Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Energy Security and Affordability) Share this | Hansard source

Do you know who did support the actions that the coalition government took in that period? Labor supported them. They said they were very sensible. That's what you should do in a situation like this. That's exactly what you should do. But now we hear, no, they're not going to do it. And it gets worse than that. Since that time, we now have the Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting Act in full effect, and that gives the minister up-to-date data on exactly the fuel stock levels right across the country. He can look into each city; he can look into each street and see where the fuel is and where the constraints are.

He could work with the ACCC—as we did in 2021, during his time—to work with the distributors to get that done and to smooth it out so that we don't see what we're seeing right now, which is fuel bowsers with little signs saying: 'No fuel. Closed.' Whole petrol stations are closed off and whole distributors. We saw United Petroleum saying they're going to have to shut down for a while, and that's playing out because we have an uneven distribution, which the minister has the ability to do something about. Instead, we heard today, through multiple questions, that the minister has a very different approach to what the coalition took when we had a similar problem. The minister's approach is hands off: 'I'm not going to do anything. This is Australia's fault.' Quite frankly, some of the minister's responses that we heard today beggar belief. He was trying to tell us that there is no fuel supply issue in Australia. To Australians out there who are driving past a closed petrol station, to Australians who can't get their fuel supply: the minister is telling you that's not real, that you're not seeing it.

We shouldn't be surprised: this is the minister who told us we were going to get a $275 reduction in our energy bills. That didn't happen either. His connection with reality is tenuous at best, and we're seeing it play out to the detriment of Australians right across the country.

This matters in a role like the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. The numbers matter. You have to be across the numbers. You have to know what's going on in your portfolio. Today, it was very clear. There are fuel supply issues right across Australia, with a number of major regional cities experiencing them. The minister is not aware of it, he's not across it, and he intends to do absolutely nothing about it. That is an absolute shame for every Australian who's struggling with higher fuel costs right now.

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