This week, attention has turned to a surprising budget comparison — beer tax versus oil and gas tax.
According to Federal Treasury estimates, beer excise is expected to raise around $2.7 billion in the 2025–26 financial year.

In the same period, the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax — the tax applied to super-profits from offshore oil and gas projects — is forecast to raise about $1.5 billion.

And here’s where it gets interesting. Beer excise isn’t just paid by big global brewing corporations — it’s paid by hundreds of small, independent Australian breweries. Many of them are family-owned, operating in regional towns, employing locals, and already navigating tight margins. Every keg, every can, every schooner carries that tax.

Meanwhile, some of the largest multinational energy companies in the world are projected to contribute less through the resources rent tax this year than Australians collectively pay on beer.

On paper, it’s a comparison between everyday drinkers and small local producers… and global resource giants.