FILE No. VI / ACTION
VOLUME I · APRIL MMXXVI
Take action — three asks · one letter · five minutes
Volume VI · Civic action
Length
~250 words
Asks
3 specific reforms
Sourcing
ATO · Treasury · Senate inquiry
Cost
Free
§ Action

The fastest way to change a tax law in Australia is to make your MP hear about it from a constituent.

If you've read this far, the figures aren't going to change unless something happens. The single most useful thing a resident can do is write a short, specific letter to their federal MP. Below is a template, three concrete asks tied to actually-published reform positions, and a share kit using only figures verified elsewhere on this site.

§ A The three asks

Three reforms, each tied to a published source.

None of the asks below are our invention. Each one is drawn from a Treasury review, a Senate inquiry submission, or a published proposal by a research institution. We have linked the source so you can read the original position before you sign on to it.

  1. ASK 01

    Reduce the PRRT exploration-expenditure uplift to the Long-Term Bond Rate.

    The current uplift on exploration expenditure is LTBR + 15 percentage points, compounded — typically 18–20% / year. The Callaghan PRRT Review (2017) recommended reducing it; the 2019 Treasury Gas Transfer Pricing Review made related recommendations. Both reports are public.

    Source of position: Callaghan PRRT Review (Treasury, 2017) — recommendation 1.

  2. ASK 02

    Apply PRRT to onshore coal-seam-gas LNG on the same basis as offshore projects.

    Queensland CSG-LNG (APLNG, GLNG, QCLNG) operates outside the PRRT regime entirely. Whether to bring it in has been the subject of a Senate Economics References Committee inquiry (Corporate Tax Avoidance, multiple reports) and submissions from the Australia Institute, IEEFA and the Tax Justice Network.

    Source of position: Senate Economics References Committee, inquiry into Corporate Tax Avoidance (ongoing).

  3. ASK 03

    Establish an Australian sovereign wealth fund modelled on Norway's GPFG.

    A statutory share of Commonwealth resource-rent and royalty receipts, deposited annually into a fund managed at arm's length from the budget. Variants of this proposal have been published by the Australia Institute, the Grattan Institute and the Centre for Future Work.

    Source of position: The Australia Institute · Grattan Institute · Centre for Future Work — published proposals.

§ B The letter

Edit it, sign it, send it.

The letter below auto-updates as you fill in the four fields. Every figure in the body is sourced to the ATO. When you're ready, hit Open in email.

Dear [Member's name],

I am a constituent in [your electorate]. I am writing about the way Australia taxes its gas exports.

Three figures, all from primary public sources:

  - The Commonwealth collected A$1.5 billion in Petroleum Resource Rent Tax in FY 2023-24 (ATO, PRRT statistics).
  - Inpex's Ichthys LNG declared A$43 billion in total income across FY 2017-18 to FY 2022-23, and paid A$0 in corporate income tax and A$0 in PRRT (ATO, Corporate Tax Transparency).
  - Santos's GLNG project paid A$0 in corporate income tax for ten consecutive years (same source).

I am asking you to support three specific reforms:

  1. Reduce the PRRT exploration-expenditure uplift rate to the Long-Term Bond Rate, in line with the recommendation of the 2017 Callaghan PRRT Review.

  2. Apply PRRT to onshore coal-seam-gas LNG projects on the same basis as offshore projects.

  3. Establish a sovereign wealth fund, on the Norwegian model, into which a statutory share of Commonwealth resource-rent and royalty receipts is deposited annually and managed at arm's length from the budget.

I would appreciate a written response setting out your position on each of these three asks.

Yours sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your suburb / postcode]
Open in email → Copy to clipboard → Find your MP at aph.gov.au ↗
§ C Share kit

Four findings that fit in a single post.

If you'd rather post than write a letter, here are four shareable findings — each one a figure already verified elsewhere on this site, written tight.

§ D What this won't do

Constituent letters, alone, do not change a tax law.

So that you know what you are signing up for.

  • One letter is a data point. Ten thousand letters across marginal seats is a political signal. The first is necessary. The second is what historically moves a fiscal-policy position. If you can forward this page to one other person who would also write, that is the marginal action that matters.
  • MPs reply with form letters. A non-substantive reply is normal and is not, by itself, evidence the issue isn't landing. Aggregate constituent volume on a topic is reported internally regardless of how individual replies read.
  • The reforms in § A are not consensus. They are positions held by specific institutions. Read the linked sources before signing your name to them. If you disagree with one of the three asks, edit the letter — it is yours, not ours.
  • This site does not lobby. We do not run a petition platform, a CRM, or a list. Nothing is collected from this page. The mailto link opens your own email client; the copy-to-clipboard button copies to your own clipboard. There is no server in the loop.