Our fossil-fuelled world

The litany of lies paves the way to the choke – the 25 per cent export tax. This is cast as rectifying bad deals done by previous politicians (who are also alleged to be corrupt) to give ‘us’ fair value for the resources we ‘own’.

If such a tax were implemented, it is our opinion that it would have a devasting impact on gas giants.

This might not directly affect Taroom, but it would hurt Queensland, and the pressures behind it, and the irrationality underlying it, along with the strong campaigning skills of hydrocarbon opponents will have an impact.

For the moment the federal government has ruled out any export tax, but then, they ruled out changes to negative gearing and capital gains.

Irrespective of any potential tax, it also moves the debate further in the abolitionist direction. When Queensland Senator Murray Watt reformed the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to fast-track approvals, it was for renewables, critical minerals and some infrastructure. Hydrocarbons were left in the slow lane, even though we’ve just discovered they are the most critical minerals of all.

If Australia is going to fix its security problems, then Queensland’s David is going to have to slay some federal and environmental Goliaths. In the worst security situation since the second world war let’s hope he succeeds.