Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

He was a very good man. I've been saying similar for some time now as well, as has most of the coalition. The world has changed. The international security context has changed, perhaps for a generation. We hope not, but we must take the world as we find it, not as we hope it would be. Australia is blessed with every energy resource under the sun, including not only the sun but also oil and gas and coal and uranium. It's time to stop the self-inflicted harm of anti-Australian political ideologies and tap into our enormous energy reserves.

These bills are about reconfiguring Export Finance Australia to become a body that invests in imports for fuel security, not just our export capacity. Let's look at the numbers. Over 50 per cent of Australia's total energy demand is from liquid fuels. Cars and passenger vehicles make up just 30 per cent of our liquid fuel demand; the other 70 per cent is freight, aviation, mining, agriculture, manufacturing and construction. Liquid fuels make up 60 per cent of our total imports by volume. It is actually insane in a country blessed with the resources that we have.

The USA, Brazil, Norway, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, China and India—most of them large countries—considering their onshore and offshore reserves, have been pursuing energy independence. Australia's refinery capacity meets just 20 per cent of our demands. Over 95 per cent of our liquid fuel supply depends on ships arriving at our ports, which in this time, with the war in Iran occurring, is incredibly risky business.

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