Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

We met with the NFF, Trucking Australia, Fertilizer Australia and the peak group of service stations in Australia, the Australian Institute of Petroleum. And I did say to every single person on that call: 'Is there any government action that you would like to ask ministers for today? Because if you ask for it, we will take it if we can.' And the most common response to that was this: 'Please ensure Australians understand there is no need for panic buying, because it is that which is causing the pressure.' That's what the NFF said. That's what the other peak groups said, and that's what we are doing. It is the case. There are there are pressures on supply chains.

The Leader of the Opposition interjects, saying, 'Just move the supplies around.' We had four refineries close while the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Hume, was the minister for energy. We saw in that period of government four refineries close, which made moving the supplies around just that little bit harder. I can say to the House, in terms of action, that as the House knows the minimum stock obligation requirements are collected weekly but have only been reported quarterly. I have instructed that, during this period of heightened uncertainty and concern, those figures will now be reported weekly. That is a regime which is appropriate in this situation. I didn't hear the Leader of the Opposition weeks ago say it should be done weekly. We have done that. He hasn't even called today for it to be done weekly. We have done that, and that is an appropriate policy action to take.

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