Australia is one of the world's richest energy nations — yet Australians pay through the nose while foreign companies export our gas for a song. Adam Watson will keep 90% of Australia's gas at home, build nuclear power under sovereign Commonwealth ownership, and end the era of selling our birthright cheap.
Australia is an energy superpower that cannot keep its own lights on affordably. This is not an accident — it is the result of decades of politicians who looked at our resources and thought about selling them, never about keeping them.
Australia has among the largest gas reserves on Earth. Foreign companies extract it, liquefy it, and ship it offshore — with no obligation to reserve it for Australians. Households and manufacturers then buy it back at global prices they cannot afford.
When energy prices are too high to manufacture at a profit, factories close and jobs go offshore. Australia was once a great manufacturing nation. Cheap, reliable, domestically-owned energy is the foundation we need to rebuild it.
Depending on foreign fuel supply chains — refined petroleum, imported LNG during shortfalls, offshore-owned infrastructure — is a strategic vulnerability. A nation that cannot fuel itself in a crisis is a nation at risk.
Politicians talk about energy policy while the same multinationals write the rules. No mandatory domestic gas reservation. No sovereign nuclear plan. No Commonwealth stake in our own power generation. Australians pay the price of that cowardice every quarter.
This is not nationalisation — it is sovereignty. A 50/50 Commonwealth–private joint venture model for coal, gas, and nuclear power generation ensures that Australia's energy infrastructure serves Australian interests first, while private capital drives investment and efficiency. National security demands nothing less.
Australia sits on vast high-quality coal deposits. Sovereign ownership of 50% of coal-fired generation ensures reliable baseload power, protects against foreign sell-offs, and keeps affordable electricity available for households and industry — on our terms, not the market's.
Gas-fired power stations will be built and co-owned by the Commonwealth — directly connected to the domestic gas reservation system. With 90% of mined gas staying in Australia, we have the fuel. Now we need the infrastructure to use it for our own people's benefit.
Nuclear power requires the strictest safety and security standards. Commonwealth co-ownership at 50% ensures those standards are non-negotiable — not subject to profit pressures. Australia has the uranium. We should be generating clean, reliable nuclear power from it.
Three nuclear power stations — one serving each major capital city region — will be built as 50/50 Commonwealth–private joint ventures. The Commonwealth's stake guarantees that nuclear infrastructure is treated as the national security asset it is: subject to the highest standards of operation, free from foreign ownership, and accountable to the Australian Parliament — not to a foreign boardroom or a fund manager's quarterly target.
Adam Watson's energy policy is built around a single, non-negotiable principle: Australia's energy resources must serve Australia's people and industry first. Everything else flows from that.
For too long, multinationals have extracted Australia's wealth, booked their profits offshore, and paid little to nothing in Australian tax. The roads are crumbling, the hospitals are underfunded, and the schools are stretched — while foreign shareholders collect dividends on Australian coal, gas, and iron ore. That changes under Adam Watson.
Every dollar collected through resource royalties and the 40% corporate tax will be directed to funding Australia's hospitals, Medicare, schools, roads, and public infrastructure. This is the sovereign wealth of the Australian people — generated from Australian soil — and it will be invested in the Australian people. Not in offshore dividends. Not in tax haven accounts. Not in London or New York boardrooms. Here. In Australia. For Australians.
Here is exactly what Adam Watson's energy policy ends — and what it builds in its place.
| Area | ❌ Current Situation | ✓ Watson Energy Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Gas Export | Out Virtually all gas available for export at market rates | In 90% mandatory domestic reservation — legally binding |
| Power Ownership | Out Private/foreign-owned generation with no sovereign stake | In 50/50 Commonwealth–private ownership of all generation |
| Nuclear | Out Nuclear banned, uranium exported, nothing built at home | In 3 nuclear stations, Commonwealth co-owned, world-class standards |
| Coal & Gas Power | Out Closures without replacement, baseload eroded by ideology | In No closures without Parliamentary approval & replacement online |
| Electricity Prices | Out Market-set prices, rising bills, no relief mechanism | In Commonwealth co-ownership enables household & SME price caps |
| Manufacturing | Out High energy costs render domestic production unviable | In Cheap, reliable energy rebuilds Australian industrial capacity |
| Uranium | Out 100% exported — none retained for domestic power | In Portion reserved domestically to fuel sovereign nuclear stations |
| Export Royalties | Out No federal export royalty — resources leave free of charge | In 30% royalty on all resources exported offshore |
| Foreign-Owned Extractors | Out Foreign-controlled companies pay minimal Australian royalties | In 35% royalty on all extraction by non-Australian-owned companies |
| Corporate Tax | Out Multinationals use offsets & transfer pricing to pay near zero | In 40% corporate tax — no loopholes, no offsets, no exceptions |
| Revenue Destination | Out Profits booked offshore — little flows back to Australians | In Royalty & tax revenue funds hospitals, schools, roads & infrastructure |
| Accountability | Out Private boardroom decisions, minimal public reporting | In Annual Parliamentary reports on prices, ownership & compliance |
This is a concrete, sequenced plan — not a discussion paper. Adam Watson will introduce legislation in the first session of Parliament and drive this through from Day One.
For too long, the politicians have looked at our gas, our coal, and our uranium and thought about who to sell it to — not how to use it for Australians. Adam Watson will take this plan to Canberra and fight for sovereign Australian energy, for lower power bills, and for the industrial future this country deserves.