David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion, and let me explain to the member for Moreton that, if the government had a plan, you wouldn't have over 500 fuel stations without fuel. You wouldn't have farmers without the ability to bring in bulk supplies to plant or harvest their crops, as we sit at this moment. Just for your information, Member for Moreton, I've been at a cabinet table. When you talk about something of national security, which is what fuel is, and when you understand the geopolitical issues that arise—particularly when you see a war unleashed in the Middle East, where much of the fuel in this global community is derived—there is advice given to the government straightaway around the threats that will be coming our way. But the fact is that there was no plan. The fact is that they had no understanding of the supply issues that were about to hit this country, because they worked in the superficial. They worked on the advice of the big four fuel companies that said, 'We'll keep putting fuel into the capital cities to make sure there is no panic.' And they didn't understand the market itself—didn't understand that there are two markets: while the big four fuel companies in this country control 80 per cent of the market, there is a secondary market, where smaller wholesale players actually undertake to supply us in regional Australia, like the seat of Grey.

The lived experience of the people of Grey is not just their farmers not being able to fill their tanks but also their communities. I myself had the same. The town of Dalby, with 12,000 people, ran out of fuel. Texas, with 800 people, ran out of fuel. Allora ran out of fuel. Wallangarra ran out of fuel. But that's okay because the people of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane were still able to fill up for a while—that is, until now, when, low and behold, there is a supply issue!

The fact is that this minister, from the very moment—because of the legislation that we put in place as a coalition government—knew where every litre of fuel was in this country when this crisis started. When he knew that there were bombs dropped in Iran and that there were going to be global supply issues, he did not understand that he had the powers to make sure he knew where every litre of fuel was. The people of Grey and the people of Maranoa and the people across regional Australia are not the second-class citizens that this government has treated us as. That was the reality he could have actually undertaken straightaway, and then he could have utilised his powers to move those litres of fuel.

He simply said, 'It is all about the people of Australia going out there and taking more fuel than they need.' Well, he didn't create the environment, because he had no plan. Then he said, 'All we'll do is we'll give the ACCC some more powers.' Well, the ACCC already had the powers, and he was going to increase the penalties. He's going to increase the penalties to $100 million. Bully for him! But, unless the ACCC was charged with the responsibility of going out there and undertaking investigations into these wholesale markets, where we're being taken advantage of by the big four, then nothing was going to happen. You can lift the penalties as much as you want, but the ACCC has done nothing. In fact, regional Australia has no confidence in the ACCC. They have about as much credence as the Bureau of Meteorology! That is how much credence and hope we have in the ACCC being able to hold these big fuel companies to account and to make sure regional Australia (1) gets its supply and (2) is treated with a fair price. We have no confidence in this government nor in the ACCC. You can lift the penalties until the cows come home, but it will do nothing. It will do nothing at all. This is the reality: we have had a minister and a government that have not understood the supply chains globally, and, more importantly, have not understood the supply chains here in our country.

We're now finding out that there is rationing happening, not just in regional Australia. I can tell you, in my hometown of Allora, they were asking me to only take 40 litres at the bowser. We're seeing that now right across this country. They don't have to mandate the number of litres that you can take at service stations, because Australians are having to do it themselves despite there being a secure supply.

This is why this plan is full of nonsense rather than hard facts about a minister using the powers he had from the very moment this crisis hit. If he was listening to the advice that was coming from the experts saying that there were going to be global supply issues and, therefore, that there would be local supply issues, he would have known, intrinsically. He would have known where those litres were. He would have known where to push them to. That is what a good minister would do.

And a treasurer that understood the secondary wholesale market, that understood the big fuel companies were holding back, hedging against future price shocks, as well as—lo and behold—lifting overall prices, would have seen a government look coherent and actually in tune with how Australia actually operates. If you do not have fuel, you do not have food and you do not have an economy, and that is what the Albanese government has rendered Australia to.

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