Cameron Caldwell (Fadden, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Housing) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today, on Thursday, being the last sitting day of this parliamentary week, knowing that when I head home tonight to the Gold Coast, the expectation of my community is that we've done something constructive while we've been down here in Canberra. They don't like the talkfests. They don't like the attacking of each other. They just want the problems that they're facing in their day-to-day lives solved. So this morning the coalition came in to this place and offered to bring forward this ACCC legislation in order for this week to not be lost entirely in what it could achieve. Outside of this legislation this week, what is it that the Albanese Labor government can say they've done, hand on heart, to try and fix this fuel crisis? Not much. So we came in here and said, 'Let's bring this forward.' Now, it's a fair question: why would you bring it forward at this point in time? I'll tell you why. Because the Treasurer and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy actually announced this initiative back on 11 March. Today is 26 March, so, for 15 days, the fuel crisis has raged in suburbs, country towns and farms all over this country, and we didn't even have legislation until yesterday. The Australian people deserve better than that from their government. I'm very, very disappointed for the Australian people that this Labor government seems to have lost control of this crisis. There's no comprehensive plan. There are no ideas that are coming in a package. They are dealing with this in a haphazard and panicked fashion, and it's the people of Australia who are paying the price now.

Every Australian is feeling this. I walked into my office this morning, pretty early, and on the front page of TheAustralian it said, 'Epidemic of empty'. Now, I just don't know at what point the penny is going to drop to this Labor government that Australians are expecting and they deserve real action to be taken. I started getting text messages this morning from people in my electorate heading down Bayview Street who have said, 'Holy smokes, diesel $3.15—an urban area, $3.15!'

Everyone wants you to believe that diesel is just some sort of choice for a SUV that you drive around the city. It's not. You see, diesel is what puts the food on the table. It's what the farmers use in their equipment. It's what the truckies use in their trucks. It's what industry uses to manufacture. This is not a choice. The majority of fuel used in Australia is diesel. So if my local community are paying $3.15, and they have the benefit of being able to get some of it, imagine how the farmers are feeling in western Queensland, where they can't even get it, let alone pay a higher price for it. This is the tragedy of what is unfolding.

We had a media announcement 15 days ago, and that legislation only just turned up this week. It was the coalition who decided to be the adults in the room and say, 'Let's get this done today.' Because when I go home tonight, I really want to be able to say to my community, 'We did something in Canberra this week. We actually tried to help.' There have been some mentions of politicking on the other side. There are no politics in this. This is about the people of Australia. The minister at the table scoffs in a disgraceful fashion, showing an absolute complete disregard for the pain that people are feeling right across Australia. So I'm proud to have stood here today as a member of the coalition to get this done.

See this speech in context