Sky News Did NOT Take That Well… Here is EVERYTHING I Said In Parliament | Punters Politics

ultimate grifter wearing a t-shirt at a senate committee he's the biggest grifter i've ever seen

do you know if he's qualified to be there? yeah i spoke at a senate hearing about taxing gas and uh

it pissed some people off so here is absolutely everything that i said at that hearing uh enjoy thank you senators Members, for having me. Honestly, it is not every day that a regular punter like me gets to sit at the table with so many politicians, which normally would cost $3,000 a head. Sorry, just a little political joke to warm everyone up there. We are here today to discuss the need for Australians to receive what we are owed for our natural resources.

That belonged to us. And I see on the schedule as I was looking, there isn't a single regular mum or dad, single nurse, teacher or tradie. So I'm here to say a few things on their behalf, because before I used to make TikToks, I was a teacher. And my job was to make complex stuff simple so that the kids could understand things and

walk out of the room more informed than when they came in. And honestly, my job hasn't changed. It's just got a couple hundred million followers now. Now we were told that this topic, gas, P-R-R-T, is too technical, it's too complicated. We were told that we regular punters like me, don't worry about it. The politicians, you've got it, they've got it covered.

And we were told that repeatedly by the corporations and lobbyists who were in fact getting rich by us not understanding it. So here, we millions of regular Aussies are now paying attention. And we understand a few things

that we might not have understood before. We understand that Australia's gas is incredibly valuable. We understand that we're giving most of it away for free to foreign corporations. We understand that those same foreign corporations pay close to bugger oil tax.

We understand that countries like Norway looked at their oil and said, that belongs to us. And their politicians went about and made rules and contracts that resulted in Norwegian citizens having access to a $3 trillion sovereign wealth fund. And we understand.

This is the most important point. We understand that a stable democracy like ours, with lots of valuable natural resources, gives us a lot of leverage. So the question we punters have is, how is it that we are holding all of the cards

yet still losing? A kid in my class put his hand up and asked me a question one day. He said, so do politicians know the system is broken? Like, why don't they just fix it? And unfortunately, I had to tell that kid the truth.

I had to tell that kid, honestly, it's not broken. This system is working perfectly for the foreign corporations who funded the lobbying campaigns, who funded the political campaigns of many politicians in this room, and gave many of politicians in this room colleagues jobs, sweet lobbying gigs as gas lobbyists. Punter's politics honestly shouldn't exist. I shouldn't really be here.

A million Australians following my content online, watching someone explain gas, isn't a success story. It's a symptom of a government that has stopped working for the punters who elected them. So while you hear from the heads of Woodside, Santos, Exxon, Inpex, whoever comes, and you'll hear them tell stories about why they don't want to make $5 billion, they'd rather make $10 billion. I want you all to remember that there are

nurses living in cars, teachers buying lunch for kids who can't afford it, tradies skipping meals so they can feed their family. Because no matter how tough we punters have it, no matter how high the cost of living goes, we still pay our tax and we don't get our gas for free. Thank you.

Gas projects in Commonwealth waters don't have to pay any royalties, like zero. In other words, they get the product they're selling for free. Dairy farmers don't get their cows given to them from the government for free. Pubs don't get their kegs of beer given to

them for free. So why is it, do you think, that gas companies have been able to get their gas for free for so long? I think from where we sit, regular punters, we can't understand. Like my Year 10 business students understand. If something is profitable and we're holding all the levers of power, whereas look around, how many stable democracies have so many resources that we sort of have? How are we getting such a dud deal? Where we land, and when I explain to people, when they ask, how is this allowed

to happen, the only solution I have is that when I go to Donation Watch and see money flowing in from fossil fuel companies to elected representatives and then I see certain representatives who oversaw the PRRT, oversaw that for years, going to become gas lobbyists, we regular punters, we would use the word corruption, but we're not allowed to because that's legal.

It's fine.

You're allowed to. So that's the only explanation we can come up with. Because business 101, I'm not anti-gas industry. I'm not anti-gas. I'm pro getting paid what we're owed. This is capitalism 101.

If we own the resource and it's ours, you pay us what you owe us, and we can sell to whoever we want, and we can charge whatever we want. And if we decide that, hey, the future is not going to have this gas, future generations, it's going to be gone forever.

In Norway, when they run out of oil, shit dry, what have they got? $3 to $4 trillion sitting there ready to reinvest to do whatever the country wants to do. When I look at my students, my old students, and go, what's left for you? Sorry, mate, nothing. Well, we need to invest in a new industry.

With what money? So I think that's sort of the perspective that we regular punters come from going, if it's profitable, they'll still come. Just like Norway. They said they would leave. Guess what they didn't.

Coal in Queensland, they upped the royalty. Japan had a whinge about it. Coal companies are still whinging about it. Where are they? They're still in Queensland, digging coal, because coal is valuable and the regime is pretty fair.

We're just getting our fair share.

So Australians getting ripped off by gas companies has obviously struck a bit of a chord with punters, safe to say. Why do you think that this issue enrages people

so much?

Because we're told, and the budget's about to drop, we're told every day, oh, we can't afford to invest in schools. Like, we can't afford to make our education, like, on par with some countries around the world that are just as wealthy. We have to cut costs here, cut funding there, cut different services that we rely on, our medical systems under strain. We have to cut stuff. We're about to hear that.

We're about to hear that the global economy is going through a shock and we have to tighten our belts because something that happened overseas is making everything more expensive for us. We're about to be told that we can't afford anything, except when we look at what we are as a nation, lots of resources that we all collectively own, we know it not to be true.

Like I said, genuinely, I shouldn't be here. Puntus politics exists because I spoke about this issue and regular Aussies went, yes, this doesn't only pass the pub test, this is outrageous and we've been sold out because we shouldn't have issues with what we can afford. We should be looking at how we can invest in future businesses, how we can supply basic medical and dental to anyone who wants it.

This is the kind of country, how wealthy we are. Aussies know it. I know it. We know it. So when politicians tell us, and they're about to tell us, that we can't afford it, we know

it's a lie and this gas issue is the perfect example of how it is a lie. Mr Benjamin, in your submission you referred to the rate of tax or effective tax in Norway. The structure of the industry is different in the way that the Norwegians have set up exploration and Australians have over many generations now. Is your observation in this submission that we should adopt a similar model to Norway across all elements of its system, or is it simply a comparison

of the total tax take?

Yeah, unfortunately, my basic economics teacher 101 high school grade understands that this is actually complex and what options we have is many before us. We're suggesting sort of one. When I compare to Norway, I understand that it's part state invested and partly state owned. When I talk to regular punters on the street, they love the idea of a partly state run system

that gets a good ROI with some private investment as well, like Norway set up. And I think, you know, the best analysis from, you know, people like Richard Dennis is that this is the comparison, an effective tax rate of 78 per cent plus, because they've got the super profits and things like that. Anything that brings us closer to Norway in any respect, whatever the smart nerds do when

they do their research, go, this is the best way to do it. This is the most effective way. There's the Norway model that seems very effective. There's the Qatar model where they own the entire industry. And they do $70 billion a year or something, and we do $2 billion as a citizens.

So I'm open to any and all of the above. This 25% tax that certain senators have floated on export revenue. Sounds more simple. Sounds like we're going to get something. We're in a position now where I'm like, oh, it's all

looking pretty good from where we're sitting. Can I just add that the Australian taxpayer spends a lot of money exploring for oil. We have public agencies dedicated solely to that task. We have explicit subsidies to help that task. Indeed, I think the Queensland Government had a $20 million subsidy released last year encouraging people to go exploring. So the idea that the Australian taxpayer isn't involved in exploring for oil and other resources in Australia is demonstrably untrue. We have whole agencies dedicated to that task.

It's just like, unlike Norway, we don't get money back. Now, we don't have state investment in oil companies. Sorry, I should clarify. We don't have Australian state investment in oil companies. The Japanese government is invested. The Malaysian government is invested.

There's plenty of state investment in Australian oil and gas, it's just that it's other governments from other countries that can see the profits for them of investing. So, yes, our system is quite different from Norway's and the reason that the Australia Institute prefers a 25% revenue tax over anything complicated like you've described is that the Australian public service, the Australian parliament, has shown itself unable to negotiate complexity with these companies.

So there's no problem with having a well-designed profits tax. But that's what the PRRT is supposed to be. The PRRT is supposed to pick up 40 per cent of windfall profits. Well, after the Ukraine war, if you compare the gas price after the Ukraine war to the gas price before the Ukraine war, the Australia Institute estimates the gas industry has made $112 billion in windfall profits. Now, the PRRT is supposed to be a windfall profits tax at 40 per cent.

Well, 40 per cent of $112 billion is over $40 billion, but the Commonwealth Budget Papers make clear that that hasn't happened. So you know what? When the gas industry says it's complicated, Richard, you don't understand, Richard. You don't understand Norway. You don't understand. You don't understand. No, I do understand. I understand that we have a windfall tax in place. That's what the PRRT is. I understand that it is a failure and I understand that we've reviewed it on multiple occasions. On multiple occasions, these previous parliaments have decided to

leave it the way it is. To be crystal clear to those saying maybe we need something more complicated, I would put to you that maybe they are a bit smarter than you realise. They might be smarter than me, but they have certainly been smarter than previous parliaments and previous generations of public servants whose arrogance led them to think, yes, yes, I'm very clever.

I can negotiate the complicated deals of a PRRT with the world's best paid industry and we've failed completely. So that's why an export tax is a good idea because it's simple. And the only way to avoid it

is to sell gas to Australians instead. Win-win.

Thank you, Dr. Dennis. I'm going to rotate the call to Senator McDonald.

Mr Benjen, we're running up on time, so just one question for you. I'm interested if you think that the major parties underestimate the depth of feeling amongst Aussie punters on this proposal.

Yeah, I think when you look at social media channels like mine, Instagram Reels like you've put up before, when you look at those numbers, there is no other issue that I've come across in Australia that gets eight million on your Reel, regular two million views, and this is my audience is solely Australian. So the 500 plus thousand followers on Instagram, 200 on YouTube, 100K, coming up to a million followers on all of my platforms. That is almost entirely solely from the energy generated around this issue.

And I think senators and politicians underestimate how much we're watching, how much we understand what Richard's been talking about here to explain how we can fix the problem, because we're feeling the outcomes. We're feeling. We know that prices are going up. We know that gas is a massive driver of the cost of energy.

I know too much about stuff I shouldn't know about. The variable price of gas is the thing that sets the price for the market, right? We know that. And so as we pay higher prices and as we—our electricity bills go up and cost of living go up, this issue is the most issue that illustrates, well, geez, it sounds pretty simple, doesn't it?

Anyone sort of listening here? Other countries seem to do it. Why can't we? I think politicians ignore just how much we're paying attention to this at their own peril. That's genuinely what I think. And I think whether they do something in the budget and decide to fix this as quickly as possible and start getting a return as quickly as possible so that we—because we know that this is

a question for regular Pandit Zakaas, this is a question for regular punters like us, this is a question of us versus them. So when we hear talking points from the gas lobby, when we hear equivocation of, oh, well, maybe we don't understand what's happening in the country. I'm from Newcastle. I am from a coal mining town.

And my mates in the mines who are getting a paycheque are on my side. I'm stoked for them that they're getting a paycheque. Good on them, at least someone's getting paid. But they understand that even their paycheque isn't getting paid what they're owed for this industry. And they understand that if we don't take

what we are owed from this industry, we're the ones left paying the tax bill. Because like I said before, whether we do it hard or not, we're paying 30% on our salary

So it's only fair it's only time that they start paying what they owe us to Benjamin if I may

What are the causes of inflation So much has been said about cost of living experience of Australians, which is very, very true, very, very accurate. What is your understanding of the causes of inflation in the Australian economy at the moment that are putting cost of living pressures on families and businesses?

Well, I mean, you hear it in the news every single day. It's petrol, petrol, petrol, then it's gas and energy, and then it's like price gouging by, we have a very monopolistically driven economy where certain industries have exorbitant power. I looked at flights to get here today.

Turns out not many airlines fly from Newcastle to Canberra. That wasn't so cheap, so I drove. So I mean, there's lots of different drivers. Clearly, there's a war going on overseas that's making fuel that we need to get diesel and food around all the time.

That's driving inflation as well. So, you know, I understand there's many drivers, but the gas issue is one where that's a key input into everything we do, into energy, and it's a key input into energy prices. And as a renter who can't have solar on my roof, I notice the increase of my electricity bill all the time.

Can I just add that in Norway they feel rich, not poor at the moment? The price of their exports has gone up. They feel rich, not poor. In Australia we have so badly designed our energy system that when the price of our exports go up, we feel poor.

Mr Benjamin, other economic commentators would point to the excessive increase in government spending, measured as a proportion of spending to GDP, as a key driver of inflation in the Australian economy, putting cost of living pressures on Australian families and businesses. You don't think that government spending is a contributor to inflation in the economy at the moment?

Listen, people pick and choose the villain they want, right? And so they go, oh, government spending, oh, that's wages for teachers, that's wages for nurses, that's services that are really important. So when I look at drivers of inflation, I'm not an economist. I'm not going to nitpick over which has what x driving percentage. But I am going to point at the most obvious one, the one that other countries don't seem to have an issue with, the one that we could completely avoid if we just, like I know there is research done that shows when the East Coast is attached to the export gas market, when we export our gas overseas,

compare it to WA that has a gas reserve, our energy costs go up, our gas price goes up because we pay the same bloody price as countries overseas do, and Aussies look at that, driver of inflation, whatever it is, we look at that and say, well, hang on, that's our gas, why don't we get our gas for free, and that would assist the problem. So that, let's say, people who do pick on government service spending as a driver of inflation, we can say, that's actually quite important, though, isn't it? As a teacher, I know my wages come from the government and I go, that's a pretty important thing to keep spending on.

So then we can keep spending on that and maybe we can deal with this.

Senator Smith, can I have one more brief question?

Mr. Benjamin, quickly, your campaign, in your submission, you said raised about $170,000 from everyday Australians, funding billboards as citizens, lobbyists and a submission to this very inquiry. I mean, you know, at the same time what we're seeing is gas companies spending millions of dollars on lobbyists, industry dinners and political donations.

When ordinary Australians have to come together and crowdfund just to have their voices heard in a parliamentary inquiry about resources they legally own. What does that tell us about the state of our democracy and what would you suggest is the single most important thing this committee could do to fix it?

It shows how little faith regular punters have in our politicians at the moment to stand up for us like Richard was sort of saying. And yes, I can point to a lot of people online and people can dismiss that and go, oh, it's just people liking social media posts. But like you noted, I have raised close to $200,000 from people. You can go to the chuff campaigns and see the small donations that have come in. We are so desperate to get paid what we are owed, we are throwing our own money to get—I have it a lobbyist now, our own lobbyist. We feel like we have

to send in a lobbyist because when we look at the politicians, it is as simple as this. When we look at this issue, who are you getting your talking points from? Are you getting your talking points from the gas lobby? Like Richard's pointed out, they're not really on our team. They get rich when we don't understand something. I think the single best thing to come to your question that parliament could do to restore

trust, I genuinely think it would, ending its connections, close ties with lobbyists, and I personally think if I'm suggesting policies right now, stopping allowing politicians, people in front of me, going to work in the industries that they literally wrote the rules for. I've got a list of politicians who are still to this day who were resource ministers, gas lobbyists.

Now, to the regular punter, we're like, well, hang on. Richard's saying we're getting ripped off. We're not standing up to us, but hang on, who wrote those rules? Hang on, that person's a gas lobbyist now. This blows our mind. So if you really want to restore faith in democracy and don't have to have me fundraise

for a lobbyist to get heard on this issue, let's start there. Don't take jobs as lobbyists when you finish. Go be a teacher, go be a nurse. There's plenty of other jobs out there. I won't be a lobbyist. I'll employ one. But maybe our politicians could also not do that and we can believe that you can stand up for us and not the gas lobby. Can I just add that we know the gas industry spends more on PR than it pays in PRRT? That's a good return on investment. That's just ridiculous.

We know this to be true. And the only reason that campaigns like Conrad's and research by the Australian Institute, We know this to be true. And the only reason that campaigns like Conrad's and research by the Australian Institute, the only reason it's having any impact is luckily it's so much cheaper to tell the truth.