Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia is facing a genuine national energy and fuel crisis that is devastating our nation. Across the country, particularly in our vital regional communities, everyday citizens are quite literally running on empty. Hardworking people are looking to the Labor government for leadership, urgency and decisive action. Instead, we are—and I am—very disappointed. Unfortunately, this is a government that has completely run out of gas when it comes to this issue.

The reality is stark: petrol is soaring to nearly $2.50 a litre while diesel hits $3.20 in many of the towns in regional South Australia. These prices are hitting households, and hitting fishers, farmers and tradies. Regional Australians rely on diesel vehicles for basic survival, yet they are currently being bled dry by Labor's errors around fuel management and ignoring blatant price-gouging market tactics. Families are carpooling just to save money and, with Easter approaching, cancelling planned holidays and visits to see other family members because travel is just too damn expensive. In my electorate, hardworking tourist operators in Wallaroo, Port Lincoln, Coffin Bay and the bottom end of Yorke Peninsula, who rely on critical seasonal revenue, are watching bookings disappear. This is on top of the harmful algal bloom.

Australians expect real leadership. Instead, they receive silence, confusion and mixed messaging. The government's contradictions on this issue are breathtaking. Within days, we watched the flip-flop from saying there was no fuel problem to suddenly declaring a national crisis. We have seen multiple hastily convened National Cabinet meetings achieve absolutely nothing. This government was caught completely flat footed, totally asleep at the wheel and in absolute denial about the scale of this issue. The economy-wide impact is severe. Fuel costs are hitting farmers and fishers hard. Dedicated manufacturers are being squeezed, and the vital freight and logistics sector is being crushed. Predictably, these surging costs are going to be passed directly onto everyday customers at the local supermarket checkout. Meanwhile, small businesses—who are already facing industrial relations pressure, crippling inflation, rising taxes and heavy compliance costs—now have to take this brutal blow.

The coalition today offers a broader warning. There is a genuine risk for an absolute economic earthquake if this is not addressed urgently, yet we see a complete failure to act. This government has introduced legislation but has not progressed it. They have failed entirely to act on essential price-gouging protections. This crisis is now visible in both our regional and urban areas. The core message from the coalition today is simple: this emergency is undeniably urgent and it is incredibly real. It is hitting vulnerable Australians exceptionally hard and immediate action is needed. Labor must finally prioritise our struggling families and our hardworking farmers. Right now, everyday Australians are unfairly paying the ultimate price for constant government delay and stubborn denial. We cannot afford to waste any more time engaging in empty political spin while regional towns suffer through these wildly inflated prices. This parliament should be completely focused on getting fuel flowing and getting prices firmly under control right now. We need real solutions to ensure no community is left behind.

Australia is a net energy exporter in the form of coal and gas. Why are we not working with our export partners to get agreements to ensure that the liquid fuels flow to this country? I'll end with this: Mary Morris, a farmer from Eudunda, said it best: 'Today I received a phone call to say I was reclassified as "critical" and I might get fuel on April Fool's Day, if it comes. This is an absolute disgrace.' April Fool's Day—what a sick joke.

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