Climate’s right for reform era, Adam Bandt says

Adam Bandt says the Greens should not be taken for granted by the Albanese government, foreshadowing an era of reform.

Greens leader Adam Bandt. Picture: Getty Images

Greens leader Adam Bandt says the new parliament has “the ­potential to be one of the great reforming parliaments of all time” but his balance-of-power party should not be taken for granted by the Albanese government.

The exclusive comments to The Australian came as Mr Bandt, a strident climate change campaigner, prepared to call for a new tax on gas companies that would raise an estimated $59bn over the forward estimates.

He will announce at the Queensland Press Club on Friday that the Greens would overhaul the petroleum resource rent tax by closing a “loophole” so that gas companies could not earn billions in tax credits.

The money raised would be used to help households and businesses “weather the (cost-of-­living) crisis and get off gas”.

Climate 200-backed teal ­independents have also urged Labor to use a super-profits tax to fund household subsidies and make the national electricity market more efficient.

Pledging to work constructively in the 47th parliament, Mr Bandt told The Australian: “This has got the potential to be one of the great reforming parliaments of all time. It’s a very a progressive parliament and it has significantly shifted from the last one.

“There’s the potential to get a lot done. We want to see action on climate and inequality. Labor’s vote went down, the Coalition’s vote went down, the Greens vote went up. The Greens have got a mandate to push the next government to act on climate and inequality and we intend to use that.

“We’re not a rubber stamp and it would be a mistake to take us for granted.”

Without the support of the ­Coalition, Labor will have to win over the Greens and one other crossbencher in order to push legislation through the Senate.

Mr Bandt rejected the notion that teal independents could erode support for his party despite analysis of the election results showing the Greens’ vote went backwards in five of the six inner-city seats the teals won. The Greens vote declined by 6.21 per cent in Goldstein, 14.78 per cent in Kooyong, 5.39 per cent in Mackellar, 5.07 per cent in North Sydney and 4.93 per cent in Curtin but in Wentworth it increased by 0.80 per cent.

Nationally, the Greens primary vote increased by 1.85 per cent. The federal party now has 16 representatives, up from 10 in the last parliament, including three new senators and three new lower house members.

“What we’ve just seen at this election and we saw at the Tasmanian election as well is the votes for Greens and independents and our representation in parliament all went up together.

“That’s the way the public is shifting and that may well continue,” Mr Bandt said.

“The seats we were focused on running in were different to the seats the teals chose. I welcome the fact there are more MPs in parliament who have greater climate ambition than either Labor or Liberals. If it means we have a race to the top on climate, then that’s a good thing.”

Mr Bandt, who is pressuring Labor to stop opening any new coal and gas mines, will say on Friday that gas corporations “have figured out how to game it so they will never pay tax”.

“Gas corporations have built a pile of $282bn in tax credits between them,” he will say, according to excerpts of his speech.

“That means they have to work through $282bn of profits – the GDP of Finland – before they would have to pay any tax.”

Under the PRRT, gas companies can earn tax credits, which are designed to encourage multi-­billion-dollar investments in high-risk offshore projects.

CLAIRE LEHMANN P11