Western Australia’s gas industry is under renewed scrutiny as economists and climate advocates question why state and federal governments are resisting a proposal they say could raise billions in public revenue.

The Greens have backed a 25 per cent gas export tax, which The Australia Institute estimates could raise around $17 billion a year, compared to the $1.4 billion currently collected through the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax.

The PRRT, Australia’s main federal tax on offshore oil and gas, has long been criticised for returning relatively little to the public.

Professor of sustainability at Curtin University Peter Newman says the relationship between government and the sector has developed over decades, which could help explain the resistance to change.

“We’ve had a love interest in gas for a long time,” he says.

“There are a lot of people employed by the gas companies and a lot of money they generate for the government, that it doesn’t want to lose.”

Professor Newman says the system persists not because it delivers the best return to the public, but because governments remain economically and politically tied to the gas industry.

Supporters of the proposed tax argue that billions in additional revenue could be directed into public services.

WA Greens MP Sophie McNeill said the funds could help address major pressures facing Australians.

“There’s so many things that this extra $17 billion a year could fund,” she says, pointing to housing, renewable energy projects and cost-of-living support.

Ms McNeill said growing public awareness of the issue has been driven by rising living costs.

“People are really feeling the cost of living crisis, and when they hear about these companies making billions in profit, it really gets to them,” she says.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has argued gas exports are linked to national fuel security, while WA Premier Roger Cook has warned a new tax could threaten jobs and investment.

But The Australia Institute senior economist Matt Grudnoff say those concerns are not supported by evidence.

He points to countries such as Norway, where governments take a much larger share of oil and gas profits without discouraging investment.

“Highly profitable gas projects (in WA) often pay relatively little tax compared to international standards, with governments in other countries taking a much larger share of resource profits,” he says.

The debate ultimately comes down to a question of trade-offs: economic stability and industry confidence, versus maximising public return from natural resources.

Mr Grudnoff said Australia’s comparatively low returns reflect long-standing assumptions about the power of the resource sector.

“Australians believe that if we’re not really nice to them, they will go elsewhere but the reality is the exact opposite,” he says.

With billions in potential revenue at stake, experts say the question is no longer whether Australia can tax gas exports more, but why it has chosen not to, and whether that decision is in the public’s best interest.