Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia is facing a convergence of emerging and significant pressures—a weak economy, rising costs and now a fuel crisis—hitting families and small businesses across the country. Last Tuesday, the Reserve Bank raised the cash rate to 4.1 per cent, the second consecutive increase and the 14th rate rise under this Labor government. In Fisher, the median house price has reached $1.285 million. That single decision adds more than $200 a month to a typical mortgage. With another rate rise forecast in May, families are moving from pressure to genuine distress. And why is this happening? It's happening because inflation remains too high. As economists have pointed out this week, that is being driven by domestic conditions, not global ones. When a government spends at record levels, it puts too much money into the economy. Too much money chasing too few goods pushes prices up. When prices rise, the Reserve Bank steps in with the only tool it has—interest rates go up—and Australians pay the price. This is cause and effect, driven by decisions made right here in Canberra.

But the situation has now taken a more serious turn. As of this week, fuel prices on the Sunshine Coast and across the country have surged dramatically. People in my electorate are now paying up to $3 a litre for diesel and around $2.85 for petrol. Petrol is up by more than 30 per cent, and diesel is up by more than 40 per cent—among the sharpest increases in fuel prices in the developed world. The impacts are being felt locally. A local news report on the Sunshine Coast last night showed more than 70 service stations running dry across Queensland. Operators are dealing with a spike in drive-offs as families struggle to fill their tanks. Drivers are rationing, putting in $20 instead of filling up. Small businesses and families are wearing the cost. Truckies are feeling the pinch. On the Sunshine Coast, businesses like Your Logistic Solutions have had fuel stolen directly from their vehicles, with losses of up to $1,800 in just one single incident.

That's what it looks like on the ground, and it raises serious questions: Why is this country so exposed? Why is Australia so dependent on foreign fuel that a conflict on the other side of the world can bring us, effectively, to our knees? The National Farmers' Federation has warned that food prices could rise by up to 50 per cent. Service stations have run dry. Oil shipments have turned back. I was speaking with a farmer this morning who said his urea costs have gone up by 50 per cent in just three weeks—50 per cent in three weeks!

This did not happen overnight. For decades, fuel security was treated as someone else's problem. That complacency was not confined to one party; I will admit that. But, when Angus Taylor was energy minister, he acted. He legislated the Fuel Security Act, he invested $200 million in offshore diesel storage and he saved both the Ampol Lytton refinery in Queensland and the Viva Energy refinery in Geelong from closure—serious measures made by someone who understands the risks. Labor inherited that framework in 2022. They had the benefit of warning signs. They had global shocks unfolding in real time. But they did not build the storage. They did not close the gap. They did not act with urgency. And now Australians are paying the price. When the message shifts from 'There's no problem here' to 'Well, actually, this is a national crisis' in the space of days, this is not leadership; this is gaslighting Australians. Australians have not been panicking; they were responding to what they could see with their own eyes.

The Reserve Bank meets again in May. Inflation data lands on 29 April. Australians filling up their cars this week will soon feel it again in their mortgages, their groceries and their bills. Australians deserve better. That is why the coalition, in opposition, is holding this government to account. (Time expired)