Ali France (Dickson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. How is the Albanese Labor government working with the states and territories, industry and our international partners to respond to the ongoing disruptions to global trade caused by the war in the Middle East?

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

I thank the fantastic member for Dickson for the question. As we heard from the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and as most people around the world would recognise, this is a global issue and there are global pressures on trade. There are global pressures on energy supply. There are global pressures on inflation as a result of the actions, particularly of the Iranian regime, which has engaged in attacks on neighbouring nations in the Middle East and effectively closed to almost all traffic the Strait of Hormuz.

It is imperative that freedom of navigation in the region recommences unhindered and we again reiterate Australia's call for Iran to cease this reckless action, which is having the consequence of isolating itself even further from decent people right around the world because of the actions and the reckless way in which it is seeking to damage ordinary people, ordinary citizens, not only in their region of the Middle East but right around the world. Disruption to 20 per cent of the world's oil supply is continuing to impact nations. Indeed, we heard as well about the impact of these actions on the economies of Europe.

We live in a world which is more connected than ever before, where no-one is immune from these shocks. We know that increased petrol prices put pressure on Australians, and that's why it's so important to work with every partner that we can, both at home and overseas, to shield our nation as best as possible from the worst of global uncertainty. That's why I engaged with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong of Singapore and issued a joint statement with him yesterday. That's why we invited and had the executive director of the IEA, Dr Birol, here in Australia. It's why we had a discussion with him yesterday afternoon, and it's why senior members of the government are continuing to engage right across with our partners in the region. The Commonwealth is continuing to lead on supply, and we're coordinating action with the states and territories as well, who have a key role in the distribution of fuel across the nation.

Earlier today, I met with the coordinator, Anthea Harris. She's convened a meeting already today of the different state coordinators who've been appointed as a result of the National Cabinet meeting that I organised last Thursday through the establishment of the Fuel Supply Taskforce. This is important to coordinate the activity right across different levels of government with the national response. We continue to drive this agenda as well. Part of the agenda has to be to make our economy more resilient. That's one of the lessons that we learned from COVID, and it's one of the lessons that we're being reminded of right now with this issue.