Crossbench MPs are reviving calls for a mining rent tax to guarantee taxpayers a “fair cut” of a potential critical minerals boom.

Independents David Pocock, Allegra Spender and Kate Chaney say past policy decisions that have allowed companies to profit off Australian gas with relatively little return to taxpayers must not be repeated as the country’s next big resources opportunity beckons.

Australia’s burgeoning critical minerals industry was this week given a major boost after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the US president, Donald Trump, signed a landmark A$13bn deal to fund a pipeline of projects in the two countries.

The agreement inked in Washington has prompted Pocock to resurrect calls for a new mining tax to ensure taxpayers aren’t short-changed.

The ACT senator said the federal government must avoid repeating the past “mistakes” with the offshore LNG sector, including export deals and tax settings, which he said allowed multinational gas giants to “siphon” off Australia’s natural resources.

Pocock has regularly criticised the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT), which raised $1.45bn for the federal budget in 2024-25 despite the huge revenues of oil and gas companies such as Santos and Woodside.

“These are our natural resources, they belong to all of us, and if they’re going to be exploited, then we need to get a fair cut of that,” he said.

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The then prime minister Kevin Rudd’s plan for a 40% mining super profits tax triggered a major industry and political backlash, hastening his downfall as leader in 2010.

His successor, Julia Gillard, replaced the policy with a watered-down minerals resources rent tax, which was ultimately abolished after Tony Abbott’s Coalition won the 2013 election.

Advocates such as the former competition watchdog Rod Sims have pushed for a similar tax to be resurrected to broaden the commonwealth’s revenue base – but neither of the major parties have been willing to entertain it.

Pocock is planning to ask the parliamentary budget office to cost a mining super profits tax to help inform the debate.

“This is something that is in the national interest,” he said.

Spender – the leading crossbench voice on tax reform – echoed Pocock’s view.

“When we design the tax regime for new mining ventures, we must avoid the mistakes of the past like the PRRT,” the MP for Wentworth said.

“Australia’s wealth of critical minerals and rare earths is an important strategic and economic opportunity,” she said.

“The government must establish a tax base that incentivises the investment while ensuring a fair share of Australia’s resources and mining profits, especially during price spikes, for Australian citizens.

“We need a solid tax base that can fund the government services we demand while easing the tax burden on young workers.”

Chaney, who represents the seat of Curtin in the mining state of Western Australia, said the government must heed the lessons of the PRRT and Gillard’s abolished tax.

“Given the rate of change needed to be competitive in the critical minerals market, it makes sense for taxpayers to invest in de-risking investments upfront, ensuring projects get off the ground efficiently,” she said.

“In return, everyday Australians must see the economic benefits of the new resources boom – we can’t keep giving our natural resources away to foreign-owned companies.

“We have a narrow window of remarkable opportunity to ensure the tax settings and regulatory structure for critical minerals set the nation, and Australians, up for prosperity.”

Asked on Friday if the government was open to a new mining tax, a spokesperson for the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said: “We already have a broad and ambitious tax reform agenda.”

The spokesperson said that included income tax cuts, a freshly reworked plan for large superannuation balances and changes in 2023 to the PRRT, which were designed to make companies pay the tax sooner.

Guardian Australia contacted the Minerals Council of Australia for comment.