Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

We're hosting a national cabinet and special energy ministers meetings as well. That's how we're ensuring that there's no profiteering and that there's fair competition. That's how we're ensuring that we get more supply into the system, given the spikes in demand that I just touched on. We need to ensure that petrol is being priced fairly. That is really important for people in Australia. It would be very disappointing if we were to discover that these companies are trying to make a quick buck off the back of this situation. They should know that the government is watching what they're doing very, very closely. That's why new information-gathering powers have been given to the secretary of the department as well as additional information about supply and demand and fuel distribution terminals around Australia being given to the relevant agencies, and that includes empowering the ACCC to protect motorists from unfair price rises as well. We'll hold those suppliers accountable for any anticompetitive conduct and allow conditional coordination across the supply chain to address shortages.

As the Assistant Minister for Defence, I think it's important to let the public know, too, that, within Defence, I've been in contact with our department and the ADF around our plans during this period. It is important to also state clearly that Defence's fuel supply is secure. In fact, Defence, since 2022, has doubled the amount of fuel that it holds in strategic reserves. We've done the real work of government, the responsible work of government, to actually make sure of those contingencies. We've committed billions of dollars into the Defence fuel resilience program—$3 billion, actually—and that stands in comparison to the previous government, which had committed just $1 billion over a 30-year timeframe. Our first phase of the strategic fuel reserve has now been delivered, making our Defence Force more agile and secure. That includes investment in infrastructure, additional fuel stores and transport mechanisms. That is important for our men and women in uniform.

But, yes, there is pressure on everyday Australians around the fuel crisis, and we've got, obviously, this period with cost-of-living pressures and so on. That is why the Treasurer has quite rightly pointed out that, even though the new inflation numbers for February are somewhat lower—there's been a little bit of an easing—they're still higher than we would like, and he continues to do the work to bring inflation down. The government understands that many Australians are feeling that cost-of-living pressure, and that's why we're rolling out cost-of-living relief on a continual basis. Again, it might not be as exciting as the pot shots that those opposite are throwing around, but we are doing the real work.

This side actually cares about our communities and our constituents. We're making sure that we've got the tax cuts for every taxpayer. The pay rise for minimum and award wage workers is happening under Labor. There's paid parental leave; the bonuses for housing apprentices; the percentages off home batteries to cut power bills; the paid prac for teachers, nurses and social workers; the boost to Medicare; and the Medicare urgent care clinics that we are building right across the country. All of this makes a real, substantive difference to the people that we represent, and that's why we are doing it.

We're taking responsibility as a government to make sure that Australians are looked after. In difficult periods the Albanese Labor government is putting practical, substantive policies in place that make a real difference to people's lives. I understand the need in this place for some theatrics and all the rest of it, but there are facts and realities that go over and above the partisan points that are being made, and I have set them out clearly in this MPI. There is more fuel supply in our reserves today than there has been for a long time, and we are doing what is necessary to look after Australians every single day.

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