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

I thank the fantastic member for Aston, who, three years ago today, became the first government member to win a seat off the opposition in the House of Representatives in 100 years, and then turned that victory in a by-election into being re-elected as the member for Aston last May.

The war in the Middle East has caused the biggest spike in global fuel prices in history, and Australians are feeling and seeing that across the economy. I know people are doing it tough, which is why we've acted to make a real difference.

From today, we've halved the fuel excise, directly helping families and businesses save 26c per litre at the pump. We're backing truckies, slashing the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero and making sure that they get paid fairly and on time, with the legislation we brought before the parliament just last week. Australia's national strategic reserve is now law, so shiploads of fuel, fertiliser and other essentials can flow into our economy. We're giving small businesses more economic breathing room and support through the Australian Taxation Office and the measures that we've taken there. Leaders across state and federal jurisdictions have adopted the National Fuel Security Plan. Importantly, it's been adopted across the political spectrum by the eight states and territories, as well as the Commonwealth, so we're ready for what may come in an orderly way. We're planning and making sure that we put those procedures in place.

No government can eliminate all of the pressure, which is on right around the world. That's just the truth, and we're being straight with people about that. There are challenges ahead, but, no matter what the world throws at us, we can take action and we will continue to take action. We'll do it in the Australian way, backing in our national interest, securing our economic resilience and making sure that any measures we take to deal with short-term issues also set us up to be more resilient in the future. We're learning the lessons that are there from being at the end of supply chains and making sure that we deliver real support to people that makes a positive difference as well. We're navigating those rough seas that are there at the moment, but we always have our eyes on the horizon—on the future—as well.

See this speech in context