Any independent standing for the Queensland federal seat of Wide Bay knows it’s a David and Goliath contest because One Nation is tipped to take the seat at the next federal election in 2028.
At the 2025 election, the results after preference counts were Nationals 43 per cent, ALP 36 per cent and One Nation 20 per cent but that was before One Nation’s recent surge in the polls.
Economist and Maryborough resident, Casey Iddon, is prepared to be ‘David’ by standing as an independent in the next election because he believes ‘the political debate should be about policy, not slogans.’
The father of three has a PhD in Applied Economics and Finance and has worked as a painter, university lecturer and research analyst and run a food truck with his wife.
One policy area he believes needs closer scrutiny is the tax regime on Australian gas extraction and exports. Mr Iddon says the tax laws are weighted in favour of the gas industry (which is around 80 per cent owned by multi-nationals).
Gas processing plant IMAGE Geoscience Australia
Gas extracted by those multi-nationals is taxed through the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT), but heavy capital write-offs mean the actual tax collected is a small amount of total export value.
Mr Iddon says gas companies can write off their tax by claiming the costs of their start-ups 30 years ago and artificially inflate the costs to avoid tax.
According to a recent article in The Conversation, by the Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University, while Australian liquefied natural gas exports peaked at just over $90 billion, tax revenue was only $1.5 billion.
Mr Iddon puts it a little more plainly: ‘Australians are being dudded on our own gas.’
Blunt instrument or fine tuning?
Independent Senator, David Pocock, is calling for a new 25 per cent tax on gas revenue to get around the accounting tactics gas companies use to avoid tax.
Mr Iddon says the 25 per cent tax won’t happen because the major parties will ‘hold the line’ on appeasing gas companies. He said the tax rules on capital write offs should be changed ‘retrospectively’ so the gas industry pays a fair amount of tax on their export earnings.
‘I’d keep the right to recover genuine costs and inflation but stop old tax write-offs growing faster than inflation. Once companies have recovered what they spent, they should pay the tax the government intended.’
One Nation ‘hypocrisy’
Mr Iddon is also calling out One Nation for what he describes as ‘blaring hypocrisy’ and ‘failing to stand up for Australia on gas policy’.
‘One Nation presents itself as the party of the battlers and putting Australia first but when it came to crunch time, Pauline Hanson presented a policy the gas lobby could have written for itself,’ said Mr Iddon.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson announced the party’s new oil and gas policy in May.
IMAGE: Woodside Energy
She said One Nation would replace the current gas tax with a new Commonwealth royalty, set at an amount she would not specify but widely reported to be ten per cent.
This royalty would only apply to new gas projects because the One Nation policy supports the current tax regime for existing gas projects.
Mr Iddon said he was surprised by One Nation’s oil and gas policy and how it was announced.
‘She was not standing in a town hall speaking to workers, households, pensioners or even manufacturers being smashed by energy prices. Ms Hanson was standing at an Australian Energy Producers’ lectern, speaking directly to gas industry executives.
‘This was not Pauline Hanson standing up to the gas industry on behalf of Australians. It was Pauline Hanson reassuring foreign investors that everything will be predictable, stable and commercially comfortable for them.’
Policy backflip
Ms Hanson has acknowledged One Nation had previously supported expanding the tax on gas exports but after consultation with industry, decided not to.
Mr Iddon said expanded taxes on gas exports could be delivered in a way that supported the gas industry’s right to make a profit.
‘My policy is based on getting a fair return for Australians by reforming the tax rules on capital write-offs retrospectively.
‘This is a fair approach respecting the need for businesses to make profits and perhaps a little fairer than a flat 25 per cent tax supported by Senator Pocock.’
Call to support independents in 2028 federal election
Mr Iddon said voters should support independents were not bound by party room policies.
Candidate for Wide Bay Casey Casey Iddon is calling on voters to support Independents
‘An independent has one job: represent the electorate. A party MP has two responsibilities: 1) the electorate and 2) the party room. When those jobs collide, the party room comes first almost every time.’
‘My policies on a fair tax regime on gas, regional health care and housing are all driven by the same question: how do we build stronger institutions and better long-term outcomes for regional Australia?’
To read more about Independent Candidate for Wide Bay Casey Iddon’s policies on the gas industry, regional health care and housing, go to his website: Casey for Wide Bay or facebook page.
The Pineapple will profile all candidates for Wide Bay in the lead up to the 2028 election.
