Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Fuel security is not simply about getting our cars from A to B; fuel security is national security. Fuel powers the tractors that produce the food on Australian tables. It runs the boats of fishermen who sustain coastal communities and export to the world, it powers the trucks that keep supermarket shelves stocked and it fuels the aircraft of our ADF—the very planes we rely on to defend this nation in times of conflict—yet today Australia is dangerously exposed. Twenty-five years ago this country was fully self-sufficient in oil extraction and fuel refining. We once had seven fuel refineries in this country. Today we just have two, and, unbelievably, both of them are being squeezed by Labor's carbon taxes through the safeguard mechanism—taxes these refineries simply do not need while they're already struggling to survive.

At a time of growing global instability, are we really surprised that fuel markets are volatile? How can our farmers produce food, if they can't afford the diesel to run their tractors, seeders and headers? Pretty soon we'll be importing all of our fresh produce too. The buck stops with the energy minister and the Prime Minister, who have the legislative tools to deal with this crisis thanks to the former coalition government. It is on this government to now show up and use them.

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