Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for McEwen for his question and for his ongoing assistance in everything to do with fuels and motor vehicles as well. Today, I convened—after we had an NSC meeting and a cabinet meeting—our National Cabinet meeting. There we endorsed the National Fuel Security Plan that we've been working on with states and territories in a coherent way across the board—both Labor and Liberal-National governments working in the national interest in a strategic way.

Making sure that we plan and prepare was the first stage. The second stage is keeping Australia moving, because we don't want to find ourselves in a similar situation to what happened with COVID, with restrictions that are unnecessary. What we want to do is make sure that the economy continues to function and make sure that people act responsibly. We repeat the message that people should only buy the fuel that they need, making voluntary choices to use less and avoid the impact of higher fuel prices.

We are at level 2. It's been agreed; the Commonwealth and states have set up the Fuel Supply Taskforce, with representatives from all state and territory governments working through the bureaucracy. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy is working through with his counterparts. The Treasurer is working through with his counterparts, as are the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. All are working to make sure that the very real global challenges that are there as a result of a war that can't be wished away—and that should be above some of the petty politics that we've seen across this chamber—are worked through in the national interest.

Today, we agreed that the Commonwealth would take immediate action to halve the fuel excise on petrol and diesel for three months, starting this Wednesday. We'll reduce the heavy-vehicle road-user charge to zero for three months—something that was not proposed by those opposite. In addition to that, the fuel price will be reduced by more than that half reduction, because we acknowledge that the GST would have produced a windfall gain for the states and territories, and they were cooperative about that as well, having been brought together through the National Cabinet process.

The National Fuel Security Plan that has been established is important. We know this is a global crisis, but we also know that families, businesses and farmers are feeling and seeing the impacts at their local petrol station, which is why we continue to act on supply. Today, we have made these cost-of-living measures.

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