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

The honourable member has asked what's going on. I refer honourable members to a statement by the Australian Institute of Petroleum just before question time, which said:

Over the last week, AIP member companies have been hit by a sudden rush to buy fuel. In some cases, suppliers have seen bulk fuel customers buying four times their usual volume of fuel. The rush to buy fuel has been unprecedented, outstripping the surge seen at the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022.

They're just the facts. But what we'll continue to do is work with all the necessary parties across the board. We yesterday held a roundtable for relevant senior ministers with the key groups, including the National Farmers' Federation, the National Farmers' Federation, who very genuinely represent the interests of farmers. The President of the National Farmers' Federation, Hamish McIntyre, has said there's been an increased demand by around 40 per cent right across the nation. 'The stock of fuel is still flowing. We're comfortable with that. As Minister Bowen has advised us, we just have to slow down demand across Australia.' He went on to say, I feel obliged to tell the House, 'It's great to see that the minister's taken this initiative with all the sectors involved right across the transport industry. We're working together to make sure there's a fair and even distribution of it.'

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