Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister inform the House where there are fuel supply shortages in Australia?

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

As the leader of the National Party said just yesterday, and it was a very good interview:

… the big message for every Australian is don't panic. The suppliers are there.

…   …   …

We all have a role to play in that … stick to our normal daily operations and schedules and don't think that we have to always keep topping up.

Not to be outdone, Senator Jonno Duniam today, when asked about refinery issues and energy security, said:

… I do accept that successive governments have let Australians down … It hasn't just happened over the last four years. This is decades in the making …

And, indeed, there were six refineries when government changed in 2013. When they left office, there were two. So two-thirds of them shut down.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Prime Minister will pause. The Manager of Opposition Business on a point of order.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It goes to standing order 104, direct relevance. It was a very specific question. If you don't know where the problem is, how—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resume your seat. I'm just going to remind the manager not to give additional information. The Prime Minister was asked where there are fuel supply shortages in Australia. He is answering the question with quotes and comments, which all prime ministers have done for a long time, and he's talking about the issue of fuel supply, so he is being directly relevant. But he was asked a fairly broad question, and maybe the Prime Minister can provide further information to the House.

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

I'm asked about where fuel supplies are, and I'll tell you where they're not. That's in the four refineries that shut on their watch. That's the whole point here—four out of six. I'll tell you where they're not also, Mr Speaker. They're not in Texas, which is where they had their fuel security under this minister.

Australia is fuel secure right now. We have as much fuel coming in through our ports now as we did before the war in the Middle East began. Retailers should certainly not be using events in the Middle East to price-gouge Australians, and any retailer that makes false or misleading statements to consumers about the reasons that their prices have increased is in breach of Australian Consumer Law.

We've given the ACCC new powers to act on this and increased competition and consumer law penalties fivefold, up to $50 million. We'll continue to work to ensure that we have the fuel that we need, protecting families and primary producers so they can fill up their cars and so they can keep their farms operating.