Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Treasurer. What action is the Albanese government taking to address petrol prices and fuel supply? How does this compare with other approaches?

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Gellibrand for his great question. He understands better than those opposite the local implications of instability in the world and big movements in global markets. We know that developments in the Middle East are putting additional pressure on people here at home, especially when it comes to volatility and energy prices. Just this week we've seen oil prices trading as low as almost $80 a barrel, as high as almost $120 a barrel, but it was $60 a barrel in January. We know that people are worried about these pressures, and we are acting where we can.

Our message to the retailers is do not take advantage of motorists. We've taken important steps to crack down on any retailers who do try to take advantage of the situation. Just yesterday, we announced the doubling of fines. We increased surveillance of suspicious price spikes. And we are working with industry and the ACCC to coordinate supply, especially to regional areas where there are particular concerns. This is on top of the extra powers we already gave the ACCC, including to issue on-the-spot fines. I spoke to the chair of the ACCC very early this morning to make sure they have what they need, and they are on the case.

I also want to remind the House that in November last year, this government passed important changes to the Fuel Security Act 2021 and the Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting Act 2017. In the explanatory memoranda of the legislation that we updated in November, it said it was all about providing:

… additional tools to manage critical fuel shortages and ensure Australia is not hampered by temporary shortages.

That legislation made our stockpiles more accessible in times of disruption. It required more transparency around fuel supplies and also mandatory reporting of diesel exhaust fluid and urea shortages.

The reason I raise this legislation that we moved and passed in this place and the other place in November of last year is that those opposite voted against it. They voted against it, if you can believe it. With all the politics they are now playing, they came into this place and voted against our efforts to manage the stockpiles more effectively for situations like the one we find ourselves in today. Doesn't it say everything about those opposite that when they had the chance to do the right thing, to update our fuel security arrangements, they came in here and, in the usual way, voted no? These are the same people who stored our fuel in Texas and saw six refineries become two refineries, the same people who are scaring people and making the situation worse.

They will play their politics. We will work through these issues in a considered and methodical but urgent and decisive way, not just acknowledging people's concerns but acting on them.

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

My question is to the Minister for Resources. On the ABC this morning the Minister for Resources on two occasions refused to guarantee that Australia won't run out of fuel as a result of the ongoing Iran war. Can the Minister for Resources guarantee that Australia won't run out of fuel because of the ongoing Iran war? Minister, is this a national crisis?

Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the leader for his question—sorry: the manager—I thank the member!

An honourable member: It's hard to keep up!

It really is! But, to the question directly, what I will guarantee to the Australian people is that they will be far better placed to withstand the international shocks caused by the conflict in the Middle East with this government looking out for their interests and always acting in the national interest than if those MPs on the other side were on these treasury benches. It is these people behind me, these Labor MPs, who will always fight in the national interest, and I guarantee that they will work to make sure the Australian people are well supplied with fuel.

The Treasurer has just highlighted exactly what those opposite have done: voted against important reform to make sure the Australian people can have access to the stockpiles of fuel that the Minister for Energy and Climate Change has made sure exist, while the Leader of the Opposition made sure it was in Texas—or somewhere; I don't even know anymore: it's so confusing, whatever their stockpiling plan was. And now they come in here and try to make accusations about what we are doing in the interests of the Australian people.