Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Industry and Sovereign Capability) Share this | Hansard source

Australia is facing a massive fuel crisis, and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy acknowledged that two weeks ago in this House. Families, businesses and industry are feeling the pressure around the country as fuel prices spike and fuel shortages emerge. People want to know what the Albanese government's plan is.

You don't have to be an expert to see how dependent Australia is on global events. Most people know that we are trade exposed and vulnerable to supply chain disruption. That's why people are shocked to know that the Albanese government had no plan to deal with an oil supply shock in the Middle East. The Prime Minister should have known better. He, after all, gets briefed by his defence chiefs and his intelligence chiefs. He's even got President Trump's mobile phone number. He knew there was a military build-up in the Middle East. He knew there were rumblings of war. And now, after three weeks, the Strait of Hormuz is still closed and 20 per cent of the world's oil and gas is no longer on the global market.

When we asked the Minister for Defence Industry two weeks ago about military operations in the Strait of Hormuz, he couldn't give an answer. But, more importantly, he revealed he hadn't even thought about the question. The truth is that there was no plan for an extended closure of the Strait of Hormuz from the Albanese government, and Australians are now suffering as a result. Fuel prices are up, farmers are panicked about their crops and we are going to be waiting a very long time at the end of a very long global supply chain. It's not good enough, Prime Minister. Do better for the Australian people.

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