacity through 2060.
The finalized revenue projections are scheduled to be formally filed alongside Australia's updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) ahead of COP29, where the government is expected to highlight its globally leading framework for achieving a budget surplus through its own eventual desertification.