Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This gives me an opportunity to set a few facts straight in this debate. It is disappointing to hear the dribble of the second speaker on this MPI that we've just heard. I say 'dribble', and he's still dribbling as he sits there. If you want to be in government, smarten up your arguments, have some facts, have a bit of detail, understand how markets work and understand how fuel excise works.

Let's deal with a few facts. Fact: the Middle East conflict has caused real disruption. There is no disagreement with that. It was a war started not by us. It'll be a war ended not by us. But we in Australia, a smart, responsible government, will work with industry, work with community, work with our allies and work with international partners on how we can best manage this crisis. That's what responsible governments do. They don't fearmonger. They don't make up nonsense. They don't create misinformation campaigns like we are seeing from the people who claim to be the alternative government.

When it comes to the fuel shortages, as established by industry in Australia and by what we're seeing in the regions, it is a spike in demand. That is what we are seeing in regional Australia—people buying more fuel than they usually would. In my own electorate of Bendigo, we've had a few places where they have run low on fuel. When you talk to the people that work in these stations, they tell you straight out that it's demand. We get one truck coming through a week, and that's usually all we need. But we've had more customers than we usually would. It's simple markets—supply and demand. You would think the Liberal Party would understand that and respect that fundamental basic principle of economics, yet they've thrown economics out the window for a cheap political point.

Another point about fuel stocks in regional Australia: before this conflict, it was not uncommon to go to petrol stations in Castlemaine or other parts of my electorate where you would see 'out of order' on one of the pumps, and you would ask people, 'Why is that one out of order?' The answer: 'Because nobody buys that fuel here in Castlemaine, so they just don't stock it.' When you're talking about pumps out of fuel, do we know what context it's in? Not all pumps in all regional service stations supply all the possible fuels, because there just aren't the customers for it.

I stand here and say I feel for our farmers who are going into harvest and who are excited about what this harvest could look like. We've had early rain and it looks like it will be a good growing season. When they go to the pump only to see, to their frustration, that their neighbours have stockpiled, it is a hard thing to swallow. I say to those people in the regions again: only buy what you need. Do not stockpile. It is dangerous to stockpile. I cannot stress this enough. Filling up jerry cans and keeping them in your garage is not safe. This is not like toilet paper in COVID. Toilet paper won't catch fire being kept in your bathroom; that isn't a health and safety risk. There's also the amount of time you can store petrol for. It is unsafe to store petrol in jerry cans for long periods if it's not something you usually do. I encourage people to not stockpile, to think of others and to make sure they're only buying what they need.

Further to what has been raised around the fuel excise—and I think this is an important point to raise in this debate—it's sugar-hit politics to say, 'Let's just cut the fuel excise.' I was here when those opposite did it, and, first of all, not all of the cut in the fuel excise was passed on; not everybody got it. First and foremost, we don't control, when we cut the fuel excise, how much the companies pass on; there's no obligation to do so. Also, the fuel excise is a measure by which we help pay for our roads infrastructure. We've collected a fuel excise tax since Federation, since we've had this parliament. It is one of the clear ways we fund upgrades. To those opposite: when you have a crack about road infrastructure, remember that you also stood in this place and called for cuts to the fuel excise.

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