The political connections
The four major banks donated to both major parties. The fossil fuel companies whose export prices were driving energy inflation donated to both major parties. Woolworths donated to both major parties. The government commissioned the Supe…
This article was the shortest in this series when it was published in April 2026, because the analysis it presents is the same analysis The Rort has documented across four previous series.
As THE RORT reported in those series: in the Gas Rort, fossil fuel companies extracted Australian resources, paid minimal PRRT, donated to both parties, and government after government declined to reform the tax. The Airline Rort: Qantas cultivated political relationships through the Chairman’s Lounge, donated to both parties, and, as THE RORT reported, the government blocked a competitor’s flights after Qantas asked it to (the government gave its own reasons; not re-verified in this round). The Roads Rort: Transurban donated to both parties, concessions were awarded at events designed to minimise scrutiny, and the toll model was endorsed across party lines.
The Inflation Rort has the same architecture. Different industries, identical pattern.
Correction, 29 September 2026. This article’s subtitle and closing pullquote said there was ‘No bank levy’ and ‘No price caps’. Both were wrong. A Major Bank Levy on certain liabilities of the largest banks has applied since 1 July 2017; it is a levy on liabilities, not on profits 16. From late December 2022 the government capped new east coast wholesale gas contracts at $12 a gigajoule, with New South Wales and Queensland effectively capping generation coal at $125 a tonne with Commonwealth funding 17. THE RORT has found no windfall tax on energy companies and no levy on bank profits. The subtitle, pullquote and image have been amended.
Update, 29 September 2026. THE RORT has not re-verified these claims in this article: the supermarket donations; the 2022-23 Senate levy claim; the government’s stated position on bank profits; the Finance Sector Union line; A$2.9 million for supplier education; the Treasurer’s ‘ongoing supermarket crackdown’; the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s position; ‘record revenues’ for exporters; the 24 per cent supermarket price figure in the image; ‘first such inquiry since 2008’; the Ukraine price spike as a primary driver of 2022-23 inflation, and exporters’ prices as a driver of energy inflation; the Gas Rort and Roads Rort summaries in the second paragraph; the December 2022 inflation peak and the February 2024 direction date; and the statement that the government blocked a competitor’s flights on Qantas’s explicit request. Donations are reported as facts, not as the reason any party acted.
Update, 30 September 2026. Of the claims listed above as not re-verified, the supermarket donations have now been checked against the Australian Electoral Commission’s register: the Woolworths statement stands and the Coles statement is withdrawn (see the correction in the section on the supermarkets). The other claims listed above remain unverified.
01The bank donation pattern
In 2024-25 each of the four major banks disclosed payments to both major parties. The Finance Sector Union, which represents bank employees, is affiliated with the ALP through the union movement. Neither party introduced a windfall levy on bank profits during the rate cycle.
Senate hearings on bank profits during the rate cycle were held. Greens and crossbench senators proposed a temporary windfall levy. Labor senators declined to support it. The government’s position was that bank profits reflected competitive market outcomes.
Correction, 29 September 2026. This article gave the big four banks’ combined FY23 profit as A$32.5 billion, and the reader note listed it as not re-verified. THE RORT has no primary source for that figure, so it has been withdrawn from the paragraph above, from the key facts, from the graphic (where the bank row now reads ‘no sourced figure’ in the windfall column) and its description, and from the reader note at the head of this article. The claim that no levy on bank profits has been introduced is unchanged; a Major Bank Levy on liabilities has applied since 1 July 2017 16.
Update, 29 September 2026. The AEC register supports this section’s first sentence: in 2024-25 each of the four major banks disclosed payments to both Labor and the Coalition, while in 2023-24 ANZ disclosed only $5,500, to the Coalition. On their own donor returns for 2024-25, CBA, Westpac, NAB, ANZ and the Australian Banking Association disclosed payments of $340,501 to Labor and $394,557 to the Coalition ($255,250 and $287,869 in 2023-24). These are payments disclosed as donations by the donors, which parties often record as other receipts, usually fundraiser or event payments, to both major sides in similar amounts; they do not show why any party acted as it did 26. THE RORT found no Senate vote on a bank windfall tax in 2026 27; the Greens took a PBO-costed increase in the Major Bank Levy to the 2025 election 28. Costing a 10 per cent increase in the levy in 2024, the Parliamentary Budget Office assumed 75 per cent of any increase would be passed on to customers through fees, mortgage rates or lower savings rates 16.
02The fossil fuel sector: subsidised during the inflation it drove
The Ukraine war energy price spike was a primary driver of 2022-23 Australian inflation. The LNG and coal exporters whose prices were elevated by that spike earned record revenues. Fossil fuel subsidies rose from A$11.1 billion in 2022-23 to A$14.5 billion in 2023-24, on the Australia Institute’s figures. No windfall tax was introduced.
Correction, 29 September 2026. The paragraph above said subsidies of A$14.9 billion were ‘maintained’ throughout the 2022-23 episode. A$14.9 billion is the Australia Institute’s figure for 2024-25; its series puts subsidies at A$11.1 billion in 2022-23, rising to A$16.3 billion in 2025-26, on its own classification 25. The paragraph and the key fact have been amended.
The Gas Rort series documented the fossil fuel sector’s political connections in detail: donations to both parties, revolving doors between industry and government, party memberships and industry body access. Donations to both major parties continued in 2023-24 and 2024-25 (see the update below). No windfall tax was introduced, while Australian households paid higher energy prices from the same price spikes.
Update, 29 September 2026. On their own AEC returns for 2024-25, Woodside, Santos, INPEX, Chevron, Tamboran and their industry body Australian Energy Producers disclosed payments of $430,940 to Labor and $532,429 to the Coalition; in 2023-24 the same group (Tamboran filed no return) disclosed $360,406 and $349,850. Woodside’s disclosed total over 17 financial years is $3,193,687, split between Labor ($1,498,412), the Liberal Party ($1,431,095) and the Nationals ($264,180). These are payments disclosed as donations by the donors, to both major sides in similar amounts; none of it shows why any party voted as it did 26. The parties gave their own reasons. Prime Minister Albanese, 29 April 2026: ‘The middle of a global fuel crisis is the worst possible time to jeopardise these partnerships, or the investment that underpins them’ 29. Treasurer Chalmers, reported 10 May 2026: ‘there are good reasons to prioritise fuel supply and gas reservation’ 30. Coalition senators McDonald and Dean Smith, in the committee’s additional comments: Australia ‘needs an increased tax take, not an increased tax rate’ 31. Labor senators, in their additional comments, recommended that Treasury or the Productivity Commission evaluate the proposals after the crisis has passed and once gas reservation is designed, aiming to avoid ‘damaging vital regional relationships or undermining Australia’s energy and national security’ 32. Treasury officials told the committee, as quoted in the Greens’ additional comments, 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’, and that further price pass-through ‘would also directly translate through to higher corporate tax paid’ 32. In 2026 THE RORT found seven recorded parliamentary divisions on a 25 per cent gas export tax, and every one was lost: Senate 12 March (13-35 and 13-34), 31 March (10-26), 1 April (12-32), 29 June (10-33) and 12 August (11-30), and the House on 2 June (9-71, the Coalition not voting) 27.
03The supermarkets: an inquiry about 14 months after the peak
The government directed the ACCC to conduct its Supermarkets Inquiry in February 2024. Australian inflation had peaked in December 2022. The inquiry was directed approximately 14 months after the inflation peak and reported about 13 months after that.
Correction, 29 September 2026. This paragraph’s intervals were wrong on its own dates. From the December 2022 inflation peak to the February 2024 direction is about 14 months (THE RORT’s count), not eighteen; and the ACCC published its final report with a media release dated 21 March 2025 18, about 13 months after the direction (THE RORT’s count), not fifteen. The peak and direction dates are this article’s own and were not re-checked in this round. The places that said ‘eighteen months’ or ‘18 months’ (the subtitle, the section heading and contents entry, a key fact, the image and three reference descriptions) have been amended, as has the same phrase in ‘The reckoning’.
The Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work published research during the inflation peak arguing that corporate margin expansion was a significant driver of inflation. In THE RORT’s view, if the government had acted on that analysis at the time, commissioning a rapid inquiry and deploying interim price transparency tools, the findings could have been available while inflation was still high, not two years later. The Reserve Bank’s May 2023 analysis found ‘little evidence’ of a broad rise in non-mining margins as an independent cause of inflation, though some highly profitable large firms widened margins 33, and a later RBA staff analysis found that import prices and business owner returns accounted for a larger share of household consumption deflator growth immediately after COVID 34; the ACCC’s final report did not allege price gouging 18, 3.
The political context: Woolworths donates to both parties. The Australian Food and Grocery Council consistently opposes mandatory price controls and transparency mandates. The government’s ‘ongoing supermarket crackdown’, as Treasurer Chalmers described it, included an inquiry, A$2.9 million for supplier education, and promises of future transparency legislation.
Correction, 29 September 2026. The list above was incomplete when published. The Food and Grocery Code became mandatory on 1 April 2025 for supermarkets and grocery wholesalers earning over $5 billion (ALDI, Coles, Metcash and Woolworths), with penalties up to the greater of $10 million, three times the benefit or 10 per cent of turnover 19, and from 1 January 2026 acquisitions above the thresholds must be notified to the ACCC and wait for its approval, a reform the Treasurer tied to grocery prices 20. This paragraph, the subtitle, pullquote, a key fact and the image have been amended.
Update, 29 September 2026. From 1 July 2026 excessive pricing by very large retailers (currently Coles and Woolworths), judged ‘significantly excessive’ against the cost of supply plus a reasonable margin, is prohibited 21. The Unfair Trading Practices Bill passed on 2 July 2026, banning subscription traps and undisclosed checkout fees from 1 July 2027; for financial services the government is only exploring ‘further alignment’ with ASIC and the states 22.
Correction, 30 September 2026. The paragraph beginning ‘The political context’ and the subtitle said that Woolworths and Coles donate to both parties. THE RORT searched the Australian Electoral Commission’s Transparency Register (Annual Donor Returns, Donations Made Details) on 30 September 2026 14. The register supports the statement for Woolworths: the 2024-25 return of Woolworths Group Limited lists A$27,900 in donations, A$14,500 to the Australian Labor Party, A$10,100 to the Liberal Party of Australia and its Western Australian Division, and A$3,300 to the National Party of Australia. It does not support it for Coles as a donor: a search of the Annual Donor Returns and Donations Made Details for names containing ‘Coles’ finds returns only under the names Coles Myer Ltd, Coles Myer Finance Limited and Coles Group, the last of them for 2007-08, and none after that. The political parties’ own returns in the same register do record payments from Coles Group to the Australian Labor Party (A$82,500 in each of 2011-12, 2013-14 and 2015-16) and to the Liberal Party of Australia (2012-13 to 2014-15), entered as other receipts, not donations; none to a party appears after 2015-16. The receipts side of the register also lists payments from Coles Group Limited in each year from 2019-20 to 2024-25 to associated entities (the Cormack Foundation Pty Ltd, and in 2024-25 the Higgins Foundation Ltd), entered as other receipts and not disclosed as donations. The register names the Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division) as the associated party of both entities, and their returns list other receipts, often twice a year, from many listed companies, including BHP, ANZ, the Commonwealth Bank and Woolworths Limited. THE RORT has not established what the Coles payments were for. The Coles statement is withdrawn, and the subtitle, that paragraph and the pullquote in the section on the structural pattern (which said ‘The supermarkets donated to both parties’) now refer to Woolworths only. The image caption is qualified and the image alt text amended; the chart graphic has been redrawn to match: Woolworths gives to both parties, and Coles is shown separately. THE RORT did not search under other names, so this does not show that no company in the Coles group has made a donation since 2007-08. The register shows what donors reported to the Commission, not why any donation was made.
04The structural pattern: same as every series
THE RORT has published a number of cases, among them Media Ownership, Gas, Airlines, Roads and Inflation. THE RORT reads the same political architecture in each of those five.
Regulated or oligopolistic industries with market power make above-normal profits from that power.
These industries donate to both major parties and maintain relationships through revolving doors, hospitality, and industry bodies.
Regulators identify the structural problems, document them carefully, and make recommendations.
Governments commission reviews, produce responses, and announce crackdowns that consist primarily of monitoring and transparency measures.
Structural reform, the change that would actually reduce the market power producing the above-normal returns, is not implemented.
Update, 29 September 2026. Readers weighing this claim should know what has been put in place or announced since the inflation peak: a mandatory grocery code since 1 April 2025 19, mandatory ACCC approval of large mergers since 1 January 2026 20, a prohibition on excessive supermarket pricing since 1 July 2026 21, the Gas Market Code’s $12 ‘reasonable price’ since 2023 23, and a gas reservation scheme announced to start on 1 July 2027, whose legislation was at exposure-draft stage in September 2026 24. Whether any of these is structural is a judgement; none breaks up a company, and the ACCC did not recommend divestiture 18, 3.
Correction, 30 September 2026. The paragraph above said a gas reservation scheme was announced to start on 1 July 2027. The department’s reform page, last updated 29 September 2026, still says ‘This scheme will commence from 1 July 2027.’ But the ministers’ joint media release of 10 September 2026 says the ‘licence application process will commence from 1 January 2027, with the Domestic Supply Obligation to commence from 1 January 2028’, and the same department page says ‘Obligations are expected to start on 1 January 2028.’ Licence applications therefore start on 1 January 2027 and the Domestic Supply Obligation on 1 January 2028, not on 1 July 2027. The 7 May 2026 announcement gave 1 July 2027 24.
The consumer pays the above-normal price.
The four banks donated to both parties. The fossil fuel sector donated to both parties. Woolworths donated to both parties. No windfall tax. No levy on bank profits. No price caps on groceries. An excessive-pricing ban has applied since 1 July 2026. The ACCC found margin expansion. The response included A$2.9 million for supplier education and, from April 2025, a mandatory grocery code. THE RORT reads the same political architecture in its Media Ownership, Gas, Airlines, Roads and Inflation cases.
In THE RORT’s reading, structural reform in each of these cases is a political decision. This article does not say why governments have or have not made it.
Correction, 29 September 2026. The paragraph above said the fix ‘requires a government willing to impose structural costs on industries that fund its re-election campaigns’ and that the rort persists because ‘the incentive structure that produces it also produces the political relationships that protect it’. Those sentences placed donations beside inaction as its explanation, which the record does not support. The donor returns show payments disclosed as donations to both major sides in similar amounts, which parties often record as other receipts, usually fundraiser or event payments; they do not show why any party acted 26. The government and the Coalition have given their own reasons for their gas votes (see ‘The fossil fuel sector’ above). Those sentences have been removed, and the image caption, the subtitle and the pullquote no longer imply a cause. Two other phrases that implied a cause were also changed: ‘The political explanation’ in the supermarket section now reads ‘The political context’, and the fossil fuel section no longer says the sector’s ‘political protection remained intact’. The key number and graphic that read ‘0 structural reforms implemented’ now read ‘0 divestitures recommended by the ACCC’, and the graphic’s ‘NO REFORM’ now reads ‘NO BREAK-UP’, because whether the measures listed in the update above are structural is a judgement. The paragraph that said THE RORT had ‘published five complete series’ was also out of date; it now says only that THE RORT has published a number of cases.
If it’s a rort, we cover it.
- Review: one year after the 29 September 2026 updateThe authored watch rows suppress this article's yearly review cadence; this row replaces it.
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 still marked unverified in the editor’s map. NEXT DATE: none set.
- Record: article 7 corrected, 30 September 2026Two dated corrections and one update: the gas reservation scheme’s start dates, and the supermarket donations checked against the AEC register.
Read the desk note
UPDATED 30 September 2026 (case: THE INFLATION RORT, article 7 of 19 published).
ARTICLE CHANGES. Correction 1, in the section on the structural pattern: the gas reservation scheme was said to be announced to start on 1 July 2027. The ministers’ joint media release of 10 September 2026 says licence applications start on 1 January 2027 and the Domestic Supply Obligation on 1 January 2028; the sentence is left as published, with a dated correction after it, and the release is added to reference 24. Correction 2, in the section on the supermarkets: THE RORT searched the AEC Transparency Register. Woolworths Group Limited’s 2024-25 return lists A$27,900 in donations to the Labor, Liberal and National parties, so that statement stands, with the year and source now given (reference 14). No donation under a Coles name appears after the 2007-08 return, so the statement that Coles donates to both parties is withdrawn; the parties’ own returns record other receipts from Coles Group to both major parties up to 2015-16, and the receipts side of the register lists other receipts from Coles Group Limited to two associated entities from 2019-20 to 2024-25, not disclosed as donations, which is now stated. The subtitle, the paragraph and the pullquote in the section on the structural pattern (which said ‘The supermarkets donated to both parties’, now ‘Woolworths donated to both parties’) were amended, the image caption qualified and the image alt text amended. The graphic now shows the supermarket row as Woolworths giving to both parties, with Coles shown separately. Update: the reader note’s ‘supermarket donations’ claim is now checked; every other claim in it remains unverified.
STILL OPEN. Every other claim in the reader note of 29 September remains unverified. Whether any Coles company has donated under another name is not known.
NEXT DATE: 29 September 2027, one-year review (see review row).
- Record: article 7 updated, 29 September 2026Ten dated notes: five corrections, five updates.
Read the desk note
UPDATED 29 September 2026 (case: THE INFLATION RORT, article 7 of 19 published).
ARTICLE CHANGES. Corrections: the subtitle and pullquote said there was no bank levy and no price caps (a Major Bank Levy on liabilities has applied since 2017, and gas and coal prices were capped from late December 2022); the supermarket inquiry intervals were about 14 months and about 13 months, not eighteen and fifteen (subtitle, heading, key fact, graphic and references amended); the list of supermarket measures was incomplete (mandatory Food and Grocery Code, merger notification), so the subtitle, pullquote, a key fact and the graphic no longer present A$2.9 million as the whole response; the A$14.9 billion fossil fuel subsidy figure is the 2024-25 total, not the 2022-23 level; the A$32.5 billion FY23 combined bank profit has been withdrawn because THE RORT has no primary source for it (paragraph, key fact, graphic, image description and reader note). Updates: the excessive-pricing ban from 1 July 2026 and the Unfair Trading Practices Bill; what has been put in place or announced since the inflation peak; AEC donation returns for the banks and for gas producers, reported as facts that do not show why any party acted, with the government’s and the Coalition’s stated reasons beside the gas votes; the Parliamentary Budget Office’s 75 per cent pass-through assumption for a bank levy; and a reader note listing the claims not re-verified: the supermarket donations; the 2022-23 Senate levy claim; the government’s stated position on bank profits; the Finance Sector Union line; A$2.9 million for supplier education; the Treasurer’s ‘ongoing supermarket crackdown’; the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s position; ‘record revenues’ for exporters; the 24 per cent supermarket price figure in the image; ‘first such inquiry since 2008’; the Ukraine price spike as a primary driver of 2022-23 inflation, and exporters’ prices as a driver of energy inflation; the Gas Rort and Roads Rort summaries in the second paragraph; the December 2022 inflation peak and the February 2024 direction date; and the statement that the government blocked a competitor’s flights on Qantas’s explicit request. A further correction removes the closing section’s claim that donations or campaign funding explain the lack of structural reform, and replaces the stale ‘five complete series’ count; the caption, subtitle, pullquote and key fact no longer imply a cause. Two other phrases that implied a cause were also changed: ‘The political explanation’ in the supermarket section now reads ‘The political context’, and the fossil fuel section no longer says the sector’s ‘political protection remained intact’. The key number and graphic that read ‘0 structural reforms implemented’ now read ‘0 divestitures recommended by the ACCC’, and the graphic’s ‘NO REFORM’ now reads ‘NO BREAK-UP’, because whether the measures listed in the update above are structural is a judgement.
STILL OPEN. Every claim in the reader note above remains unverified.
NEXT DATE: 29 September 2027, one-year review (see review row).
- AEC: political donations: banks, supermarkets, energy companies. https://www.aec.gov.au/parties_and_representatives/political_disclosures/. Major donors to both parties include banking sector, supermarket sector, and fossil fuel sector. Regulated industries donate to both major parties (see the update of 29 September 2026 on reforms since 2022).
- Australia Institute / Centre for Future Work: greedflation research. https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/accc-suing-supermarkets-as-price-gouging-drives-inflation-rate-hikes/. The Australia Institute argued that inflation was driven mainly by corporate profits and market power (advocacy; the RBA’s May 2023 analysis found little evidence of a broad rise in non-mining margins [33]). Published before ACCC inquiry. Government commissioned the inquiry about 14 months after the inflation peak.
- ACCC Supermarkets Inquiry: directed about 14 months after the peak. https://theconversation.com/accc-finds-australias-supermarkets-are-among-the-worlds-most-profitable-but-doesnt-accuse-them-of-price-gouging-250503. Government directed inquiry in February 2024. Inflation peaked December 2022. Structural changes not in place during the peak.
- Senate Economics Committee: bank profit hearings and donations. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics. Both major parties receive financial support from the banking sector. Neither introduced a windfall levy.
- Gas Rort series: documented fossil fuel political connections. https://therort.com.au/. Donations to both parties, revolving door between industry and government, party membership to industry events.
- Treasurer Jim Chalmers: bank profit defence. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/how-are-big-banks-making-profits-in-a-cost-of-living-crisis/2kdw48sml. Government declined to introduce windfall levy. Position: bank profits reflected competitive market outcomes.
- Senate crossbench: windfall levy proposals defeated. https://www.aph.gov.au/. Greens and crossbench senators proposed temporary windfall levy. Not supported by Labor government senators.
- ACCC: supermarkets inquiry timing and political context. https://nationalseniors.com.au/news/latest-news/surprises-in-supermarket-pricing-report. First such inquiry since 2008, a 16-year gap. Directed about 14 months after inflation peak.
- Political economy of windfall taxes. https://www.grattan.edu.au/. Windfall taxes face strong industry opposition. Benefits are diffuse; costs are concentrated. Concentrated interests resist; diffuse interests are poorly organised.
- Labor government: ‘supermarket crackdown’ framing. https://www.pymnts.com/cpi-posts/australias-major-supermarkets-face-scrutiny-over-profit-margins-amid-rising-prices/. Treasurer Chalmers described an ‘ongoing supermarket crackdown’ (not re-verified 29 September 2026). The measures in place include A$2.9 million for supplier education, the mandatory Food and Grocery Code from 1 April 2025 [19], mandatory merger notification from 1 January 2026 [20] and the excessive-pricing prohibition from 1 July 2026 [21].
- Both major parties: bank donations pattern. https://www.aec.gov.au/parties_and_representatives/political_disclosures/. Banking sector donations to both parties over multiple electoral cycles. THE RORT’s reading: neither party proposed structural bank competition reform.
- Australia Institute: case for windfall tax during inflation. https://australiainstitute.org.au/. Explicit case made during inflation peak for windfall tax on energy companies. Not adopted by the government.
- ALP: relationship with Finance Sector Union (FSU). https://www.fsunion.org.au/. FSU affiliated with ALP through ACTU. Bank workers benefit from bank employment stability, creating complex incentives. Not re-verified (29 September 2026).
- Woolworths and Coles: political donation pattern (corrected 30 September 2026). https://www.aec.gov.au/parties_and_representatives/political_disclosures/. AEC Transparency Register, Annual Donor Returns, https://transparency.aec.gov.au/AnnualDonor (Donor Returns and Donations Made Details, searched 30 September 2026): Woolworths Group Limited, 2024-25 return, A$27,900 to the Labor, Liberal and National parties and their divisions; no donation under a Coles name after the 2007-08 return (Coles Group). AEC bulk download Detailed Receipts (party returns): Coles Group payments recorded as other receipts to the Australian Labor Party (A$82,500 in each of 2011-12, 2013-14, 2015-16) and the Liberal Party of Australia (2012-13 to 2014-15), none to a party after 2015-16; from 2019-20 to 2024-25 the same data lists ‘Other Receipt’ payments from Coles Group Limited to associated entities (Cormack Foundation Pty Ltd; Higgins Foundation Ltd in 2024-25), not disclosed as donations; the Associated Entity Returns name the Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division) as their associated party, and list other receipts, often twice a year, from many listed companies, Woolworths Limited among them (2018-19). The earlier line that both make political donations is withdrawn for Coles. Australian Food and Grocery Council consistently opposes mandatory price controls and transparency mandates.
- Cross-series connection: same pattern across Gas, Airlines, Roads, Inflation. https://therort.com.au/. The pattern across every series: regulated or oligopolistic industry donates to both major parties; THE RORT’s reading: government avoids structural reform; consumer pays the above-normal price.
- Explanatory Memorandum, Major Bank Levy (2017); Parliamentary Budget Office, Increase to the rate of the Major Bank Levy by 10 per cent (14 May 2024). https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/sites/ministers.treasury.gov.au/files/2019-05/Final-EM-Major-Bank-Levy.pdf and https://www.pbo.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/Increase%20to%20the%20rate%20of%20the%20Major%20Bank%20Levy%20by%2010%20percent.pdf. The Major Bank Levy has applied since 1 July 2017 at 0.06% a year on certain liabilities of banks with over $100 billion in liabilities; it is a levy on liabilities, not profits. The Parliamentary Budget Office assumed 75% of the increase in the levy would be passed on to consumers through mechanisms such as increases to fees on banking products, increases to interest rates on mortgage products, or decreases in interest payments on savings.
- Acting Treasurer Gallagher and Minister Bowen, gas price cap takes effect (22 December 2022); Prime Minister, Energy Price Relief Plan (9 December 2022). https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/jim-chalmers-2022/media-releases/gas-price-cap-take-effect and https://www.pm.gov.au/media/energy-price-relief-plan. A $12 a gigajoule cap on new east coast wholesale gas contracts from late December 2022; New South Wales and Queensland effectively capped generation coal at $125 a tonne with Commonwealth funding.
- ACCC, ACCC recommends supermarket reforms (21 March 2025). https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-recommends-supermarket-reforms-to-provide-better-outcomes-for-consumers-and-suppliers. The final report of the Supermarkets Inquiry was released on 21 March 2025 with 20 recommendations; it did not allege price gouging or recommend divestiture.
- ACCC, Mandatory Food and Grocery Code of Conduct comes into effect today (1 April 2025). https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/news/media-updates/mandatory-food-and-grocery-code-of-conduct-comes-into-effect-today. The Code became mandatory on 1 April 2025 for supermarkets and grocery wholesalers earning over $5 billion; penalties up to the greater of $10 million, three times the benefit or 10% of turnover.
- ACCC, New merger control regime off to positive start (9 April 2026); Treasurer, second reading speech, Treasury Laws Amendment (Mergers and Acquisitions Reform) Bill (10 October 2024). https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/new-merger-control-regime-off-to-positive-start and https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/jim-chalmers-2022/speeches/second-reading-speech-treasury-laws-amendment-mergers-and. Since 1 January 2026 merger notification to the ACCC above thresholds is mandatory and suspensory; the Treasurer tied merger reform to grocery prices in October 2024.
- Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh, price gouging by large supermarkets illegal from 1 July 2026 (27 June 2026); ACCC, supermarkets excessive pricing prohibition. https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/andrew-leigh-2025/media-releases/price-gouging-large-supermarkets-illegal-1-july-2026 and https://www.accc.gov.au/business/industry-codes/food-and-grocery-code-of-conduct/supermarkets-excessive-pricing-prohibition. From 1 July 2026 excessive grocery pricing by very large retailers (currently Coles and Woolworths) is prohibited, tested as significantly excessive against cost plus a reasonable margin. No enforcement outcome was checked.
- Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh, unfair trading tricks and traps to be banned (2 July 2026). https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/andrew-leigh-2025/media-releases/unfair-trading-tricks-and-traps-be-banned. The Unfair Trading Practices Bill passed on 2 July 2026, banning subscription traps, undisclosed checkout fees and manipulative online design from 1 July 2027; for financial services the government is only exploring further alignment with ASIC and the states.
- DCCEEW and DISR, Gas Market Review Report (December 2025). https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/gas-market-review-report.pdf. The temporary emergency cap of December 2022 was replaced by the mandatory Gas Market Code, which commenced on 11 July 2023 with a reasonable price of $12 a gigajoule.
- DCCEEW, Gas Market Review reforms (last updated 29 September 2026); joint media releases of 22 December 2025 and 7 May 2026. https://www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/markets/gas-markets/gas-market-review-reforms. The gas reservation scheme starts on 1 July 2027, set on 7 May 2026 at the equivalent of 20 per cent of exports; the $12 a gigajoule regulations stay until new arrangements are in place. At 10 September 2026 the legislation was at exposure-draft stage. Added 30 September 2026: joint media release, Securing more affordable gas for Australians, 10 September 2026, https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/king/media/securing-more-affordable-gas-australians ‘licence application process will commence from 1 January 2027, with the Domestic Supply Obligation to commence from 1 January 2028’. The department page, last updated 29 September 2026, also says ‘Obligations are expected to start on 1 January 2028.’
- Australia Institute, fossil fuel subsidies series (13 May 2024; 21 March 2025; 12 March 2026). https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/fossil-fuel-subsidies-hit-14-5-billion-in-2023-24-up-31/ and https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/fossil-fuel-subsidies-in-australia-2025/ and https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/australian-fossil-fuel-subsidies-growing-faster-than-ndis-hitting-16-3-billion-in-2025-26/. A$11.1bn (2022-23), A$14.5bn (2023-24), A$14.9bn (2024-25), A$16.3bn (2025-26), on the Australia Institute’s own classification; an advocacy think tank.
- Australian Electoral Commission, Transparency Register bulk download, Donations Made, 2023-24 and 2024-25. https://transparency.aec.gov.au/Download/AllAnnualData. Sums of the donors’ own return rows: banks 2024-25 Labor $340,501, Coalition $394,557 (2023-24: $255,250 and $287,869); gas producers and Australian Energy Producers 2024-25 Labor $430,940, Coalition $532,429 (2023-24: $360,406 and $349,850); Woodside 2004-05 to 2024-25 $3,193,687. Payments disclosed as donations by the donor; not a measure of why any party acted.
- Journals of the Senate and House Votes and Proceedings, 2026, as compiled by THE RORT (Journals of the Senate Nos 39, 45, 46, 54 and 59; House Votes and Proceedings Nos 57 and 61). ParlInfo ids: chamber/journals/dca27c74-848a-42ca-8c5c-9ae85b395dca/0007 (12 March), https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fjournals%2F521e5623-a639-4d7e-b49b-bbbe193dfb7b%2F0013%22 (1 April), chamber/votes/b8006be3-3f21-413b-9e71-74f95c642860/0007 (House, 2 June), chamber/journals/e54de60d-a625-492c-b0b2-de1bd9cfeb93/0027 (12 August). Recorded divisions on a gas export tax: Senate two divisions on 12 March, then 31 March, 1 April, 29 June and 12 August, and House 2 June; every one lost. A Senate Journals search for bank and levy found no motion, amendment or division in 2026; the House was not searched for this.
- Parliamentary Budget Office, Big corporations tax (banks), ECR-2025-3046 (June 2025). https://www.pbo.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-06/PBO-ECR-2025-3046-Big%20corporations%20tax%20(banks).pdf. The Greens’ 2025 election policy raised the Major Bank Levy to 0.08% per quarter plus a levy recouping Term Funding Facility benefits, improving the fiscal balance by about $35.1 billion over the forward estimates; a 2025 costing of a party policy, not a 2026 proposal or a vote.
- ABC, 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.”
- ABC News, Jane Norman (10 May 2026). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-10/gas-tax-revenue-up-in-federal-budget/106663036. In the May 2026 Budget the government 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.”
- Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources, report (7 May 2026), Coalition Senators’ Additional Comments. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Taxation_of_Gas_Resources/TaxationofGasResources/Report/Coalition_Senators_Additional_Comments. Senators McDonald and Dean Smith: no arbitrary taxation such as a windfall levy on gas exports, because Australia “needs an increased tax take, not an increased tax rate”. The Greens, Senator Pocock and Labor senators gave different recommendations in their own additional comments.
- Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources, report (7 May 2026), Chapter 1, Labor senators’ additional comments (paragraph 1.65) and the Australian Greens’ additional comments (paragraph 1.183). https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Taxation_of_Gas_Resources/TaxationofGasResources/Report/Chapter_1_-_Report and https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Taxation_of_Gas_Resources/TaxationofGasResources/Report/Australian_Greens_Additional_Comments. Labor senators: after the Middle East energy crisis has passed and the gas market review and gas reservation design are finalised, the Treasury or the Productivity Commission evaluate the reform proposals, to avoid “damaging vital regional relationships or undermining Australia’s energy and national security”. Treasury officials, as quoted in the Greens’ comments: 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”, and further price pass-through “would also directly translate through to higher corporate tax paid”.
- Reserve Bank of Australia, Statement on Monetary Policy, May 2023, Box B: Have business profits contributed to inflation? https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/2023/may/box-b-have-business-profits-contributed-to-inflation.html. “There is little evidence that there has been a broad-based increase in domestic non-mining profit margins, suggesting that changes in domestic profit margins have not been a significant independent cause of the increase in aggregate CPI inflation.” Among the 200 largest firms, “some highly profitable firms have been able to gradually increase their margins over this period.”
- Reserve Bank of Australia, Bulletin, An Input Cost Decomposition of the Household Consumption Deflator (27 August 2026). https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2026/aug/an-input-cost-decomposition-of-the-household-consumption-deflator.html. RBA staff research, not a Board view: import prices and business owner returns accounted for a larger share of growth in the household consumption deflator immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic, with price pressures later shifting towards labour costs and dwelling rents.