Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I'm happy to stand in support of this legislation, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fuel Excise Relief) Bill 2026. If you think about Australians looking at the environment of global uncertainty right now, they're looking at global economic conditions; they're looking at, of course, conflict overseas; they're looking at the supply chain factors which have been underestimated by their government; and they're looking, frankly, at the future with a sense of anxiety and concern about where our country is heading, particularly because we had an inflation fire that the government was pouring debt petrol on even before this conflict. The government should have snuffed out the fire of inflation. Instead, they continued to feed it through debt spending. As a consequence, we are going into a very difficult period in our nation's history, weaker than we should be, with inflation that is persistent and undermining and not just corroding wages but leading to spiralling costs, particularly for small businesses and the self-employed, who are heavily exposed to rising costs and already struggling to make ends meet.

We have Australians going to supermarkets right now, and they're getting out their red basket or their trolley and wondering whether they can afford the items they need to support themselves and their families, particularly in the lead-up to Easter, traditionally a time of bounty inside a family—and certainly people wishing to do so. We have seafood trucks which are struggling to make ends meet to be able to get food to consumers at a price they can afford. Of course, Australians are going to supermarkets and other small businesses that they want to support, expecting to be able to afford to buy the food that they would ordinarily provide for their family, and there's a big question mark around that.

Against that backdrop, every bit of inflationary pressure is forcing the hand of the Reserve Bank. It now looks like the government are daring the Reserve Bank to increase interest rates, rather than what they should be doing, which is snuffing out the inflation fire as best they can. We've already had one interest rate hike this year as a consequence of data from last year. I think most people are now expecting it to increase, tragically. Yesterday, Westpac talked about three potential interest rate hikes this year alone. The response from a responsible government would be to turn around, turn down the dial of inflation and take the pressure off the Reserve Bank to force up interest rates. They've done the reverse. They're continuing to pour debt petrol on the inflation fire and daring the Reserve Bank to a fourth and, dare I say it, possibly a fifth rate increase.

This is the problem of the fuel crisis Australians are living right now. If it were just in isolation, it would be enormously problematic for Australians. If it were just a fuel crisis for a moment against calm economic waters domestically and internationally, Australians would still be struggling with the situation, but they'd be going into it with confidence in the future for themselves and their families, for their small business or family business or if they were self-employed. But instead they're going into this crisis where the government has created a backdrop that, unfortunately, does not give Australians the confidence they need right now, even more so in the lead-up to Easter.

What we know is that the government has fundamentally misdiagnosed and misunderstood the scale of the challenge faced by the Australian economy from events overseas—not just from the inflation problem that preceded it. I remember being here only less than a month ago, watching the Minister for Climate Change and Energy say that there were no problems around fuel stocks, and then, within three days, he declared a national crisis. I remember the Minister for Climate Change and Energy saying there was no problem around fuel stocks; then saying, three days later, there was a national crisis; then, within a few weeks, boasting that there's more fuel in Australia now than there was at the start of this crisis; and only then, within about another three days, turning around and saying, 'We're now going to consider rationing.'

This government is not in control of the situation before the Commonwealth. It does not understand the consequences of what it is doing. It does not seem to understand how supply chains work. It does not understand the essential input that fuels and liquid fuels have in the health of the economy and their impact on not just industry but also ordinary Australians. The only people who will pay, through higher prices and higher costs are, of course, ordinary Australians.

When we, the opposition, put forward a proposal to cut fuel excise, we understood that, if the government just rushed ahead and did it, it risked being inflationary. We understood from their energy rebate schemes, which they said weren't inflationary but proved to be inflationary despite the economic denial by all of the PhDs on the other side of this chamber that they claim give them brilliant insights, that, if you put these sorts of mechanisms in place without offsets, then you will get inflation. The government has followed the opposition's calls for a fuel excise cut and a reduction in the road user charge, despite the misleading comments from the Treasurer yesterday in question time, as was clarified by the Leader of the Opposition following question time. We always understood that the most important part of introducing those measures was to make sure that they were not inflationary, so we offered offsets as a condition of our proposal because, if we were going to give Australians excise relief, we didn't want to give with one hand today only to take more from them in the future with the other. What it's revealed is the economic model of the Albanese government: stoke inflation so you can then tax the inflation. While that happens, Australians get poorer and standards of living decline—all to the benefit of those who want to control the Treasury's purse, because it gives them more control and power over Australians' economic lives.

So we offered non-inflationary offsets; the government has not. The government has chosen a path where they are increasing the costs on Australians and Australian households, today and into the future. Along with other measures and other things going on with the economy, it is a really distressing situation where we are increasingly seeing a real upward pressure on inflation, on a scale that I have rarely seen in my adult lifetime, particularly in light of the fact that we have not just had a global pandemic. We proposed an excise cut of 50 per cent and a change to the road user charge, but we offered inflation offsets; the Albanese government has given no inflation offsets for its excise relief. Everything that they are giving Australians today, they are going to take from them in the future. More importantly, this will come with declines in living standards and, of course, higher taxes. Under the Albanese government, there is plenty of fuel for the inflation fire, just not for farmers and families.

What we need is a responsible government, not a government that is always playing catch-up. We need more than just the rhetoric and seeing them chase themselves around to try and prove their relevance in the middle of a national crisis. Australians need hope. They need leadership. They need a leader who isn't just the last. The Prime Minister is always the last to lead, because his government and his Treasurer don't understand the circumstances they face. And, even worse than that, we've seen the Minister for Climate Change and Energy clearly misunderstanding his role and the impact his decisions are now having on the Australian community—there is no other way you could have gone from having no problem around fuel to declaring a national crisis, to saying there's more fuel than there was at the start of the crisis, to now saying that we're going to have to consider rationing as a nation.

Australians need confidence, particularly for small and family businesses and the self-employed, who are looking at the landscape right now and saying, 'We do not know how we are going to keep things going.' We have record small-business insolvencies in this country and we're on track to exceed that record this financial year. They're looking at the future with increasing trepidation and concern about the costs that are rising while the revenue is declining. They need confidence and hope, and what they need is a government that actually understands them and wants to back them in. Instead, what we have seen every step of the way is a government that has sought to rig the rules in favour of big companies against small ones, big business against small businesses, big unions against small businesses, big capital against small businesses—and, of course, against Australians, because they don't want to empower Australians to be able to live out their own lives and make decisions to control their own destiny.

Now is the time the government must lead. Now the government needs to understand the full consequences of the measures they're introducing across the board—not just this one. At the end of it, the more their economic model is exposed, their model which is to inflate the economy and then tax the inflation, Australians are going to continue to fall further and further behind.

With that, I move:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"the House notes that:

(1) the reduction in fuel excise and corresponding reduction in the heavy vehicle road user charge reflects a policy first proposed by the Opposition;

(2) the Government initially denied there was a fuel supply problem in Australia and, by delaying taking action to ensure distribution of fuel to where it was needed, exacerbated price pressures and supply shortages;

(3) the Government delayed acting on cost of living relief despite mounting pressure on Australian households, small businesses and transporters;

(4) the Government has failed to provide any budget offsets or outline how this measure will be funded, increasing the risk of additional inflationary pressure where the only fuel guaranteed is for inflation, not for farmers or families;

(5) within 24 hours of the announcement, the Government's proposed GST arrangements have already fallen into disarray, raising further concerns about fiscal credibility and coordination;

(6) uncertainty remains regarding fuel supply security and the risk of heavy-handed market interventions; and

(7) Australians deserve timely leadership and responsible economic management during this national fuel crisis".

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