Tokyo-based Inpex’s Ichthys LNG project will provide a $34 billion boost to incomes in Western Australia across the period to 2050, and generate about $73 billion of tax revenue, according to an economic impact report by Acil Allen Consulting released today.
The total impact on gross domestic product of the project, which received final investment decision in 2012 and will cost around $US37 billion when fully built, will be $190 billion, according to Acil Allen executive director WA & NT, John Nicolaou.
The impact on real incomes, which he said was a better measure of the impact on economic well being, would be closer to $90 billion nationally.
Even with the onshore component of the project being located in Darwin, WA will be the biggest winner, with real income in the Northern Territory to increase much less, by $14 billion.
The project will create about 1,100 full time jobs in WA, where Inpex’s local head office is based, and 600 in the Northern Territory, while the WA state government will receive $8.9 billion in tax revenue.
Despite the huge tax bill, the federal government will not earn revenue in the form of Petroleum Resource Rent Tax payments, according to Mr Nicolaou, with money instead to largely come through company tax.
That’s because although the project is profitable, it doesn’t meet the super profits threshold that the tax is designed to be levied above.
About $5 billion of the federal government revenue estimated will be through a $21 per tonne carbon tax, which the company assumes will start in 2021.
Speaking at the report launch today, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the project would make a huge contribution to the national economy.
“I just got back from the G20 leaders summit in Hamburg and people overseas look at Australia and the question we get asked 'is how are you dealing with the end of the mining boom',” Senator Cormann said.
“It’s not actually the end of the mining boom.
"Yes we had a very significant phase of historically unprecedented investment in infrastructure, but you build these things in order to produce and make money on selling your products, this (production) is actually what everything that came before is all about.”
