Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, what has become of the blowtorch that the government was going to apply to the oil-producing countries? Doesn’t this prove that the government, when it comes to petrol prices, is ‘all blow and no torch’?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What distresses me about the question from the Leader of the Opposition is that there seems to be one party in Australian politics that is happy about the fact that there are constraints on global oil supply. There seems to be one party which celebrates the fact that there are difficulties in the overall supply situation—and that is the party opposite—because they see political advantage in it. What we have said consistently is that any responsible long-term approach to the challenge of global oil means dealing with global supply constraints. Furthermore, it means dealing with the demand-side challenges which exist internationally, dealing with alternative fuel strategy within Australia, dealing with greater investment in fuel-efficient vehicles, dealing with necessary long-term investment in public transport and dealing with those measures which assist the family budget to cope with the overall assault on that budget by rising petrol prices, rising food prices and rising rents and mortgages. This is the responsible long-term course of action, and it would be good if those opposite engaged in responsible debate about the long-term challenges for global oil rather than celebrating the fact that there are challenges when it comes to global supply.