Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I call on the government to commence action to bolster sovereign fuel and fertiliser production in this country. The businesses, families, fishers and farmers in my electorate demand it. With the Strait of Hormuz compromised, surging prices and rationing are worsening our cost-of-living crisis and putting primary production at risk. Suppliers are being told to prioritise retail stations over farms, and many regional pumps are already completely dry. In Port Lincoln, fleet sales have stopped. Fishers await a fuel ship, worried it might be diverted, as tens of millions of dollars worth of tuna lie waiting in pens offshore. Primary industries like seafood and ag need to be prioritised. Ninety per cent of tuna are penned. These fish must be fed, or businesses risk massive losses. Road trains face extra weekly costs of $1,300, surviving on retail fuel because yard deliveries have ceased. Furthermore, Australia relies on the Middle East for almost half of its urea imports. Urea usage peaks in April prior to seeding. NeuRizer was incredibly close to domestic production in Leigh Creek before red tape and green tape made approvals impossible. Thanks, Minister Koutsantonis and Minister Watt. We must move towards domestic production to stop being price takers and stop being vulnerable in an increasingly unstable global environment. Minister Bowen needs to pull his finger out and get fuel moving.