Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

Leadership is about understanding that you can't control events; however, you can control how you prepare, and how you respond to events. And this government has failed to prepare Australians and the Australian economy for the cost, price, increases in fuel that we are seeing, with reports today of over $3 a litre for petrol in some outlets. Inflation is above the band, at 3.8 per cent. There are no shock-absorbers in the Australian economy to deal with the challenges we face, and this sits firmly as a failure of Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of this country, and the Treasurer. They have failed to prepare us for the challenges we have.

But understand this: it is going to get worse. Every part of the supply chain for food in this country requires diesel—for the supplies to get to the food manufacturer, for the manufacturer to make the product, and for the product to go from the manufacturer, to the distribution centre, to the supermarket that sells it. Everything in this country, unfortunately, will get more expensive.

And what do we get from this government? Silence. We get one letter to the ACCC from the Treasurer of this country. That is the sum total effort of this government to help the Australian people as it gets worse, and it continues to get worse. As prices go up at home, understand this: the failure is with the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. They have let you down. It is their responsibility. They have failed.

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