The fiscal tools they didn’t use
The UK introduced a windfall tax on oil and gas companies the same month the RBA began raising rates. The EU deployed a solidarity contribution levy on fossil fuel sector profits. France capped household energy prices. Australia halved f…
On 3 May 2022 the Reserve Bank of Australia announced the first rise of its 2022-23 cycle, effective 4 May. On 26 May 2022, 23 days later, the United Kingdom government introduced the Energy Profits Levy.
Correction, 29 September 2026. ‘Three days later’ was wrong on this article’s own dates: 26 May 2022 is 23 days after 3 May 2022. The Reserve Bank announced its first rise on 3 May 2022 and it took effect on 4 May; the 23 days run from the announcement 16.
These two events happened within a month of each other, as the Ukraine war drove up energy prices. Both countries faced rising inflation as energy prices climbed, and both needed a policy response. Australia used monetary policy and, on the supply side, a six-month fuel excise cut and, from December 2022, a cap on new east coast gas contracts, with NSW and Queensland effectively capping coal for power generation, but introduced no windfall tax. The UK deployed both monetary and fiscal instruments.
Update, 29 September 2026. This comparison covers 2022 and 2023. Since then the Reserve Bank has raised the cash rate four times in 2026, the latest on 29 September to 4.60% from 30 September, the highest since late 2011 16. See ‘Four rises in 2026’ in this series.
What follows is a comparison of what was available and what was used.
01What the UK did
The UK’s Energy Profits Levy was a surcharge on oil and gas company profits: 25 per cent from May 2022, raised to 35 per cent from January 2023 and later extended. It raised approximately GBP 10 billion.
The UK also kept a bank surcharge, a levy on bank profits above an allowance on top of corporation tax, through the rate cycle, so part of any rise in UK bank profits was taxed.
Correction, 29 September 2026. This paragraph said the surcharge was an additional 3 percentage point levy on bank profits throughout the rate cycle. That was wrong: the surcharge was 8 per cent on bank profits above an allowance and fell to 3 per cent only from 1 April 2023, when the main corporation tax rate rose from 19 to 25 per cent 1. The paragraph also said UK banks enjoyed the same margin expansion that Article 5 documents for Australian banks; Article 5 is about Australian banks only, and that line has been removed. The chart has been amended.
The UK also raised interest rates. It did not replace monetary policy with fiscal tools. It deployed fiscal tools alongside monetary policy to share the stabilisation burden.
02What the EU did
The European Union’s Regulation 2022/1854 introduced a solidarity contribution on fossil fuel sector companies. The levy applied to profits more than 20 per cent above the average of the preceding four years. Revenue was directed to member states for household energy bill relief.
Update, 29 September 2026. The EU solidarity contribution raised far less than expected: about EUR 6.85 billion for 2022, under 30 per cent of the EUR 25 billion anticipated from it. It was paired with a revenue cap on generators, the two together expected to raise about EUR 140 billion to fund bill relief (Tax Foundation) 17. Since 2023, 12 of the 27 EU countries have introduced new bank taxes; an IMF staff paper says EU bank profits since 2022 were ‘mostly driven by the delayed pass-through’ of rate rises to deposit rates and were likely transitory, and its review of the evidence warns bank taxes tend to be passed on to customers, an effect that ‘may be especially pronounced in concentrated markets’; this is EU evidence, not a finding about Australia 18.
France went further, implementing a tariff shield that capped household gas and electricity prices from late 2021 through 2023. The caps prevented the full Ukraine war energy price spike from reaching French households. The cost to the French government was approximately EUR 45 billion.
Correction, 29 September 2026. The paragraph on France above said France ‘raised interest rates less aggressively’; THE RORT has no source for that and has removed it. It has also removed two sentences saying that France’s household inflation rate was lower than in unprotected markets and that France thus protected households, for the same reason.
Update, 29 September 2026. A separate figure for comparison: for 2023 alone, France budgeted a net EUR 16 billion to cap household and small-business power and gas price rises at 15 per cent, partly funded by producers reimbursing windfall revenues (Bloomberg, 14 September 2022) 19. That is one year of one measure, on a net basis; the EUR 45 billion in the France paragraph above is the article’s original figure, and THE RORT has not re-checked what period or basis it covers.
Spain capped energy prices. Germany subsidised household energy bills. The Netherlands introduced a windfall tax on the energy sector. Italy introduced a solidarity contribution on energy companies.
03What Australia did
Australia’s primary supply-side fiscal intervention in the 2022–23 inflation episode was a six-month halving of fuel excise. This reduced petrol prices by approximately 22 cents per litre from 30 March to 28 September 2022. It cost approximately A$3 billion in foregone revenue. When the cut ended on 28 September 2022, prices rose.
That is the main entry on the list.
Correction, 29 September 2026. The list was incomplete, and this article’s subtitle (‘No price caps’), its image and its key fact describing the fuel excise cut as Australia’s ‘sole’ supply-side intervention were wrong. From late December 2022 the government capped new east coast wholesale gas contracts at $12 a gigajoule; under the same December 2022 plan, New South Wales and Queensland, with Commonwealth funding, effectively capped the price of coal for electricity generation at $125 a tonne 20. Treasury forecast the caps would reduce inflation by about half a percentage point in 2023-24; that was a forecast, and THE RORT has found no after-the-fact evaluation 20. The emergency cap expired in December 2023; the mandatory Gas Market Code, in force since 11 July 2023, keeps a $12 ‘reasonable price’ until new arrangements are in place 21, 22. The Gas Market Review (December 2025) reports stakeholders’ view that the mechanism ‘has not been sufficient to put downward pressure on prices in the context of tight supply conditions’ 22. The subtitle, the introduction, image, caption, key fact, pullquote and the line on price caps below have been amended.
Correction, 29 September 2026. The fact box above said fossil fuel subsidies of A$14.9 billion were ‘maintained’ through the inflation episode, and that there was ‘No bank levy’. Both were wrong and have been amended, as have the paragraphs below. A$14.9 billion is the Australia Institute’s figure for 2024-25; its own series puts subsidies at A$11.1 billion in 2022-23, A$14.5 billion in 2023-24, A$14.9 billion in 2024-25 and A$16.3 billion in 2025-26, on its own classification 23. And since 1 July 2017 a Major Bank Levy has applied to certain liabilities of banks with more than $100 billion in liabilities, at 0.06 per cent a year when the Parliamentary Budget Office costed an increase in May 2024; five banks were captured (CBA, Westpac, ANZ, NAB and Macquarie), and ANZ alone booked $230 million for the March 2026 half. It is a levy on liabilities, not on profits; THE RORT has found no levy on bank profits 24. The PBO assumed 75 per cent of any increase in the levy would be passed on to customers through fees, mortgage rates or lower savings rates 24.
Windfall tax on oil and gas companies: not introduced. These companies were selling LNG and coal into international markets after the Ukraine price spike 35.
Windfall levy on bank profits: not introduced. APRA reports bank (ADI) profit after tax of $42.5 billion in the year to June 2026, up 7.5 per cent; the Major Bank Levy applies to liabilities, not profits 24, 39.
Correction, 29 September 2026. This paragraph gave the big four banks’ combined FY23 profit as A$32.5 billion, ‘as documented in Article 5’. Article 5 has withdrawn that figure because THE RORT has no primary source for it. It has been replaced here, in the key facts and in the chart.
Price caps on groceries: not introduced in 2022-23. In March 2025 the ACCC found Coles, Woolworths and ALDI among the world’s most profitable supermarkets, with average product margins up over five years, but did not allege price gouging 5; the excessive-pricing ban came from 1 July 2026 (see the update below).
Fossil fuel subsidies: A$11.1 billion in 2022-23, rising to A$16.3 billion by 2025-26, on the Australia Institute’s figures. The Institute puts the federal Fuel Tax Credit Scheme alone at A$10.8 billion.
The combination: Australian governments were at the same time subsidising fossil fuel producers and major users, A$11.1 billion in 2022-23 on the Australia Institute’s count and classification 23, and the federal government imposed no windfall tax on what those companies earned from the same price spikes.
Correction, 29 September 2026. The two paragraphs above said subsidies were ‘maintained at A$14.9 billion’ through the inflation episode, including ‘A$9.5 billion in fuel tax credits’. A$14.9 billion is the Australia Institute’s figure for 2024-25, not the level through 2022-23: its series runs A$11.1 billion (2022-23), A$14.5 billion (2023-24), A$14.9 billion (2024-25) and A$16.3 billion (2025-26), on its own classification, and whether fuel tax credits count as a subsidy is contested 23. THE RORT could not trace the A$9.5 billion fuel tax credit figure to its source; the Australia Institute (March 2026) puts the federal Fuel Tax Credit Scheme at A$10.8 billion 23. Both paragraphs, the subtitle and the key fact have been amended.
Update, 29 September 2026. The government points to underlying cash surpluses of $22.1 billion in 2022-23 and $15.8 billion in 2023-24, the second ‘entirely due to lower payments, not higher taxes’ (the Treasurer’s claim); the budget has been in deficit since 2024-25 37.
Update, 29 September 2026. In the 2026 round the government again cut fuel excise, citing the war: from 1 April the Commonwealth rate fell by 26.3 cents a litre and, with 5.7 cents funded by the states from extra GST revenue, by 32 cents in total (plus GST), more than half; it became a 16-cent discount from 1 July and ended at midnight on 2 August 25, 26. The Budget costed the enlarged package at $2.9 billion 25. The Treasurer expected it to lower headline inflation by half a point through the year to June 2026; economists warned it could add to inflation through demand 27. The ABS attributes part of July’s 7.5 per cent monthly fuel rise to its partial unwinding, and the Reserve Bank expected the roll-off to lift September-quarter headline inflation 28, 29. From 1 July 2026 excessive grocery pricing by Coles and Woolworths is prohibited 30. The government’s own Budget now says fiscal policy is ‘better suited than monetary policy to respond to supply shocks, such as the global oil shock’ 31; the IMF says fiscal policy ‘should avoid broad-based subsidies, tax cuts, and price controls’ 32. The ABC reported in March that a Prime Minister’s department document asked Treasury to model ‘new levy options’ on windfall gas and thermal coal profits, and in May that the Prime Minister had ‘killed off the move, concerned it could upset the trading partners Australia is relying on for fuel’ (the reporter’s characterisation, not a government quote) 33, 34. The ABC also reported that the May Budget ‘refused calls for a broader 25 per cent tax on gas exports’; Treasurer Chalmers said ‘there are good reasons to prioritise fuel supply and gas reservation’ 34. Treasury officials told the 2026 Senate gas committee, as quoted in the Greens’ additional comments to its report, that after the Ukraine price spike oil and gas producers ran down accumulated tax losses, ‘and that’s what’s led to that increase in tax paid’ 35. Prime Minister Albanese said on 29 April: ‘The middle of a global fuel crisis is the worst possible time to jeopardise these partnerships, or the investment that underpins them’ (ABC live blog) 36.
04Why the comparison matters
THE RORT’s argument, not a finding we can source: fiscal tools aimed at a supply shock can share the load with rates. The government’s own Budget says fiscal policy is ‘better suited than monetary policy to respond to supply shocks’ 31; the IMF says fiscal policy ‘should avoid broad-based subsidies, tax cuts, and price controls’ 32.
Correction, 29 September 2026. This paragraph said the Grattan Institute and other analysts had documented that combining targeted fiscal intervention with monetary policy is more efficient at reducing inflation than monetary policy alone. THE RORT could not source that finding and has replaced it with a statement of its own argument, set beside the Budget and IMF passages above.
THE RORT’s estimate, not modelled: a levy on the UK’s scale might have raised several billion dollars, though the EU’s contribution raised under 30 per cent of what was expected 17. Any such revenue could have funded: targeted energy bill relief for low-income households; a larger and longer fuel excise cut; targeted grocery vouchers for food relief.
The UK raised rates AND introduced a windfall tax on energy companies (GBP 10 billion+) AND maintained a bank surcharge. The EU deployed a solidarity contribution levy AND member states capped energy prices. Australia raised rates 13 times in 2022-23 AND halved fuel excise for six months AND then gave it back AND, from late December 2022, capped new east coast gas contracts, while NSW and Queensland effectively capped coal for power generation. No windfall tax was introduced.
THE RORT’s argument, not a modelled estimate: some of these tools lower measured prices while they run, but the record is mixed. The gas cap’s half-point effect was a Treasury forecast, and no after-the-fact evaluation was found 20; economists warned the 2026 excise cut could add to demand 27; the ABS put part of July’s 7.5 per cent monthly fuel rise down to its partial unwinding, and the Reserve Bank expected the roll-off to lift September-quarter headline inflation 28, 29.
Correction, 29 September 2026. This paragraph gave an illustration (a borrower paying A$900 a month for eighteen months instead of A$1,210 a month for two years) and a sentence on superannuation. They were not a modelled estimate and THE RORT has found no source for them, so the illustration and the sentence have been removed. The opening claim that each of these interventions ‘would have directly reduced the consumer price level’ has also been replaced by the mixed record above.
The government’s stated reasons for not introducing a windfall tax are set out above; Article 7 reports donations to both major parties as facts, which do not show why any party acted.
Correction, 29 September 2026. This article said the reason these tools were not deployed ‘is documented in Article 7’. Article 7 reports donations, which are facts beside each party’s stated reasons, not evidence of why any party acted; the government’s stated reasons are given in the update above.
If it’s a rort, we cover it.
- Review: one year after the 29 September 2026 updateA yearly review of this article's dated notes.
Read the desk note
REVIEW 29 September 2027 (case: THE INFLATION RORT). Re-read this article against the record a year after the round-2 update: every dated note, every figure marked as a forecast or projection, and every claim this article still marks as not re-checked. NEXT DATE: none set.
- Record: article 6 updated, 29 September 2026Fifteen dated notes: ten corrections, five updates; several figures not re-checked.
Read the desk note
UPDATED 29 September 2026 (case: THE INFLATION RORT, article 6 of 19 published).
ARTICLE CHANGES. Corrections: the RBA rise and the UK levy were 23 days apart, not three; the article omitted the 2022 gas and coal price caps, so its "No price caps", its image and its "sole" intervention were wrong; the fact box on subsidies and the bank levy (A$14.9 billion was the 2024-25 figure, and a Major Bank Levy on liabilities has applied since 2017); the subsidy and fuel tax credit paragraphs; the A$900 and A$1,210 illustration was not a modelled figure and was removed, with the superannuation sentence; the sentence that the reason these tools were not deployed "is documented in Article 7" was replaced, because Article 7 reports donations as facts that do not show why any party acted; an unsourced Grattan Institute attribution was replaced by a statement of THE RORT’s own argument; the sentence that France "raised interest rates less aggressively" was removed for want of a source; the UK bank surcharge, which the article gave as an additional 3 percentage point levy on bank profits throughout the rate cycle (it was 8 per cent, and fell to 3 per cent only from 1 April 2023), together with the line that UK banks enjoyed the same margin expansion Article 5 documents for Australian banks (Article 5 covers Australian banks only); and the big four banks’ combined FY23 profit of A$32.5 billion, "as documented in Article 5", which Article 5 has withdrawn for want of a primary source, and which was replaced in the paragraph, the key facts, the chart and its description by APRA’s $42.5 billion bank (ADI) profit after tax for the year to June 2026. Updates: the cash rate rose four times in 2026, to 4.60% from 30 September 2026; the EU solidarity contribution raised under 30 per cent of what was expected, and 12 EU countries have introduced bank taxes; the 2026 fuel excise cut, the Budget's line on fiscal policy and the windfall levy study the ABC reported was dropped; France's 2023 price cap figure; the government’s surplus figures, added as the other side of the charge. Wording on a windfall tax, the gas and coal caps, the cause of inflation in both countries, the UK Energy Profits Levy (the article’s mention of a threshold was removed), the estimate of what a UK-scale levy might have raised and the count of Australian windfall taxes was tightened; a forecast in the excise paragraph was restored to a forecast; and the chart was corrected to match, with Spain's bank levy from 2023 added. Unsourced sentences were also removed: that France's household inflation rate was lower than in unprotected markets, that France thus protected households, and that Australian households faced higher domestic energy bills.
STILL OPEN. These lines carry no re-checked source: the EUR 45 billion for France's tariff shield and its dates; the UK Energy Profits Levy rates and its GBP 10 billion; the 2022 fuel excise cut's A$3 billion cost, 22 cents a litre and dates; the Spain, Germany, Netherlands and Italy list. Reference notes 7, 8, 13 and 14 are marked as not re-checked.
NEXT DATE: none dated for this article.
- UK: Energy Profits Levy documentation. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-living-support/energy-profits-levy-factsheet-26-may-2022. UK Energy Profits Levy introduced May 2022. Initial rate: 25% surcharge. Extended to 35%. Estimated revenue: GBP 10+ billion. UK bank surcharge: HM Treasury and HMRC, Tax information and impact note, 'Amendments to the surcharge on banking companies', 27 October 2021. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/amendments-to-the-surcharge-on-banking-companies/amendments-to-the-surcharge-on-banking-companies. 'The bank Corporation Tax Surcharge (Surcharge) is a charge of 8% on the profits of banks, payable in addition to CT'; the measure sets it 'at 3% from 1 April 2023', with the group allowance rising from £25 million to £100 million, after the CT rate rose from 19% to 25% from April 2023. Source read directly by THE RORT on 29 September 2026; it is not in the desk pack. The Energy Profits Levy rates in the article (25% from May 2022, 35% from January 2023) were not re-checked this round; the article states no threshold.
- EU: Solidarity Contribution Regulation 2022/1854. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/. Temporary solidarity contribution on fossil fuel sector. Applied to profits more than 20% above the average of preceding four years. Revenue recycled to household energy bills.
- Australia: fuel excise halving March–September 2022. https://www.accc.gov.au/by-industry/petrol-and-fuel/fuel-and-petrol-monitoring. Morrison government halved fuel excise for six months. Cost: ~A$3 billion. When excise restored, prices rose.
- Australia Institute: fossil fuel subsidies A$14.9 billion. https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/fossil-fuel-subsidies-in-australia-2025/. Fossil fuel subsidies 2024–25: A$14.9 billion (series: A$11.1bn 2022-23, A$14.5bn 2023-24, A$16.3bn 2025-26). Fuel Tax Credit Scheme A$10.8bn (March 2026). Corrected 29 September 2026.
- ACCC: supermarkets inquiry: 20 recommendations, no structural remedy. https://nationalseniors.com.au/news/latest-news/surprises-in-supermarket-pricing-report. No price controls. No divestiture powers. A$2.9 million for supplier education.
- See [37]. (Corrected 29 September 2026: an earlier note said targeted supply-side intervention was available but not deployed; see the correction under What Australia did.)no link supplied
- Australia Institute: windfall tax argument for commodity exporters. https://australiainstitute.org.au/. A windfall tax on excess profits would have raised revenue without further suppressing household demand. Not re-checked (29 September 2026).
- Senate Economics Committee: bank windfall levy argument rejected. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics. Green and crossbench senators proposed a temporary windfall levy. Labor government senators did not support this. Not re-checked (29 September 2026); the desk pack found no 2026 Senate division on a bank windfall levy.
- THE RORT’s argument, not a sourced finding: fiscal tools aimed at a supply shock can share the load with rates. The sources for the Budget and IMF passages are [31] and [32]. An earlier version of this reference cited the Grattan Institute homepage; no Grattan finding is relied on (corrected 29 September 2026).no link supplied
- ACCC legal action against Coles and Woolworths. https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/accc-suing-supermarkets-as-price-gouging-drives-inflation-rate-hikes/. Addressed deceptive pricing practices rather than the structural oligopoly conditions.
- US: Inflation Reduction Act and pharmaceutical price negotiation. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376. Allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Demonstrated fiscal policy can directly target supply-side inflation drivers.
- France: temporary energy price caps. https://www.economie.gouv.fr/. France implemented tariff shield energy price caps. Cost: approximately EUR 45 billion. Prevented the full Ukraine war energy price spike from reaching households.
- Australia Institute: what other OECD countries did with windfall taxes. https://australiainstitute.org.au/. Multiple OECD countries introduced windfall taxes: UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands. Australia: no windfall tax despite being a major LNG and coal exporter. Not re-checked (29 September 2026).
- RBA: what fiscal policy could have done. https://www.rba.gov.au/. Governor Lowe repeatedly noted fiscal policy should contribute to demand management and inflation reduction. Not re-checked (29 September 2026).
- Australia Institute, post on the ACCC’s case against the supermarkets (same page as [10]). https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/accc-suing-supermarkets-as-price-gouging-drives-inflation-rate-hikes/. An earlier version of this note said each supply-side fiscal intervention reduces inflation directly, reducing the RBA’s required response; that claim was withdrawn on 29 September 2026 (see the correction under Why the comparison matters).
- RBA: Cash Rate Target table. https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/cash-rate/. The 2022-23 cycle took the cash rate from 0.10% to 4.35% through 13 rises; the first took effect on 4 May 2022 (to 0.35%) and the last on 8 November 2023. Decisions are announced at 2.30 pm the day before the effective date (the RBA’s practice), so the first rise was announced on 3 May 2022. Table entries: 4 May 2022 +0.25 to 0.35; 8 Nov 2023 +0.25 to 4.35. In 2026 the rate rose effective 4 Feb, 18 Mar and 6 May (to 4.35%) and again effective 30 September 2026 to 4.60%, four rises totalling 100 basis points from 3.60%; 4.60% is the highest since late 2011 (4.75% until a cut effective 2 November 2011). The 2026 rise was announced on 29 September 2026.
- Tax Foundation Europe: EU windfall profits taxes on oil and gas, 10 September 2024. https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/eu/eu-windfall-profits-taxes-oil-gas/. ‘The EU anticipated that the two policies would jointly raise about €140 billion, of which €25 billion would be revenues from oil and gas companies collected through the solidarity contribution.’ ‘For the fiscal year 2022, the EU solidarity contribution collected roughly €6.85 billion, less than 30 percent of the expected revenue.’
- IMF Working Paper WP/24/143, Maneely and Ratnovski, 9 July 2024 (staff paper, not an IMF Board view). https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2024/143/article-A001-en.xml. ‘Since 2022, EU banks have been enjoying historically high profits. The profits are mostly driven by the delayed pass-through of the rapid monetary policy tightening to deposit rates and as such are likely transitory. Against this background, almost half of EU countries have introduced new taxes on banks.’ The staff literature review warns ‘the cost of bank taxes may be particularly likely to fall on households’ and that these effects ‘may be especially pronounced in concentrated markets, where banks have more ability to pass on higher costs to customers’. EU evidence, not a finding about Australia.
- Bloomberg via Yahoo, 14 September 2022. https://news.yahoo.com/france-caps-electricity-gas-price-161316605.html. ‘France will budget 16 billion euros ($16 billion) to limit power and gas price increases to 15% for households and small companies next year.’ Also Tax Foundation pages of 4 October 2022 and 20 June 2023. The figure is one year (2023) of one measure.
- Acting Treasurer Gallagher and Minister Bowen, 'Gas price cap to take effect', 22 December 2022. https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/jim-chalmers-2022/media-releases/gas-price-cap-take-effect; and Prime Minister, 'Energy price relief plan', 9 December 2022. https://www.pm.gov.au/media/energy-price-relief-plan. 'The price cap of $12 a gigajoule (GJ) will apply to new domestic wholesale gas contracts by east coast producers for gas to be supplied over the next 12 months from developed fields.' Coal: 'effectively setting ceilings for the price of coal used for electricity generation to $125 a tonne, with the Commonwealth to contribute to costs.' The release says the cap takes effect 'from tomorrow' (23 December 2022); sources differ by a day on the start date, so this article says late December 2022. Treasury forecast (not a measured result): 'Reduce inflation by around an estimated ½ percentage point in 2023-24. Without these policy interventions, the average family would be paying $230 more on their electricity bill next year.' No after-the-fact evaluation was found.
- DCCEEW: Gas Market Code, updated 22 December 2025. https://www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/markets/gas-markets/gas-market-code. The emergency gas cap expired on 22 December 2023 and was replaced by the Gas Market Code's $12/GJ 'reasonable price'. The Gas Market Review recommends phasing out the reasonable price setting; it has not been phased out.
- DCCEEW and DISR: Gas Market Review Report, December 2025. https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/gas-market-review-report.pdf. The Code 'commenced on 11 July 2023' with a 'reasonable price' and sunsets on 1 October 2033.
- Australia Institute: fossil fuel subsidy series, each year's own edition. https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/fossil-fuel-subsidies-hit-14-5-billion-in-2023-24-up-31/ (13 May 2024); https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/fossil-fuel-subsidies-in-australia-2025/ (21 March 2025); https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/australian-fossil-fuel-subsidies-growing-faster-than-ndis-hitting-16-3-billion-in-2025-26/ (12 March 2026). A$11.1bn (2022-23), A$14.5bn (2023-24, up 31%), A$14.9bn (2024-25, up 3%), A$16.3bn (2025-26, up 9.4%). The classification is the Australia Institute's own method; whether the fuel tax credit counts as a subsidy is contested.
- Parliamentary Budget Office: Increase to the rate of the Major Bank Levy by 10 per cent, 14 May 2024. https://www.pbo.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/Increase%20to%20the%20rate%20of%20the%20Major%20Bank%20Levy%20by%2010%20percent.pdf; and Explanatory Memorandum 2017. https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/sites/ministers.treasury.gov.au/files/2019-05/Final-EM-Major-Bank-Levy.pdf. 'The proposal would increase the Major Bank Levy from the current level (0.06% per annum, 0.015 per quarter)'; 'There are currently 5 banks captured by the levy'. ANZ 1H26 Results Announcement p. 17: 'Includes the major bank levy of -$230 million for the March 2026 half'. The PBO assumed 75% of any increase would be passed on to customers through fees, mortgage rates or lower savings rates. The costing of a 10% increase was not legislated. The Act's current rate was not re-read; 'still 0.06%' rests on no change being found.
- Prime Minister, fuel excise halved for three months, 30 March 2026. https://www.pm.gov.au/media/fuel-excise-halved-three-months; and ABC News, 2 August 2026. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-02/fuel-excise-cut-to-end-in-august-2/106965630. Fuel excise halved from 1 April 2026, cut to a 16-cent discount from 1 July, and ended at midnight on 2 August 2026. Budget Paper No. 1, Statement 1, 12 May 2026, https://budget.gov.au/content/bp1/download/bp1_bs-1.docx: 'The Government has delivered a $2.9 billion package to more than halve the fuel excise and excise-equivalent customs duties (excise) and reduce the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero for a temporary three-month period.'
- ABC News, 'Further fuel excise cut from GST revenue', 2 April 2026. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-02/further-fuel-excise-cut-from-gst-revenue/106525678. The states funded a further 5.7 cents from extra GST revenue, 32 cents in total, taking the rate to 20.6 cents, so the excise was cut by more than half.
- ABC News, ‘Fuel excise halved for three months’, 30 March 2026. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-30/fuel-excise-halved-three-months-petrol-diesel/106510432. ‘Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he anticipates headline inflation will reduce by half a percentage point through the year to the June quarter of 2026.’ This is the Treasurer’s claim; THE RORT has not checked it against any ABS decomposition. Economists warned the cut could add to inflation through demand.
- ABS: media release, ‘CPI rose 3.5% in the year to July 2026’, 26 August 2026. https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/cpi-rose-35-year-july-2026. ‘This was driven by higher world oil prices and the partial unwinding of the federal government’s fuel excise relief measures in July’ (Rachael McCririck). Automotive fuel rose 7.5% in the month of July 2026.
- RBA: Statement on Monetary Policy, August 2026, outlook. https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/2026/aug/outlook.html. ‘The roll-off of the fuel excise reduction in July and August is expected to boost retail fuel prices and quarterly headline inflation in the September quarter.’
- Andrew Leigh, media release on price gouging by large supermarkets, 27 June 2026. https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/andrew-leigh-2025/media-releases/price-gouging-large-supermarkets-illegal-1-july-2026; and ACCC: supermarkets excessive pricing prohibition. https://www.accc.gov.au/business/industry-codes/food-and-grocery-code-of-conduct/supermarkets-excessive-pricing-prohibition. ‘From 1 July 2026, it will be illegal for very large retailers such as Coles and Woolworths to charge prices that are excessive, when compared to the cost of supply plus a reasonable margin.’ The ACCC test is ‘significantly excessive’. No enforcement outcome has been checked.
- Budget Paper No. 1, Statement 3, 12 May 2026. https://budget.gov.au/content/bp1/download/bp1_bs-3.docx. 'Fiscal policy has a range of instruments that can be calibrated for a specific policy response. This makes fiscal policy better suited than monetary policy to respond to supply shocks, such as the global oil shock.'
- IMF: World Economic Outlook Update, 'Global Economy in Crosscurrents of War and Technology', July 2026. https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/weo/2026/update/july/english/text.pdf. Fiscal policy 'should avoid broad-based subsidies, tax cuts, and price controls'; keeping real rates steady through a temporary shock 'may imply raising nominal policy rates'.
- ABC News (Isobel Roe), ‘Government explores new tax for gas, coal to buffer fuel costs’, 20 March 2026. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-20/government-explores-new-tax-for-gas-coal-to-buffer-fuel-costs/106475100. A Prime Minister’s department document asked Treasury to model ‘new levy options’ on windfall gas and thermal coal profits: ‘Energy producers should not benefit from high international prices at the expense of domestic customers’.
- ABC News (Jane Norman), 10 May 2026. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-10/gas-tax-revenue-up-in-federal-budget/106663036. Reports the Prime Minister ‘killed off the move, concerned it could upset the trading partners Australia is relying on for fuel’ (the reporter’s characterisation, not a government quote), and that the May Budget ‘refused calls for a broader 25 per cent tax on gas exports’. Treasurer Chalmers: ‘I know that people would like us to go further but there are good reasons to prioritise fuel supply and gas reservation.’
- Senate Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources, report tabled 7 May 2026, Australian Greens additional comments (para 1.183). https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Taxation_of_Gas_Resources/TaxationofGasResources/Report/Australian_Greens_Additional_Comments. Treasury officials, quoted in the Greens' comments from the committee hearings: 'a run-down of a lot of the accumulated losses in the corporate tax system by oil and gas producers, and that's what's led to that increase in tax paid'; further pass-through 'would also directly translate through to higher corporate tax paid.' A quotation of hearing evidence inside a party's additional comments, not the committee's own finding.
- ABC News, federal politics live blog, 29 April 2026. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-29/federal-politics-blog-housing-energy-fastrack/106616572. Prime Minister Albanese: ‘The middle of a global fuel crisis is the worst possible time to jeopardise these partnerships, or the investment that underpins them. This is why I can confirm that the budget will not undermine existing contracts on gas exports.’ A later ABC piece renders ‘partnerships’ as ‘relationships’; this article uses the 29 April wording.
- Treasurer, media release, 30 September 2024. https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/jim-chalmers-2022/media-releases/labor-delivers-biggest-ever-back-back-surpluses. ‘Today’s underlying cash surplus of $15.8 billion (0.6 per cent of GDP) follows the $22.1 billion (0.9 per cent of GDP) surplus delivered in 2022-23.’ The second surplus ‘entirely due to lower payments, not higher taxes’ is the Treasurer’s claim. Deficits: $10.0 billion in 2024-25 and $22.3 billion (0.8 per cent of GDP) in 2025-26, per the Final Budget Outcome, https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/jim-chalmers-2022/media-releases/final-budget-outcome-2025-26 (28 September 2026); the 2026-27 Budget forecasts $31.5 billion (1.0 per cent of GDP), Budget Paper No. 1, Statement 3, https://budget.gov.au/content/bp1/download/bp1_bs-3.docx (12 May 2026).
- Spain bank levy (chart cell, Spain row): IMF WP/24/143 (as [18]) and Tax Foundation Europe, https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/eu/windfall-profits-taxes-europe/ (4 September 2026). Spain levied a 4.8-point surtax on large banks’ net revenue from 2023; the IMF paper: ‘Spain collected EUR 1.2B in surtax in 2023’.
- APRA: bank (ADI) profit after tax, year to June 2026 (the APRA workbook, desk pack D91). $42.5 billion, up 7.5 per cent. This is a figure for all authorised deposit-taking institutions, not for the big four alone. https://www.apra.gov.au/quarterly-authorised-deposit-taking-institution-performance-statistics-june-2026-highlights