Poll Shows Public Favors Gas Export Tax and Fuel Excise Extension Even As Government Rules Out New Tax

The latest Essential poll, conducted amid a nationwide fuel crisis that has already prompted many households to curtail travel, rely more on public transport and lower their use of air‑conditioning and heating, reveals that a clear majority of Australians now back the introduction of a levy on profits generated by gas export contracts as well as the continuation of recent cuts to the petrol excise.

This popular appetite for revenue‑raising measures on fossil‑fuel enterprises stands in stark contrast to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s recent declaration that his government will not impose a new tax on existing gas export agreements, thereby exposing a disjunction between voter expectations and official policy priorities.

The poll’s indication that voters are simultaneously gravitating toward renewable energy sources, motivated by both environmental concern and the practical necessity of coping with volatile global fuel prices, underscores a growing public recognition that reliance on traditional hydrocarbons is increasingly untenable, yet the political leadership appears reluctant to translate that recognition into decisive regulatory action.

Moreover, the endorsement of extending the petrol excise cut – a measure originally intended as a temporary relief during a supply shock – suggests that Australians view short‑term fiscal concessions as a more palatable alternative to structural reforms, highlighting the government's inconsistent strategy of offering temporary alleviation while refusing to address the underlying market dynamics through taxation.

The juxtaposition of robust public support for both a targeted gas export tax and a sustained fuel excise reduction with the administration’s categorical refusal to entertain new taxation therefore illuminates a broader institutional inertia in which policy responses are piecemeal, reactive and often at odds with the electorate’s expressed preferences, a pattern that risks eroding confidence in the nation’s capacity to manage energy transition effectively.

Published: April 29, 2026