Zoe McKenzie (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Fuel security might feel like a technical issue, but on the Mornington Peninsula it is something that locals feel each and every time they pull up at the bowser. Prices always surge before a long weekend, as they did last week, but this is something else. Today, across the peninsula, prices are sitting around $2.19 for unleaded and nearly $2.30 for diesel. For families, tradies and small businesses alike in my electorate, those costs are biting hard, and that's because communities like Flinders are more exposed than most.

On the Mornington Peninsula, 59 per cent of households have two or more cars, well above the Melbourne average. More than 58 per cent of residents drive to work, and at least half of them work outside of the electorate. Over 80 per cent of our region has little to no access to public transport whatsoever. In other words, when fuel supply is uncertain or prices spike, Peninsula families cannot simply jump on a bus or a train. They have no alternative.

Fuel security and affordability is a local economic and a national security issue. COVID exposed just how fragile global supply chains can be, and at that time the coalition established a comprehensive fuel security package, including minimum stockholding obligations and support for Australia's refining capacity. The question now is whether the current Labor government has the same level of urgency. Australians deserve confidence that, in times of global instability, we have a clear strategy to secure adequate fuel supplies.