Guardian Essential poll: Australians want higher tax on gas exports and extension of petrol excise cut

A majority of Australians support taxing profits from gas exports and extending the cut to the fuel excise, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll, despite Anthony Albanese on Wednesday ruling out a new tax on existing gas export contracts . The poll also found the fuel crisis is seeing more voters keen to shift to renewable energy rather than stick with fossil fuels. Australians also say they’re already cutting back on travel, switching to public transport and reducing their use of aircon and heating amid the global fuel uncertainty. Donald Trump’s war on Iran has copped the biggest blame for the crisis, but one-third of voters say the Australian government should have planned better for the energy shock. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email The latest Essential poll of 1,067 voters last week found Australians were keen to see ambitious tax reform in next month’s federal budget. A large majority, 68%, want the fuel excise cut to be extended: the temporary halving of federal tax on petrol , saving motorists 26 cents a litre, is due to expire in June. Albanese said on Wednesday that a public campaign for a gas tax had been “dishonest”. In an address to the mining industry in Perth, he defended the settings of Australia’s Petroleum Resource Rent Tax as “sensible” and said the need to support investment in the resources industry was being “lost in some of the populist rhetoric”. …