Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australians are doing the right thing, but this government is not. Australians are watching what happens at the bowser, and they are rightly concerned. But let's be clear: not every Australian is panic buying fuel. Most people are doing the right thing. They are getting on with running their businesses, getting to work and keeping their farms going. I'll give you an example. Over the weekend I was at Farm World, the best agricultural field days in Australia, and I had a farmer come up to me and say: 'Mary, I'm about to get on with sowing. I took a fuel can to my local petrol station so I could fill up my tractor, and I was actually turned away because they thought I was panic buying that fuel.' It's an important message. A lot of our farmers are struggling right now, and they need the benefit of the doubt, which this government's not giving them.

But that is the reality of regional Australia right now. It's not the behaviour of Australians. It's a failure of leadership. If this government is serious, then it needs to act to move fuel to servos where it's needed and provide immediate relief by slashing the petrol tax. The Victorian government's announced free public transport. That's great if you live in the city, but you can't get a train to your tractor and those people that are doing it tough in towns like Wonthaggi are cross-subsidising that relief.

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