Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bonner for her question. Her electorate, of course, includes the Lytton Refinery, which is doing a lot of heavy lifting to ensure our country is fuel secure. I want to echo the minister for climate change's words: Australia is fuel secure because of the actions of this government. We take fuel security very seriously, and we also take seriously how critical fuel is in keeping regional communities and the transport sector moving. It's why we have made important decisions that have better prepared us for fuel shock, including the minimum stockholding obligation back in 2022 and ensuring that our two refineries remain open.

I also want to be very clear that every scheduled delivery of fuel in Australia has arrived here as planned. I know, however, that Australians are concerned that a significant increase in demand for diesel has seen shortages, particularly in some regional communities. We are seeing some regional service stations struggling to replenish fuel supplies, with demand doubling and even tripling in some areas. I, along with Minister Collins, Minister Ayres and Minister Bowen, met yesterday with both the fuel suppliers and the peak of the transport industry to discuss these issues and to ensure that the key players are working together. I in fact met with Centurion, the largest WA transport provider, this morning. We'll continue to work with industry on how best to manage this, including our meeting with other transport providers tomorrow to ensure continued visibility of this issue. We do continue to have adequate supply of jet fuel, but we do expect that there will be some increase in relation to airfares.

We do understand that this is challenging for many people and that people are feeling the impact of higher prices at the bowser. It's why we're taking immediate action to ensure fuel providers aren't taking advantage of the current conflict, and we've charged the ACCC with ensuring there is no price gouging at fuel stations. The ACCC also already monitors airfares and will continue to do this to ensure that airlines don't unfairly raise their prices.

Now, just as this is not a commercial opportunity, it should also not be a political opportunity either. I would ask—and I do so, frankly, more in hope than in expectation given what we have seen from those opposite—that we all be responsible for helping our constituents to recognise that consistent supply means we should all continue to purchase fuel and use fuel in a measured and consistent way. When elected members and commentators intentionally spread fear in the community, that contributes to panic buying. Those opposite's irresponsibility in this case is there for everybody to see.

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