South Australian Greens Proposed Revenue Measures

The South Australian Greens will deliver $13.786 billion over 4 years:

Fair Royalties for Mining Corporations

South Australia has been robbed of its mineral wealth. Over the last 4 years mining corporations have made over $59 billion in South Australia from mineral mining, petroleum and gas¹, and only pay between 3.5-10% in royalties. Rather than going toward schools, hospitals and public infrastructure, billions of dollars went into the pockets of multinational mining corporations. The Greens believe there should be more money for schools and hospitals and less for mining billionaires.

The South Australian Greens will:

• Raise the refined mineral and mineral ore/concentrate royalty rates to 20% of the value of the resources
• Raise the petroleum royalty rate to 25% of the wellhead value of the petroleum
• Raise an extra $7.44 billion over four years

We cannot afford another four years of lost mining royalty revenue. It is time South Australians finally receive a fair deal for resources we all own.

How much will it raise? 

The South Australian Greens plan would raise in total $9.69 billion over four years, which equates to an extra $7.44 billion accounting for existing projected royalty revenue in the 2025-26 South Australian budget forward estimates. This is an extra $7.44 billion for South Australia’s schools, hospitals and public infrastructure.

While the increase from 5% to 20% for mineral ores and concentrates is substantial there has been no increase to this rate for almost 15 years. There would be no change to other mineral royalty rates including industrial minerals, which are comparatively much smaller industries.

We cannot afford another four years of lost mining royalty revenue. It is time South Australians finally receive a fair deal for resources we all own.

 

Mineral and Petroleum Royalties: Rate Under Labor

Projection (000')	2025-26	2026-27	2027-28	2028-29	Total
Mineral Royalties	$456,809	$456,809	$456,809	$456,809	1,827,236
Petroleum Royalties2	$106,000	$106,000	$106,000	$106,000	424,000
Total					$2,251,236

 

Mineral and Petroleum Royalties: Greens Royalty Revenue

Projection (000')	2025-26	2026-27	2027-28	2028-29	Total
Mineral Royalties	$2,060,000	$2,060,000	$2,060,000	$2,060,000	8,240,000
Petroleum Royalties	$363,750	$363,750	$363,750	$363,750	1,455,000
Total					$9,695,000

 

Increase (% paid in royalties)

	Current Rate	Proposed Rate	Increase
Refined mineral products	3.50%	20%	16.5%
Mineral ores and concentrates	5%	20%	15%
Industrial minerals	3.50%	No Change	0%
Minerals mined for a prescribed purpose	3.50%	No Change	0%
Extractive minerals	52 cents per tonne (as prescribed in the Mining Regulations)	No Change	0%
All petroleum and other regulated resources (e.g. LNG)	10%	25%	15%

^{1. Department for Energy and Mining (SA), South Australia petroleum royalty receipts, (Report, November 2024): https://sarigbasis.pir.sa.gov.au/WebtopEw/ws/plans/sarig1/image/DDD/204224-046.}  

^{2. Note: The forward projection figures are based on the 2024-25 actual figure published by the Department of Energy and Mining.}

 

South Australian Big Bank Levy 

Australian banks are some of the most profitable in the world. Over the last four years the five biggest banks have made $196 billion in pre-tax profits. The biggest banks get special protection from the government because they are seen as ‘too big to fail’, which amounts to a huge implicit subsidy. Banks have made massive profits ripping off ordinary people.

The South Australian Greens will impose a State-based Big Bank Levy, similar to the one proposed by Labor in 2017, at a rate of 0.1% of total liabilities per quarter on the five biggest banks operating in South Australia to raise approximately $2.5 billion over four years, or $503 million every year:

• The rate will be set at 0.1% per quarter (or 0.4% per year) and apply to South Australia’s share of a bank’s total liabilities subject to the Commonwealth’s Major Bank levy (Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ, NAB and Macquarie).
• The South Australian share of a bank’s total liabilities will be calculated using South Australia’s Gross State Product as a share of national GDP which is currently 5.0%³.
• Banks will be prohibited by law from passing on the cost of the levy directly to customers.

The Greens think it is time we had a little more for South Australians, and a little less for the big banks.

A Fair Rate 

The rate of the South Australian Greens’ Big Bank Levy is based on the International Monetary Fund research that the implicit guarantee given to large banks by government ranges from 20 basis points to 100 basis or more in times of instability⁴.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has found that the large Australian banks receive an implicit guarantee of between 20 – 40 basis points (0.2% - 0.4%)⁵.

In this context the proposed rate of 0.1 per quarter or 0.4% per year is a perfectly fair recuperation of the benefits which the big banks receive from public protection.

What are bank liabilities?  

The Big Bank Levy will be calculated based on a bank’s total liabilities, which is exactly the same as the tax base for the Federal government’s Major Bank Levy. Liabilities are banks’ main source of funding and include deposits from customers, loans from the Reserve Bank, trading liabilities and other loans taken by the bank.

How does this work with the Federal Bank Levy?

The Federal Government’s Major Bank Levy is set at 0.015% per quarter of total liabilities minus deductions and applies to all banks with total liabilities above $100 billion⁶. In the first year of operation, the Major Bank Levey raised $1.1 billion⁶, which is below even the most conservative estimates with regard to subsidies the big banks receive.

The South Australian State Bank Levy would be applied on top of the Major Bank Levy and charged at the same time. It is applied to the exact same set of bank liabilities and institutions. However, the South Australian Big Bank Levy only applies to South Australia’s share of total bank liabilities based on South Australia’s Gross State Product.

How much will it raise?

The bank levy will raise approximately $2 billion over four years, or $503 million each year on average. We will take $2 billion from the inflated profit margins of dodgy, greedy banks to invest in crucial public infrastructure, schools, hospitals and publicly owned renewable energy.

 

^{3. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian National Accounts: State Accounts, 2024-25 (Catalogue No 5220.0, 20 November 2025).}

^{4.  International Monetary Fund, Global Financial Stability Report – Moving from Liquidity - to Growth-Driven Markets (International Monetary Fund, Publication Services, 2014) ch 3.} 

^{5. Clancy Yeates, ‘Taxpayer subsidy worth up to $3.7 billion for big four banks’, The Sydney Morning Herald (online, 25 May 2016) https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/taxpayer-subsidy-worth-up-to-37-billion-for-big-fourbanks-20160525-gp3obl.html.}

 ^{6. Major Bank Levy Act 2017 (Cth) ss 4(3), 5(1).}

 ^{7. Australian Government, Final Budget Outcome 2017-18 (September 2018).}

 

Impose a tax on vacant property 

South Australian rent prices have continued to spiral out of control, while the number of properties available to rent has made the market become too competitive for many renters. The latest data shows that 81,000 homes are sitting vacant while renters are struggling to find a place to call home. 
 

In the middle of a housing crisis, allowing dwellings to remain vacant is driving up prices and making it harder for people to find a home. In Victoria, they apply a 1% tax on the value of vacant property which increases each year when the property is vacant.
 

The Greens will introduce a tax at the rate of 1% of the total value of the vacant property if it is vacant for more than six consecutive months. Exemptions will apply where there has been a genuine attempt to sell the property, or the property has remained vacant for a valid reason.  

 

How much will it raise?

The vacancy tax will raise approximately $1.064 billion over four years, or $266 million each year on average. 

 

Plastic Levy

We can eliminate waste through a circular economy.  In South Australia, we generate 5.16 million tonnes of waste each year⁸. Rather than the corporations being responsible for their waste, everyday South Australians are forced to pay for managing the waste through their rates and taxes. While most waste in South Australia is recycled, the amount of waste being sent to landfill increased each year since 2020, and we are not on track to meet the state’s target of zero waste to landfill by 2030⁹. Even though South Australia has led the way in banning plastic shopping bags and takeaway containers, plastics are still the biggest waste going to landfill in South Australia each year with 180,000 tonnes per year¹⁰.

The Greens believe that the people who make the waste need to be stewards of it to the end of its lifecycle. By introducing a levy on plastic waste (including soft plastics), paid for by the corporations who include it in their products, we’ll be able to push manufacturers to find alternatives, or carry the cost of dealing with the waste. 

How much will it raise?

The Plastics Levy will raise approximately $72 million over four years, or $18 million each year on average. 

^{8. Source: Green Industries - https://www.greenindustries.sa.gov.au/sarecycling\}

^{9. Source; Green Industries -https://www.greenindustries.sa.gov.au/resources/circular-economy-resource-recovery-report-2022-23}

^10.  Ibid

 

Ban Pokies

Pokies continue to inflict significant harm on individuals, families, and communities across South Australia. They continue to destroy lives and cost billions of dollars¹¹. Last financial year, South Australians lost over $1 billion to pokies for the first time, an increase in $50 million from the previous year¹². Since they were introduced in SA just over 30 years ago, South Australians have lost a staggering $20 billion at the pokies.

The Greens have a comprehensive plan to phase out pokies in South Australia by 2030. Our state can prosper without continuing to use pokies as a revenue measure. We can prioritise the health and happiness of South Australians over the profits of the gambling industry.

The South Australian Greens are committed to building a fairer, healthier, and more sustainable future for our state. The Greens believe that it is wrong for the state to continue to rely on an industry that causes significant harm to its citizens¹³. South Australia can prosper without revenue from pokies. 

The Labor Government have forward projected that state coffers will take $2.7 billion in gambling revenue over the next four years¹⁴. However, this revenue comes at a steep price with established links between problem gambling, family violence and violent crime. Research has shown that for every $1 spent on gambling approximately $1.20 of social harm is caused¹⁵. 

The Greens will appoint an independent commission to develop a pokies licence buyback scheme over the next 7 years to facilitate a phase-out of pokies at pubs and clubs and consider options for replacing potential revenue lost. The panel will be funded to investigate, model and enact a flat 65% tax on all gaming machines, and raise the Betting Operations Tax more generally to 30%.

How much will it raise?

The 65% tax on gaming machines and the estimate on cost savings of services addressing problematic gambling harm will raise approximately $464 million over four years, or $116 million each year on average.

^{11.  https://www.gambleaware.org/media/4kzevoyu/families-living-with-problem-gambling.pdf}

^{12.  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-15/south-australia-pokies-losses-exceed-1-billion-for-first-time/105653586}

^{13.  https://impact.monash.edu/health-economics/gambling-the-closer-the-pokies-venue-the-greater-the-loss/}

^{14. https://www.treasury.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/1159383/2025-26-Budget-Statement.pdf}

^{15. https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/the-social-cost-of-gambling-to-victoria121/}

 

Taking Climate Action

Scrap fossil fuel subsidies

South Australia has committed to a net zero target by 2050 and has legislated a 50 per cent reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions by 2023. However, it is still investing heavily in gas using taxpayer money. 

The Greens will scrap the $100 million in subsidies for fossil fuel companies. In 2024-25, South Australia provided $37 million in assistance to fossil fuel industries and longer-term commitments worth $98 million. The largest sum of taxpayer money is spent at the Port Bonython facility used by Santos¹⁶.
 

How much will it raise?

Scrapping fossil fuel subsides will save $246 million over four years on average.

^{16.  https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/P1669-Fossil-fuel-subsidies-2025-Web.pdf}

 

Dump the LIV Golf course expansion

South Australia does not need another golf course. South Australians need greater investment in housing, health and transport services.  The Greens will scrap the $50 million to redevelop the North Adelaide Golf Club in the Northern Parklands.

The Greens will also return the Golf Course to the Adelaide City Council and reverse the legislation pushed through by the Malinauskas Government to strip away the planning rules and environmental protections in the Northern Parklands. 

How much will it raise?

Dumping the LIV Golf course expansion will save the state $50 million.

 

Summary of Measures

($million)	2025-26	2026-27	2027-28	2028-29	Total
Mineral and petroleum royalties	2 424	2 424	2 424	2 424	9695
Bank Levy17	503	503	503	503	2012
Housing for People, Not Profit
- Vacancy Tax	266	266	266	266	1064
- Public housing additional rental revenue (from additional public housing)	0	30	61	91	182
Protecting our Environment
- Plastic Levy	18	18	18	18	72
Ban Pokies
- 65% tax on gaming machines	16	16	16	16	64
- Conservative estimate of savings from services which deal with the social harm	100	100	100	100	400
Scrapping fossil fuel subsidies	135	37	37	37	246
Dump LIV Golf course expansion	50	0	0	0	50
Total Income	3512	3394	3425	3455	13786

^{17 Note: The forward estimate for the Bank Levy does not include the estimated growth rate of nominal Gross Domestic Product or Gross State Product between 2026-27 to 2028-29. Therefore, the estimate is a conservative calculation.}