Politics with Michelle Grattan: former minister Ed Husic on why Labor must ‘stare down’ gas companies over tax

Next month’s federal budget is an even tighter balancing act than usual, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers facing global economic uncertainty, a fuel crisis and the need to juggle cost-of-living relief with combating inflation.

The government has been weighing up changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax, a gas export tax and cost-saving reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It is also facing calls to increase Australia’s sovereign capability to produce things locally, including more action to boost fuel security.

On this podcast we’re joined by former industry minister and outspoken Labor MP, Ed Husic.

On gas exports, Husic said the country is being sold short and that Australia should “stare down” arguments from the sector to avoid tax changes in the middle of the current crisis.

I think a compelling statistic [is] the Australia Institute believes $170 billion of LNG has been exported in four years, to which we’ve hardly received a skerrick of a royalty or PRRT [Petroleum Resource Rent Tax] revenue. How does that happen?

We should, with the natural benefit of our resources, that should confer on us economic, commercial advantage […] I just think we are selling the country short. And I think it’s good, finally, that we have had an open discussion about what is the best deal for the nation from the resources that we’ve have. Can we get an even better one? […] We have, I feel, seemingly opened the door to others to plunder our resources without us necessarily getting the best outcome.

Husic said he welcomes the current Senate inquiry on the taxation of gas resources and says the Albanese government shouldn’t be cowed by threats from multinational gas companies to invest elsewhere.

We should stare them down on that. It’s been done before. I’ll point out that then [Western Australian] premier Alan Carpenter, when he proposed a west coast gas reservation scheme, was told by some of the biggest players on the planet that they would not invest. And then they came back to the table. And I think the same approach should be used.

On artificial intelligence (AI), Husic said the government should be doing more to regulate and build trust in the technology now, rather than adopting a light-touch approach now and having to play catch-up later.

With a technology that promises to touch every part of our lives, I can’t see how we sustain a hands-off approach to regulation […] I think we need to have a thorough approach. It cannot be piecemeal. It cannot be based on lurching from one shock to another about what AI can do.

I very much leaned towards the establishment of a national AI Act that would spell out the type of risks we would be looking for, the type of approach to mitigate that risk, and to have a body that would be able to help us with that.

[…] We had an approach before on things like the NBN rollout: our predecessors messed around with that […] And we said: ‘do it once, do once with fibre, get it right, and get it done for the good of the country long term’. I adopt the same approach. Get this act done. Put the guard rails in place, get it all sorted out at once, and build confidence in the technology.

Husic, a Muslim and a consistent critic of Israel’s attacks on Gaza, said more should be done to combat Islamophobia, as well as antisemitism – and the Bondi royal commission should broaden its focus to include that.

I’ve spoken with Muslim Australians who want their concerns heard on this, and they have also voiced their concerns on this. And I’m just really uncomfortable with it: I genuinely hold the view that Islamophobia has kind of become a form of acceptable racism, and we need to deal with that.

[…] I think it’s within the ability of the royal commission to look at Islamophobia within the social cohesion element and to be able to recognise that. I think we should also, as a government, respond to the Human Rights Commission’s development of the anti-racism framework.

I think we should be responding to the special envoy’s report on Islamophobia. And I also think that we have made a commitment as a party that we would bring in anti-vilification laws that would, in part, give people protection from Islamophobic behaviour and attack, and we should be progressing that.