Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Whitlam for her question. We know that the war in the Middle East is impacting Australia like it's impacting the entire world. Big spikes in demand for fuel have pushed prices up, and there are shortages in some areas as supply chains work to keep up. We know that that is causing frustration. That's why our government is taking action with the plan for Australia's fuel security by securing fuel supply for Australian industry and households; cracking down on price gouging, through the actions of the ACCC; shielding Australians from global energy price spikes; focusing on stability and affordability for gas users, in particular—of course, that's critical for the manufacturing sector; and we're strengthening our resilience to future shocks. We've released 20 per cent of the national fuel reserve so more fuel gets to where it's needed, we've made sure that all the fuel made here in Australia is used here in Australia. And we've given Australian oil refineries the certainty that they need to make more fuel here.

When we left office, there were six of those refineries. When we returned to office, there were two. But we've made sure that we'll still have two, with the announcements that we have made. And last week, National Cabinet established the Fuel Supply Taskforce. Earlier on today I spoke with Singaporean Prime Minister, Lawrence Wong, and we're continuing to engage.

All of this action builds on our agenda of the past four years to strengthen our national resilience and our economic security, investing in a future made in Australia, making more things here as a critical part of our agenda for government: keeping industry onshore, building our sovereign capability and our resilience. Now, we'll work calmly and methodically, always in the national interest, building on what we've achieved, working together, shielding our nation from the worst of global uncertainty.

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