Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're very happy to see that this legislation, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026, is being debated, though we're very disappointed that the government has gone through a shambled process, to introduce the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026 this morning. They have tried to force it through the parliament before anyone in the entire country has read it. The Leader of the House understands full well the scale of the legislation he is trying to introduce, and he is now trying to ram it through the parliament on the basis that he has no interest in the opposition or anyone outside this parliament scrutinising it. It's a very dangerous precedent.

This is in comparison to the schedules that are being updated in the context of the Competition and Consumer Act which are focused very squarely on making sure penalties are imposed on those who seek to price gouge or harm Australians. It's a straightforward exercise that they have dawdled on every step of the way. The response from the minister has been to not bring the legislation to the House, to bring it to a vote to resolve the matter and to up the penalties, but instead he has allowed time to drift. We are simply asking that that matter, which is simple, straightforward and clear, be resolved. Instead, what the government is now doing is a shambolic process to try and shut down parliamentary scrutiny and parliamentary accountability. I'll remind the House this Fair Work legislation was introduced this morning. A copy has not even, as far as I am aware, been made available to the opposition—or, if it has, we certainly haven't had the chance to read it yet. When you're making such substantial changes to industrial relations legislation—and I know the Labor Party works for the trade union movement; it doesn't work for Australians—at some point you actually have to factor Australians into the conversation.

We hope and pray sanity prevails and that the government is proportionate and reasonable. They announced the changes in the ACCC bill well over a week ago. There was a lot of fanfare from the Treasurer. I understand why there was a lot of fanfare from the Treasurer, because they need to be seen to be taking action given the context and time. We have been waiting patiently for the legislation. It finally arrived, it is straightforward and simple, and that's why we have no issue debating it. We do have a problem when the government announces legislation and essentially gives no real insight into its detail—and its detail matters. They have stapled it on to the motion for another bill and forced the debate on it, and the consequence is that it's not just that the opposition who will not have the chance to scrutinise it; the Australian people won't have the chance to scrutinise it. Of course, there will be no chance for those people who understand this legislation to step through it one by one.

But let's deal with the legislation now at hand, particularly the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026. There is a simple reality out there in Australia: Australians are desperately trying to find a pathway forward to be able to afford fuel. In this House we have gone through multiple stages of crisis, from complete denial, by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy on Monday, that there is a problem to on Thursday declaring a national crisis in this nation's parliament. As a consequence, Australians are now living the full consequences of a fuel crisis that stems from government denial. If they had taken it more seriously with a sense of urgency and prudence, we wouldn't be in a situation where residents in the electorate are now paying somewhere around $2.50 for unleaded and up to $3.50 for diesel. This is a huge problem that Australians are living with now, in the lead-up to Easter and over Saturday with sport, in being able to drive around the electorates of the country. The challenge for Australian households right now is they do not want to see price gouging impacting them.

In the lead-up to the bill being presented before the parliament, I understand that we unintentionally misled the House, because I understand that the Treasurer did offer a briefing to the office, but it was not relayed to me. This is a simple error, and so I want to correct the record.

Jo Briskey (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we have just heard from those opposite is not a genuine attempt to help struggling Australians. It is a blatant political tactic dressed up as concern. The coalition comes into this place claiming to stand for households under pressure and to speak for families doing it tough, but, when it has mattered, where have they been over the last three years? They have consistently voted against every single cost-of-living relief measure that we have put through this parliament. When there is real opportunity to act in the national interest, they always abandon responsibility and reach straight for fear, distortion and political gain.

They want Australians to believe that they're on their side, but Australians can see right through it. Instead, what we see is that the opposition are more interested in the headlines than in outcomes—more interested in exploiting a global crisis than in responding to it responsibly. We see that plainly in the way that they have approached this very debate. There is a well-established convention in this place: government legislation is introduced and then time is provided—typically around a week—before the second reading debate proceeds. That time exists for a reason. It allows the opposition to properly scrutinise legislation, to consult stakeholders and to engage in good-faith consideration of the detail. That is how this parliament is supposed to work. They have rushed into this debate to manufacture outrage and urgency rather than to do the work responsibly. This is just a stunt. It is not about helping Australians; it is about politics, plain and simple.

At a time when there is conflict unfolding in the Middle East, when global energy markets are under pressure and when Australians are, understandably, watching closely, leadership matters. Australians deserve calm, clear, factual information. They do not deserve an opposition trying to manufacture fear for their own political gain.

The Albanese government has introduced this legislation—to up penalties at the petrol pump, as well as making it better, easier and fairer for our trucking industry—for a very clear reason: to help consumers get a fair go and to support our trucking industry. The conflict overseas should never be used as an excuse to profit from Australians. That is why we are putting petrol companies on notice. We will not let big corporations treat Australian consumers like mugs. We are calling on the opposition to support this bill because this is about holding companies to account when they do the wrong thing.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 doubles the maximum penalties for serious breaches of competition and consumer law from $50 million to $100 million per offence for false or misleading conduct or cartel behaviour across the country. We have already acted in this space. We increased penalties fivefold to up to $50 million and strengthened the powers of the ACCC, including extending petrol price monitoring enabling on-the-spot fines. But this legislation goes further. It ensures even bigger penalties for servos and suppliers who are ripping off Australian motorists.

It sits alongside a broader package of action we are taking to address fuel affordability and security. We are boosting fuel supply by releasing 20 per cent of the baseline minimum stockholding obligation for petrol and diesel. We are getting more fuel into the market by temporarily amending fuel standards. We are working with the ACCC to ensure fuel gets to where it is needed, particularly in regional communities, and ramping up fuel price monitoring. And we are engaging with our international partners to strengthen supply chains and fuel security. This is a comprehensive, practical response to a challenging global environment.

The recent conflict in the Middle East has increased uncertainty. Australians are not immune to it. Our job, though, is to respond responsibly, to protect consumers, to ensure that volatility is not used as a cover for misconduct. That's what this legislation does. The government's priorities are clear. We are focused on addressing inflation, lifting productivity and navigating global uncertainty. Ensuring fairer petrol prices, stronger fuel supply chains and fairer deals for our trucking industry is a key part of this work.

These bills are about fairness. They are about accountability and making sure Australians get a fair go. Those opposite can continue their political games, but this government will continue doing what Australians expect: acting in the national interest, protecting consumers and delivering real practical outcomes. I commend the bills to the House.

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

Well, we've seen this morning what this government is all about when it comes to dealing with the national fuel crisis. It is all about politics; it's not about real solutions for the Australian people. We put forward a motion this morning about bringing forward the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026. The government has been saying, for over two weeks, that they wanted that bill passed and passed quickly. So we offered true bipartisanship to get that bill on the papers, get it debated and passed through this House today. What did the government do in response? It attached another bill to this motion, a bill which was only introduced into the parliament this morning—that is, they do not want any scrutiny of it whatsoever. It's pure political game scoring, pure political game playing. This is the problem with this government in a national fuel crisis. It's all about the politics. It's not about what's happening out in the community at the moment.

Why did we want to bring on the ACCC bill? It is because we saw the bill introduced—the shadow Treasurer spent all of last night looking at it. It is a very simple bill. It increases fines. We checked it, we double-checked it, and we thought: 'Okay, there's nothing complex about this bill. It's a very simple bill—'

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Nothing sneaky in it.

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

'There's nothing sneaky in it. Let's just get it through the parliament.' But the government just cannot operate in a bipartisan way. It always has to play politics. So what does it do? You get the Leader of the House coming in and saying, 'I'm going to attach this very complex bill to it as well.' It was introduced this morning—no briefings, no nothing. Why is it that you want to play politics during a national fuel crisis?

I say this, and I'm sure the people in the gallery will understand this: people in the community at the moment are deeply, deeply concerned with what is happening with this national fuel crisis. They're seeing bombs being dropped. They're seeing energy infrastructure being damaged. They've seen the price of diesel in this country hit $3.20. They've seen the price of petrol hit $2.60. They've seen the government say there's more fuel in the Australian economy than there was before the start of the war, and they just want to know: why, then, isn't the fuel getting to where it needs to get to, and why has the fuel price gone through the roof?

One of the things that's a really important part of this process is that, if people are price gouging, if people are hoarding fuel, then we need the ACCC to be able to look at it. If there are increased penalties to stop those things from happening, that's critically important, because mums and dads then won't be facing choices like, 'Okay, how many Easter eggs do I get?' versus, 'Can I afford that roast lamb to have for Easter Sunday?' This is what we're talking about here.

We made an offer of bipartisanship to say: 'The ACCC bill is very simple. Let's get it through the House into the Senate.' Yet what do we get? Once again, all you want to do is play politics. I ask you to please remember what is happening out there in the community. People are hurting. People are concerned. People are worried. They're worried about the secondary impacts of this fuel crisis. They're wondering about what it's going to mean for when they go into the supermarket—what it's going to mean for vegetable prices and what it's going to mean for meat prices. They worry every time they go and fill the car up: 'That $100 note or that $50 note—how many litres is it now going to get me? It won't get me enough.'

You have the Leader of the House come in here and say: 'Aren't I clever! I'll attach this bill I've introduced today to yours, and we won't let anyone be able to scrutinise it. That's clever, politically, isn't it! Ha-ha! Aren't I great!' Well, I say this to the government: that's not what the Australian people want to see at this time. There's a simple bill which will make a difference. Let's pass that, then let's look at the other bill. Let's have briefings. Let's look at that one properly. This game playing is treating the Australian people with contempt, and you should be ashamed.

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

I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 and the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026. Global conflict is disrupting fuel supply chains, and this government is acting. We've released a fifth of our fuel from our reserves, changed export rules to keep more fuel at home and are supporting Australian refineries to produce more domestically. Our new Fuel Supply Taskforce is working directly with states and territories to make sure fuel gets to where it's needed most.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 cracks down on petrol price gouging, doubling penalties for companies that try to profit at the expense of Australian families. The Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026 changes the law so that the Fair Work Commission can demand companies pay truckies when fuel prices spike. There's simply no excuse for price gouging, and our consumer watchdog will hold offenders fully accountable. There's also no excuse, really—and that's why we're acting quickly—for leaving truckies in the lurch in an international crisis. Australians are doing it tough. The cost of living is real. The pressures on household budgets are real, too. When working families in my electorate are making choices between filling up the tank or putting food on the table, they deserve to know that their government has their back, and we're taking urgent action, making sure that the companies selling them fuel are playing by the rules and, if they're not, that there are actually real consequences.

That is exactly what this legislation delivers. The bill doubles the maximum penalties for false or misleading conduct and cartel behaviour to $100 million per offence. That's not a slap on the wrist; those are actual consequences. We've already increased penalties fivefold under this government to $50 million because we understood that weak penalties are no deterrent for big corporations turning over billions of dollars. Our bill goes further still because the Albanese government is serious about accountability. The Iran war has introduced genuine volatility into global oil markets. What happens in the Middle East affects what Australians pay at the bowser. That is a reality that we must acknowledge, and those opposite know this, despite what they are saying. We're putting fuel companies on notice today, and this government will not cop price gouging.

This legislation sits alongside a comprehensive package of action the Albanese Labor government is taking on fuel affordability and security. We've boosted fuel supply by releasing 20 per cent of the baseline minimum stockholding obligation for petrol and diesel and are specifically directing that to the regions. We've temporarily amended fuel standards to get more fuel into the market, petrol and diesel. This has allowed an extra 100 million litres of fuel that was destined for export into the Aussie market.

We're working with the ACCC to get fuel to where it's needed, and we are ensuring that truckies get fairly compensated for fuel increases. We're strengthening our international partnerships to protect our supply chains for the long term. We've also given the ACCC more tools to do its job, including extending petrol price monitoring powers.

We're in a good position to deal with this international crisis, and I dread to think where we would be right now if those opposite were in charge. Your record on fuel security is absolutely appalling. You had fuel reserves in Texas, in the United States, not Australia—fuel reserves overseas. Could you imagine trying to get them here in this crisis? You also shut down four of six fuel refineries, making storage so much more difficult. I call on those opposite to support this bill. If you genuinely believe in a fair go, if you genuinely stand with Australian consumers and Australian truckers, then you will support these bills. We are taking real action. Unlike those opposite, who are just playing games, we're actually delivering.

Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are debating these two bills, the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026 and the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026, together right now because of some ridiculous point-scoring shenanigans. This is at a time when Australians would like to see their politicians acting like adults and focusing on where we can actually make a difference.

The coalition wants to say that the government is not moving fast enough and so has brought on the government's own idea and said we need to do this faster—in the absence of any better ideas, I might say. The government has responded by outsmarting the coalition using procedure and taking a double-or-nothing approach on moving fast: 'Fine, if you want us to move fast, we'll move fast on this other thing too.' This is making an absolute mockery of the idea that this House is meant to be providing scrutiny to bills.

These bills were introduced yesterday or this morning. We have not had time to really consider these and their implications, and it does not do the Australian people any good to push these bills through without proper scrutiny. Both sides are to blame for this.

On the substance of the bills themselves, the first one is about doubling penalties—giving the ACCC the ability to double penalties for price gouging. Now, I don't think that this will change anything actually. I don't think there are many companies in the country who say, 'Well, if it's a $50 million penalty, we're going to go for broke. But if it's $100 million penalty, that gives us pause for thought.' In reality, this is a performative move to be seen to be actually doing something. It will not in any way change the ACCC's ability to actually prosecute price fixes; it just means the numbers are different at the end of that prosecution.

We do need to do more to make sure that the ACCC can appropriately prosecute price fixes. I also think that everyone's looking for a dog to kick when prices go up, and it's easy to say this is price gouging. We have a legal framework to determine if it is or not and that should be followed through as per the legal process, and doubling the penalties is not really going to change anything.

The second bill is more complicated. It will effectively enable faster regulatory relief for truck drivers and transport operators during fuel price shocks without permanently changing the framework that's put there. Now, I don't know if this is a good thing or not, because this was introduced yesterday and I've not had adequate time to actually review it. I'll give you some of the questions that I would have been asking had we actually had time to look at this in a reasonable timeframe with the sober approach that Australian communities want us to have.

I would be asking: How narrowly defined are the imminent and significant negative effects? What objective criteria must be met before the minister can reduce the consultation period? I would have been asking: what transparency or accountability mechanisms apply to the minister's authorisation decision, and will reasons be published? I would be asking: how does the government ensure this emergency mechanism doesn't become a de facto shortcut used in non-exceptional circumstances? I would be asking: how will the commission ensure expedited orders don't unintentionally disadvantage small transport businesses or sole operators higher up the chain? I would have asked: with reduced timeframes, how will genuine engagement with industry stakeholders be assessed and enforced in practice? I would have been asking: how will orders made under expedited timeframes be time limited or subject to automatic review once market conditions stabilise? I would ask: is the intent of the amendment strictly limited to fuel price shocks, or could it be applied to other cost pressures such as insurance or tolls or other compliance costs? I would have asked: how has consideration been given to how contractual change orders may affect competition, freight pricing and downstream consumers? I would have asked: what evidence from existing contractual chain orders show that cost-sharing mechanisms actually improve safety, sustainability and viability for drivers? And I would have asked: how does this emergency measure align with longer term reforms aimed at improving resilience, sustainability and fairness in the road transport supply chain?

I don't have time to ask any of these questions. There may well be reasonable answers to these questions, and I would have been open to hearing those answers. But, because these are being rushed through the parliament in an exercise of point scoring and outsmarting using parliamentary procedure, none of these questions can actually be answered before I'm required to vote on behalf of the people of Curtin on these two pieces of legislation, and I think that's ridiculous.

Trish Cook (Bullwinkel, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in strong support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026. In the electorate of Bullwinkel, our community spans from the hills to the valleys and out into the regional hubs, so, for my constituents, the cost of living isn't a theoretical debate; it's a daily reality for them, particularly so every time they pull up to a petrol pump. They deserve a fair go and they deserve to know that the laws of this land are strong enough to protect them from corporate misconduct. This bill is very simple. The punishment must fit the crime. Fines act as a deterrent. If a corporation decides to put its profits above the law, the penalty should not be seen as a mere cost of doing business; it should be a significant deterrent that stops them in their tracks.

Schedule 1 of this bill gives effect to the announcement made by the Treasurer and the assistant minister two weeks ago on 11 March. It is straightforward but powerful: we are doubling the ACCC enforcement penalties. Under this measure, maximum penalties for anticompetitive conduct, including false and misleading claims and cartel behaviour, will rise from $50 million to $100 million. This applies across the entire economy, ensuring that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has the teeth it needs to bite back against those who would seek to exploit Australian families. We are introducing these changes at a time of significant global instability. As the world deals with the challenges posed by the conflict in the Middle East, our energy and fuel sectors are under immense pressure—but global pressure is no excuse for local misconduct.

This measure is part of a broader suite of measures implemented by the Albanese Labor government and designed to ensure that Australians get a fair deal at the pump. We're increasing scrutiny, ramping up surveillance of the fuel sector and taking action to shore up our fuel supply, particularly in regional areas like mine in Bullwinkel, where a car isn't a luxury; it's a necessity for work, school, life and, of course, farmers.

It is particularly timely to note that, on 19 March, the ACCC announced an enforcement investigation into allegations of anticompetitive conduct by major fuel suppliers Ampol, BP, Mobil and Viva Energy. While that process must take its course, it highlights exactly why we need higher penalties. We cannot have a business-as-usual approach when it comes to the essential needs of our citizens.

This isn't just a tough-on-crime stance for the sake of it. It's backed by evidence. The OECD's 2026 economic survey of Australia found that our penalties for competition law breaches were low by international standards. They explicitly recommended an increase to ensure appropriate deterrence. In 2022, when penalties were increased by our government from $10 million to $50 million, the opposition supported us. We hope again that they will see reason and support us as we increase these deterrent fines from $50 million to $100 million.

To be clear, this bill does not change the offences themselves. It doesn't move the goalposts for business, and businesses that are doing the right thing have nothing to fear. But, if you engage in cartel behaviour, if you mislead the public, if you coordinate to keep prices artificially high, the stakes will just double.

These new maximums will apply from the day after royal assent of this bill, providing the urgency that our environment demands. This bill sends a clear message from this government that we are on the side of the consumer, we are on the side of the families in Bullwinkel and we will not hesitate to hold the biggest players in our economy to account. I commend this bill to the House.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, I have to start by just calling out how ridiculous the situation that we find ourselves in this morning is. The coalition thought they would be clever and moved a motion to suspend standing orders to bring on urgent debate on legislation—the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026—to increase the penalties under the ACCC in relation to a number of offences, particularly to address concerns around fuel price gouging. Of course, as the gamesmanship between the major parties is always in play, the government responded by agreeing to that motion but amending it to include, for urgent debate, another piece of legislation—the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026—in relation to truckies. I will get to the substance of those.

It's ridiculous. But, as we are so often put in this position in this place, we have to weigh up the question of proper process over the substance of an issue. Where so often these measures are used for issues that are not genuinely urgent, I do, in this situation, agree that, at the end of the day, if you're going to have game playing by both sides, you all end up with the same mess. But Australians actually want some certainty, and they want some action to happen, when it comes to fuel prices. So, despite the poor parliamentary practice seen this morning, of the coalition and the government, I agreed to hasten the debate on action on fuel prices, because there is urgency on this issue.

It's not a hypothetical risk or a talking point for tomorrow. Australians are already paying more at the bowser, and hundreds of service stations across the country have been without at least one fuel type this week. In New South Wales alone, the federal government said on 24 March there were 164 stations without diesel and 289 without at least one fuel type. It's exactly why action matters now.

The lesson is brutally simple: when global oil markets are shocked, Australians get hit at home through fuel, freight, food and inflation. We need to understand that genuine resilience is renewable energy resilience. Real national resilience does not come from staying hooked on imported fuel and hoping the next global shock is kinder. What is occurring in the Strait of Hormuz is a brutal reminder that overseas fuel shocks flow directly into household costs, freight costs, food prices and inflation here at home. And the stakes are high. In Warringah, I'm being told, many people are opting for public transport, but public transport is at capacity. People are trying to save on fuel use, but we do not have the public transport infrastructure or the numbers of buses to cope with the demand.

In the short-term, we need transparency, enforcement and targeted relief. Stronger penalties for misleading conduct and market abuse are part of that, and direct support is better than blunt political gimmicks, which can worsen shortages. Economists quoted today warned that cutting the fuel excise would increase demand in an already strained market. It's clear we need to electrify the economy—electrify transport, expand charging infrastructure, modernise the grid and make it easier, not harder, for households and businesses to move away from oil dependence.

The first piece of legislation before us, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill, is to ensure that there are greater consequences. A major part of laws and consequences for poor conduct is, ultimately, deterrence. The penalties must be significant to outweigh the benefits gained by price gouging. We need to build on that, which is what this piece of legislation does. It is designed—and I would of course have liked much more time to properly analyse it—to double the maximum penalties for false and misleading conduct and cartel behaviour, lifting the top penalty to $100 million per offence, while leaving in place the existing alternative penalty formulas, such as three times the value of the benefit obtained or 30 per cent of adjusted turnover, where applicable. While it's being sold politically in the context of the fuel price spike and the action of some retailers, it does sit alongside the broader package of reforms for a stronger ACCC, which I think is desperately needed to ensure Australians are properly protected.

The other piece of legislation, the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill, proposes to enable the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations to authorise a reduction of the minimum six-month consultation period required before the commission can make road transport contractual chain orders, in circumstances where there are imminent and significant negative impacts on the road transport industry nationally and where it's in the public interest to reduce this timeframe. In the context of what is currently occurring in our transport sector, with fuel prices spiking, I accept that there is a need for this to be acted upon urgently, but I ask the major parties: please behave better and allow us proper scrutiny of legislation.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for the ACCC Enforcement) Bill and the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026. In a list of issues which the Liberal and National parties really hate, I think No. 1 would be unions, No. 2 would be Medicare and No. 3 would be the transport industry. They really can't stand the transport industry. They've never supported good legislation in the transport industry.

The legislation we have before the chamber today adds to the great history of Labor governments. It was the Whitlam government in 1974 that brought in trade practices legislation for the first time. Nothing was done during the 23 years of inertia of Menzies and the subsequent prime ministers of the Liberal and National parties—nothing! We brought in trade practices legislation in 1974. Lionel Murphy, as Attorney-General, set up the Trade Practices Commission, which was the predecessor of the ACCC. During nearly a decade in government, those opposite did nothing about penalties for cartel behaviour. We came in and what did we do? We introduced a penalty of $10 million, and then we increased it to $50 million. We did that, and the coalition government did nothing. Now we're going to double it to $100 million, and the coalition government, until this morning, weren't sure whether they were going to support it. Now, by the way, in this omnishambles of a coalition opposition—they've changed the leader, but there's still a mess. Even this morning we could it see with the way they voted. They didn't have a clue what they were doing. No-one was more embarrassed than the member for Wannon. I think the member for Mitchell should come back. I want to bring back Alex. I think he'd be a better Manager of Opposition Business.

The legislation before the chamber is really important for Australian consumers because no new ideas and no constructive suggestions have happened from those opposite on the fuel issues and the challenges we're facing from the war in the Middle East—nothing from those opposite, just whinging and moaning and carping all the time. The conflict overseas has had an impact, and it's not an excuse to rip off Australians at service stations and at bowsers. It is simply not. We need to clamp down. I'm pleased the ACCC, in March this year, investigated a number of companies in relation to this issue. We need these higher penalties for petrol companies who do the wrong thing. That's why we're doing what we're doing. That's no excuse to jack up prices and rip off Australians.

The Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill is important as well. It allows the government to amend the Fair Work Act to allow truckies and road transport businesses to make an emergency application for a contract chain order to deal with the current spike in fuel prices caused by the war in the Middle East. I wonder whether the coalition is going to vote against what the Trucking Association says and vote against what the Transport Workers' Union says. What are they going to do today? It's going to be really interesting to see how they vote. Are they on the side of the consumers, those with cars? Are they on the side of the transport industry, the truck drivers who get the food and groceries into our stores each and every day?

Under the Fair Work Act, the Fair Work Commission can require transport clients, including retailers, mining companies and manufacturers, to offer fair contract terms, ensuring that truckies and transport operators are paid enough to cover the cost of fuel. But currently that minimum of six months is required for a contract chain order. Our amendment will remove that waiting time, and the industry and the union support it. But those opposite—we wait to see whether they'll support this legislation. This is about more support for truck drivers who keep the country going. During COVID, we saw the benefit of the trucking industry—those in transport, warehouse, logistics and retail. They are absolutely vital. These new powers will ensure that truckies are paid fairer and on time, and it will help cover the high cost of fuel at the moment. We're backing our truck drivers to get a fair go, so costs can be shared fairly through the supply chain.

These two pieces of legislation today come on top of all the action we've undertaken in relation to addressing affordability and security. There's not one idea from those opposite, not one single thing that they've come up with to support the industry and consumers. Not one single thing has been offered by those opposite—nothing. Where's their plan? They've got no plan once again—an opposition bereft of ideas. They were in 2022, all through the last parliament under the member for Dickson, and they continued under member for Farrer and continue under the current opposition leader.

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we just heard in that diatribe is so far from the convention of this place. It is disgraceful that members of the government come in here to give speeches to say: 'Why won't you vote on a bill that we haven't given to you? Why won't we vote on a bill that we haven't shown the Australian people and we haven't been honest with this parliament about? Why won't you do that?' Because it's bad, bad governance—it is ridiculous to have government ministers who want to be all tricky and go, 'Oh, well, we'll just add this in at the last minute.' We haven't been able to go through the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill. It was introduced this morning, and now you want to somehow try and ram it through and say: 'Trust us. We're the Labor government.' I don't and neither do the majority of the Australian people, because as we've seen continually under this government—we have seen them hoodwink them. We've seen things hidden in bills. That's what's about to happen or is trying to happen under this government.

The coalition support the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026. We got it yesterday. We spent last night going through it. We looked for where all the sneaky by-lines normally are. We support it. We came in today and we offered the government an olive branch and said, 'We want to bring it on quickly—earlier—for debate so we can get it passed through here. Then it can go to the Senate and also go out into the community to make sure that big business and those fuel companies aren't ripping off the consumer.' That's what we did.

As the Manager of Opposition Business was doing that, the Leader of the House saw an opportunity to play politics with a national crisis. He added a little part, an amendment, that said he wanted to ram through the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026, which was introduced this morning and which we haven't had the ability to go through—and which the Australian public hasn't been able to look at, scrutinise and then give their feedback on. So we are reserving our right, as the shadow ministers right now are rushing through this bill as quickly as they can. But it's just politics after politics with this government.

The real concern isn't about what happens in the bubble; it's what's happening around the country. People can't afford to put fuel in their cars. We heard from the minister. He stood in here—I think it was yesterday—and he said, 'We have the same amount of fuel as we did before the war in the Middle East.' If that is the case, why are petrol stations and fuel supplies running low? Why have fuel and petrol stations closed down? Why are people drilling into farmers' fuel tanks and draining their fuel? It is because what he said is not true.

We've heard the Prime Minister previously say, 'The Australian people should only take what they need.' If you couldn't afford it a week ago, you're not going to be able to afford it in two weeks, when it goes from $3 up to $4 in Townsville. People are trying to live their lives, and now they can't afford fuel, and these petrol stations that are jacking up prices need to be held accountable. I absolutely agree with that. I absolutely agree that that has to happen, and right now this parliament should be working together.

Right now elected members should be putting together the plan to make sure that people can afford fuel at the bowser so that it isn't an extra cost on them and it doesn't impact the cost-of-living crisis that they're already facing. Around the country, the real discussion is going to happen when parents wake up on Easter Day and say, 'The Easter bunny won't be coming today,' because they can't afford to buy that little bit extra that they're used to. They can't afford to drive to the shops to get it or to buy the groceries because everything has gone up.

If you were to listen to the member for Wright, Scotty Buchholz, you would know that he's in the transport industry. He's the only truckie in this parliament, but no-one's reached out and said, 'What do you think we should do? How can we make this better?' All we're seeing is politics from this Labor government instead of action, and that's a shame.

Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Herbert's speech in this place was interesting. This morning the opposition got up, they got out of bed and they decided that they'd try and be a little bit tricky. They decided that they would try on some more politics in this place—and they've got form. The last time we were in this chamber, we saw them talking to the Australian people irresponsibly and using a crisis in the Middle East for their own political advantage.

All that the opposition found out today is that this government, the Albanese Labor government, is dead serious. We are dead serious about tackling the cost of living. We are dead serious about making sure that the Australian people get the relief that they need not just at the bowser but also on their grocery bills and on their medical costs. That is what we focus on every single day in this place. This House is here to act in the best interests of everyday Australians. This House is here to act in the national interest. This House is here to step in when people need that help. We take that responsibility incredibly seriously.

Right now, people are doing it tough. Right now, when people pull up to that bowser they're worried about the impact it will have on their hip pocket. We need to do something about that, and we need to do something about that now. That is what the government is focused on. That is what the government is doing when it comes to these two bills before us here today. What Australians need now is not talk. What Australians need now is not politicking from those across the chamber. What Australians need now is action, and that is what the Albanese Labor government is doing.

There are two key pieces of legislation that we are talking about today. The first bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026, is about doubling penalties. No-one should be taking advantage, on a commercial basis, of people who are struggling to put fuel in their cars. The first bill gives effect to what the Treasurer and the assistant minister announced on 11 March—to double the ACCC's enforcement penalties, including for false and misleading conduct and for cartel behaviour, to a maximum of $100 million per offence. The second bill, the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026, gives truckies a fair go and makes sure that our truck drivers aren't disadvantaged by a significant issue in our community. Our road transport industry is vital to keeping our nation moving and to keeping our economy running—and that's what the second bill does. Without trucks and without their drivers, the movement of essential supplies across Australia stops—and we can't have that. We need to look after our drivers. We need to give them a fair go.

Both these bills take the next step in our laser-like focus on the cost of living. They take the next step in making sure we are taking action so that mums and dads and families are not taken down by a crisis in the Middle East. We've already increased supply by releasing 20 per cent of our reserves—reserves that are now held in this country because of a Labor government and reserves that couldn't have been released if we were under a coalition government, with their reserves being kept in Texas. We've temporarily amended the fuel standards to release more supply, and we are leading a taskforce bringing together people from across the country, bringing together experts and bringing together leaders so that there can be a coordinated response to give Australians the relief they need.

A crisis in the Middle East should never be exploited for commercial gain and should never be exploited for political gain. The Albanese Labor government is acting for Australians.

Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Energy Security and Affordability) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I come from Australia's largest inland city, a beautiful part of the world—a place that you know well, Deputy Speaker Boyce. For weeks now, this fuel supply crisis has been hurting our community. On the border, out at Dalby, we saw petrol stations run dry. I heard from farmers in that area who had to stop their harvests midway through because they did not have fuel available to them. At Wyreema, we saw the pumps run dry. I heard from families who could not afford the extra fuel costs in driving out to see elderly parents; those trips were cancelled for the weekend. In Toowoomba, two petrol stations on Taylor Street were closed down; they ran out of gas. This has impacted our community terribly.

At the start of this, Labor pretended there was no supply issue. They pretended there was no problem. It was only late on Thursday of the last sitting week that Minister Bowen admitted that Australia had a crisis. That word slipped out of his mouth, I think accidentally. That wasn't the plan; he was forced into admitting that after the pressure we applied to him. Since then, he's been talking very tough about what he's going to do to those who are price gouging, who are using this opportunity to hurt others. He's been boasting for two weeks about the ACCC enforcement bill that he was going to bring and that he was going to crack down on these people. But he sat on it for two weeks.

So, this morning, we called on the government to bring that legislation forward. But just before that, at 9.15 this morning—less than two hours ago—another bill was introduced to this place: the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill. It was introduced with seven minutes of speech describing it—seven minutes of the government describing that bill. That's all we got. We had no opportunity to debate it. This hasn't been through any level of scrutiny whatsoever. That's the usual process, by the way: you introduce a bill, and then we go through debate later on. But what did Labor try to do when we asked them to bring forward this bill that they've been boasting about—beating their chests about how strong they were going to be—to crack down on these people who are taking advantage of Australians? What did they do? They used the most disgusting, cunning political techniques to try and ram through a bill that has nothing to do with this. It might be a good bill. There might be things in it that we like. We might agree to it. But we would like the opportunity to debate that bill—for it to go through the proper process.

That's what we're calling for. That's what we're brought to this place to do—to debate bills and hopefully create a better set of rules for Australia to work within. Instead of that opportunity being given to representatives of communities like mine, this government decided to ram that bill through underneath the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill, which we support. We came here and moved a suspension of standing orders to bring forward this legislation that they had been sitting on and boasting about. It was the only talking point that they could give when they were put under pressure and asked what they were going to do about the fuel supply crisis—'We're going to crack down.' So we said, 'Bring it on.' And the response, from a government whose integrity has been called into question time and time again and who refuse to stand and be held to account to the normal practices of parliament, has been absolutely disgusting. We've watched it here today.

I go back to this point: the reason we called for the ACCC enforcement bill to be brought forward was that we come from communities where we're seeing these problems. We're talking to these people. We're hearing from business owners who simply cannot afford the additional cashflow that an extra dollar per litre is putting on them. That's why we called to bring this forward. We're trying to look after our communities and we have a government who won't do anything.

I'm going to finish on one last point. The fair work amendment that they've brought forward may the best thing they've ever done. Who knows? They could have been struck by a fit of composure and put something that's actually worthwhile on the table. We've heard all about how they care about truckies; the only truckie in this place is over there. I care about that bloke. I care about his democratic rights to be able to scrutinise and debate a bill that's been put before the parliament. This has been an absolute disgrace from this government.

Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we are dealing with right now is global in nature and scale but is being felt domestically right here at home. The war in the Middle East is seriously impacting supply chains and pushing up the cost of fuel around the world. Australia is not immune to that volatility, and we know that higher fuel prices are putting real pressure on households, small businesses, farmers and transport workers across the country. We recognise that, and that is exactly why the Albanese Labor government is taking decisive, coordinated action.

At the centre of that response is protecting consumers from being ripped off. So we've introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill, which operates to double penalties for serious misconduct, lifting maximum penalties for false or misleading conduct to $100 million per offence. Let me be clear: the conflict overseas is not an excuse to profit from Australians, so we're putting the fuel sector on notice. We will not accept big corporates treating Australian motorists unfairly, and that's why we're empowering the ACCC to ramp up fuel price monitoring and issue on-the-spot fines. We are calling on those opposite to support this legislation and stand with Australian consumers.

But accountability is only one part of the picture. The government is also taking strong action to secure fuel supply during a period of global instability. The Prime Minister convened national cabinet to deliver a truly national response, so states and territories can distribute fuel to where it's needed most, particularly regional Australia, while the Commonwealth focuses on supply. We've appointed a national Fuel Supply Taskforce Coordinator. We've begun releasing 20 per cent of Australia's fuel reserves, courtesy of our minimum stockholding obligation. We've changed petrol and diesel standards to get more fuel flowing quickly, and we've backed Australia's oil refineries so they can keep producing fuel here at home. We've made sure that all the fuel we are making in Australia is used in Australia, and we're engaging closely with our international trading partners to keep supply chains open.

This coordinated national leadership began when this war began, and Australia was better prepared because we had already strengthened our fuel security settings. We will continue to act in the national interest because delivering for Australians is our priority. But these global events also point to a bigger truth. Every global fuel shock reminds us why Australia must become less reliant on imported fuels that are vulnerable to conflict and international volatility. The long-term answer to that is energy self-resilience. That means continuing the transition to cleaner, more secure energy made here in Australia—renewables, electrification, batteries and cleaner fuels that reduce exposure to global shocks and put downward pressure on costs over time.

This includes sustainable aviation fuel, which has an important role to play in decarbonising aviation, whilst strengthening fuel security. In a world of fuel shocks and price spikes, sustainable aviation fuel is no longer just an environmental choice; it's an increasingly economic proposition. In my role as chair of Parliamentary Friends of Aviation, I recently attended the GreenSkies sustainability summit at Qantas headquarters in Sydney. That summit brought together leaders from the aviation industry, businesses and academia, all focused on the future of sustainable aviation. A clear message came through: the aviation sector sees the benefit of sustainable aviation fuel and is already moving in that direction. Discussions focused on scaling up research and development, building domestic capability, and on the importance of strong partnerships between government, industry and universities to turn innovation into reality, at the same time as reducing the costs of production and all costs throughout the supply chain, which is critical if sustainable aviation fuel is to be feasible. Importantly, industry understands that decarbonisation and economic growth go hand in hand. Sustainable aviation fuel supports regional connectivity, national productivity and supply resilience, while reducing emissions and reliance on imported fuel.

This is exactly what a future made in Australia looks like—more energy and manufacturing sovereignty, stronger industries and a more resilient economy. This is an Albanese Labor government key priority.

Cameron Caldwell (Fadden, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Housing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today, on Thursday, being the last sitting day of this parliamentary week, knowing that when I head home tonight to the Gold Coast, the expectation of my community is that we've done something constructive while we've been down here in Canberra. They don't like the talkfests. They don't like the attacking of each other. They just want the problems that they're facing in their day-to-day lives solved. So this morning the coalition came in to this place and offered to bring forward this ACCC legislation in order for this week to not be lost entirely in what it could achieve. Outside of this legislation this week, what is it that the Albanese Labor government can say they've done, hand on heart, to try and fix this fuel crisis? Not much. So we came in here and said, 'Let's bring this forward.' Now, it's a fair question: why would you bring it forward at this point in time? I'll tell you why. Because the Treasurer and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy actually announced this initiative back on 11 March. Today is 26 March, so, for 15 days, the fuel crisis has raged in suburbs, country towns and farms all over this country, and we didn't even have legislation until yesterday. The Australian people deserve better than that from their government. I'm very, very disappointed for the Australian people that this Labor government seems to have lost control of this crisis. There's no comprehensive plan. There are no ideas that are coming in a package. They are dealing with this in a haphazard and panicked fashion, and it's the people of Australia who are paying the price now.

Every Australian is feeling this. I walked into my office this morning, pretty early, and on the front page of TheAustralian it said, 'Epidemic of empty'. Now, I just don't know at what point the penny is going to drop to this Labor government that Australians are expecting and they deserve real action to be taken. I started getting text messages this morning from people in my electorate heading down Bayview Street who have said, 'Holy smokes, diesel $3.15—an urban area, $3.15!'

Everyone wants you to believe that diesel is just some sort of choice for a SUV that you drive around the city. It's not. You see, diesel is what puts the food on the table. It's what the farmers use in their equipment. It's what the truckies use in their trucks. It's what industry uses to manufacture. This is not a choice. The majority of fuel used in Australia is diesel. So if my local community are paying $3.15, and they have the benefit of being able to get some of it, imagine how the farmers are feeling in western Queensland, where they can't even get it, let alone pay a higher price for it. This is the tragedy of what is unfolding.

We had a media announcement 15 days ago, and that legislation only just turned up this week. It was the coalition who decided to be the adults in the room and say, 'Let's get this done today.' Because when I go home tonight, I really want to be able to say to my community, 'We did something in Canberra this week. We actually tried to help.' There have been some mentions of politicking on the other side. There are no politics in this. This is about the people of Australia. The minister at the table scoffs in a disgraceful fashion, showing an absolute complete disregard for the pain that people are feeling right across Australia. So I'm proud to have stood here today as a member of the coalition to get this done.

Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a government that is serious about protecting consumers in communities like mine in Jagajaga and right around this country. We do understand that, when prices go up, people feel it at the supermarket, in their bills, and at the moment they are feeling it at the petrol pump. At this time of global uncertainty, people in my community do want to know: 'Am I getting a fair go here?' And that is what this legislation is about. It is about a fair go—about making sure Australians are not taken for a ride. We do all understand that global events at the moment are impacting fuel prices. We know that conflict is creating volatility. There is uncertainty in global supply chains, and we are feeling the effects of those here in Australia.

Let's be very clear: what this legislation, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026, is very clear about is that those global pressures are not an excuse for misconduct. They are not an excuse for misleading conduct or price manipulation, and they're certainly not an excuse for big corporations to treat Australian consumers like mugs. That's why the bill doubles penalties for those who do the wrong thing, lifting maximum penalties to $100 million per offence, because, if you're looking to rip off Australians, there should be real consequences for it. I'm certain that in my community people expect nothing less. I really understand that, at the moment, households in my community and others are doing all they can to manage their costs. People are shopping around. They are budgeting carefully. When they are doing this, the least they can expect is that the system is fair and that companies are playing by the rules. That is what we are achieving with this bill.

With the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026, we are also making sure that hardworking truckies and smaller road transport businesses are not pushed to the brink by severe cost shocks. We know that truck drivers and businesses are a critical part of Australia's daily economy. They are the people ensuring that food and goods are delivered where they're needed, and this government has got their backs. We know that truckies and transport operators need to be protected from fuel price rises, and it is important that costs are shared fairly through the supply chain. This is making sure that the independent Fair Work Commission can act quickly to deal with these issues, as I said, recognising that this is a critical part of Australia's daily economy. The truck drivers, these businesses, are ensuring food and goods are delivered to where they're needed, and, as they're doing it, this government is with them. We have their backs.

This of course builds on action we've already taken. We've heard some posturing from those opposite about how this government has done nothing. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. This government has already increased penalties significantly and strengthened the powers of the ACCC, including expanding petrol price monitoring on-the-spot fines to crack down on bad behaviour. We have appointed a national fuel supply taskforce coordinator. We've begun the release of 20 per cent of Australia's fuel reserves. We've changed petrol standards to get more fuel flowing. So I would invite those opposite to keep up to date. Pay attention.

I do want to be very clear for them: this is a moment. We came in this morning and we saw a stunt from the opposition—not a very well-thought-through stunt, but nevertheless it was in fact a stunt. I think what communities like mine will see from that is that those opposite actually have a disregard for what they are feeling at the moment. Those opposite come in here to pull stunts, but we come in here to do the work for the Australian people. We come in here also knowing their record from when they were in government, which I'm afraid to say was appalling.

They talked tough, but they didn't act for communities like mine and those across the country. They let penalties sit at levels that big corporations could treat as the cost of doing business. They failed to properly empower regulators to crack down on misconduct, and Australians paid the price for that. People in my community paid the price for that. There was less accountability and a growing sense for people that the system just wasn't working in their favour.

Well, that's the difference here. This government wants to ensure that the system works for Australians. We want to make sure that people are getting a fair go. We understand that this is a difficult time and that global events are putting pressures into our system. As a government we take that seriously. We take our responsibility seriously and we are acting.

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

It is a matter of urgency in this country that we are debating these bills. This is urgent, very urgent. Australians are suffering like never before. A fuel crisis is hitting families, small businesses and entire communities across this country.

The whole time I am down here, I am getting phone calls and text messages and emails from trucking companies, farmers and fishers telling me that, if they can get fuel, diesel is now north of $3.15 a litre. My fishermen are telling me that there is now no point in going to sea, because, if they can actually afford to put the fuel in their tanks, whatever they catch will be so expensive that the punters won't pay for it. So my fishermen are tying up their boats. They're going to have to put staff off, because, if you're not catching fish, you can't process the fish and you can't sell the fish.

This is very real. This is the thing that the other side just does not get. I sat here during the MPI yesterday and listened to the member for Wills talk about how horrible it was that a person was filling up a jerry can. That's the thing with the other side; they have no concept of reality. How many businesses out there require fuel to be placed in jerry cans so they are able to use it in their compactors, petrol-driven concrete mixers or generators. This mob over here have got no idea. Why? It's because they've never run a business before. It's been school, uni, union, parliament. They've never run a business. They've never had a trade. They have no concept of how the real world operates.

We have a situation where this country could very well be on its knees because this government not only did not plan for these contingencies; it's still sticking its head in the sand. Those members opposite in government are still kidding themselves that there'd be no problem to see here if only Australians would not panic. They're too busy blaming Australians to try to do their job. They're in government. They're not in opposition, in exile. They pull the strings. They control the policies and the settings which enable us, as a country, to deal with these crises. Government is hard, so they need to come to the party. They actually need to be honest with the Australian people. Don't stick your heads in the sand and say that it's all good. If it's all good, why are there more than 500 petrol stations in this country with no fuel today? It is not good enough.

This issue is not just about price; it's about supply. We're seeing reports of fuel stations running dry. Access is being restricted. Regional urban communities like mine are being hit the hardest. On the Sunshine Coast, as I said, fishermen are telling me that they are struggling. They are having to put people off. This is not theoretical; this is happening now. This parliament needs to focus on getting fuel flowing and getting prices under control, and these bills— (Time expired)

Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 and the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026. These legislative amendments will allow the minister to streamline emergency applications in relation to a road transport contractual chain if it is viewed to be in the national interest and will have impacts on the road transport industry. Truckers, who perform a crucial role in our supply chain economy, should not have to pay exorbitant sums to be able to do their basic job.

We know that the Middle East has drastically changed the provision of fuel in this country and around the world, and hikes in petrol prices are to be expected, but it was on the very day that the conflict started in Iran that petrol retailers began to increase their prices, and this is wrong. The situation had not changed in Australia. Australia's fuel supply remains secure. International fuel prices and standards can certainly influence domestic prices, but these ordinarily bear on Australia's domestic prices two weeks after the fact, not on the very day or the day after. Petrol companies are making hay in the conflict in the Middle East and exploiting their customers, Australians. Constituents in my electorate of Boothby are now having to pay more at the pump because of this anticompetitive behaviour. Currently we're paying around $2.38, an increase of 20c, and we know that in the regions it is much, much higher.

Understandably, my constituents feel there is no end in sight, as prices rise steadily and interminably and we see what is happening overseas. I, as has the Treasurer, have written to the Chair of the ACCC to ensure that they are properly monitoring this behaviour. The Albanese Labor government is on the side of hardworking Australians who should not have to pay inflated prices to get to their job in order to make ends meet. The Albanese Labor government is working to ensure that all Australians will be able to fill up their tank at market-standard prices. Indeed the Albanese Labor government is introducing this legislation to double penalties for price manipulation at the bowser. We have convened National Cabinet so that federal, state and territory governments are able to co-ordinate a comprehensive and substantive response to the fuel crisis. We've appointed a national Fuel Supply Taskforce coordinator, who will co-ordinate the government's and the state and territory governments' responses to fuel security and supply chain resilience, and engage with overseas partners to ensure that we can keep supply coming.

Australia has begun to release 20 per cent of its fuel reserves, reinforcing our fuel-secure status, and luckily those reserves are actually onshore in Australia, not in Texas, where those opposite thought they should be. We've also relaxed petrol and diesel standards in order to increase our fuel supply. This legislation to double penalties for petrol companies for price gouging to $100 million per offence is about giving Australia a fair go.

While those opposite play political games, stunts, by calling on this legislation to be urgently passed—'very urgent' we heard from the last speaker—those in the other place on their side are referring it to a committee. Then, when we put it to a vote here, they voted against it anyway. Those opposite are playing very badly strategically planned stunts while this government has the backs of all Australians, and I'd call on those opposite to stop the stunts and stop the games. This is urgent. We need to get it through. You need to vote for it. You need to tell those in the other place that they need to vote for it as well. This is an urgent thing, and we really need all of us. We're elected to look after Australians. We all need to do what is right for our constituents and get this legislation through.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To those in the gallery and my fellow Australians, I say: be wary of a bill that comes to this House rushed and be wary of a bill that comes here at the pace that this has. Before being elected and being given the privilege to represent the people of Wright, I was a transport operator. I had 14 transport depots around the state of Queensland. I employed over 100 people, so it galls me when those on the other side come in here and say no-one understands transport, and that the Liberal Party and the LNP despise unions and despise the transport sector. That gets under my gut.

I don't profess to be a good politician, but I do represent my people well, and I know that what we are debating here at the moment does little to affect my farmers, my transport operators and my growers. In the time remaining on this bill, what we should be talking about—as a government, as an opposition—is fuel excise. We should be talking about the levers that we can pull now. For every litre of fuel, there's 52.6c in fuel excise. We should be discussing what we should be doing with that. We should be having that conversation as mature politicians, but they won't come to the party on it. They won't have that discussion. We should be discussing fuel excise—whether or not we trim it or freeze it all together and give an instant 52.6c off the bowser price as of this afternoon.

And, if we're going to have that conversation, then we need to be asking the next responsible question: what's the opportunity cost? If we've committed to road infrastructure and that money was earmarked to pay for it, what would the unintended consequences be of having to halt road construction as a result of that fuel excise money not flowing? I don't know what the answer is, but let's have that conversation.

Let's have the conversation about maybe even halving the excise and staging it over a period of time. None of us know how long this conflict is going to go on for. The only thing I know is that no-one on the other side is going to bring a solution. And I can assure you that the doubling of penalties will do little or nothing to change the bowser price of fuel in this country—if you can get a litre of fuel!

Yesterday, here in the chamber, we heard the Minister for Climate Change and Energy unashamedly say how many service stations are out of fuel. Now, I don't say that anything other than the conflict in the Middle East is to blame. I'm not here to play the politics. Like I said, I'm not good at that. But I am good at fixing problems. I'm good at getting stuff from A to B. I made a lot of money out of it. And I reckon I could fix this.

I invite the parliament to engage with us, either on the floor of parliament or behind the scenes. I don't care where we have the conversation, but let's start having a conversation about what fuel excise looks like, because we heard member after member on the other side come into this parliament and say, 'We step in when people need help.' Well, that's not help. Doubling the penalties is not help. It won't change the price at all. We need to do something. I'm suggesting the fuel excise has got far more ramification, far more of a sense of instant relief at the bowser—instant relief for my growers.

I've got a distributor up in my electorate. He normally picks up about nine B-double loads from the terminal in Brisbane every week—450 farmers, two shire councils, three bus companies, six servos. Last week, he had two B-double loads. This week, he's been told there's none. The flow-on effects into our community are horrendous. And, if you think we've got problems today, come back in a month's time, when we don't have fuel. They're going to be a lot worse then.

I invite the Prime Minister, the energy minister, anyone who's got carriage of these bills. I will talk to you about a genuine conversation around fuel excise which helps the punter this afternoon.

David Moncrieff (Hughes, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Fuel keeps my community moving. In suburbs like Menai, Hammondville, Woronora Heights, Macquarie Links, Bangor, Alfords Point and Bonnet Bay, there is no train station. In suburbs like that, the car is essential. Families rely on the supply of fuel from petrol stations to live their lives, to take the kids to soccer training, to pick up their groceries for dinner, to check in on their elderly parents. It's part of getting to work early in the morning and picking up the kids in the afternoon. It keeps small businesses moving and allows us to stay connected to services and our community, when they are often some distance away.

Fuel companies know this, and there are so many patriotic Australians in the fuel sector who take that responsibility seriously. But what the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 does is ensure that the bad actors who are seeking to make a quick buck off the volatility that international conflict has brought to 2026 are held accountable for their responsibilities. When petrol prices move, households feel it immediately. When prices spike without explanation, people notice. When people suspect they are being taken advantage of, trust in the system erodes quickly. This legislation is about restoring and protecting that trust.

These bills speak directly to the everyday experience of people in my electorate in southern Sydney. Global instability has created volatility in oil and fuel markets. My community understands that international events can affect prices here at home. What they expect, however, is honesty, transparency and fair conduct from companies operating in Australia—and we agree. That expectation is reasonable, and it's exactly what these bills reinforce. For my community, petrol isn't an optional extra; it's how people get to work, run their businesses and keep family life moving. When prices jump without clear reason, people feel it straightaway. We know that fuel prices are susceptible to international prices. We know we can't control the international price of oil. But these bills make one thing clear: international conflict is not an excuse to rip off Australians. If petrol companies mislead customers or rip off people, the penalties will be serious. We're backing strong rules, real enforcement and fair prices at the pump because Australians deserve a fair go.

These bills build on reforms already delivered by the Albanese Labor government. Penalties were increased to $50 million. The ACCC was given stronger powers, including petrol price monitoring and the ability to issue on-the-spot fines. Those changes strengthen oversight. This legislation ensures enforcement remains effective and credible as markets evolve. For the fuel sector, that credibility is critical. Petrol is an essential cost. Trades rely on it. Small business relies on it. Families rely on it. Strong enforcement helps ensure fair conduct across the market.

These bills build on practical action taken by this government to maintain supply and security and to improve fuel accessibility. We are boosting supply by releasing 20 per cent of the baseline minimum stockholding obligation for petrol and diesel. We are temporarily amending fuel standards to increase supply. We are working with the ACCC to ensure fuel can move to where it's needed most while strengthening price monitoring and transparency. We are engaging internationally to protect Australia's fuel supply chains in an increasingly uncertain global environment. In addition to that, we've appointed the Fuel Supply Taskforce Coordinator, Anthea Harris, to ensure fuel is getting to where it's needed most.

Recent global events have added pressure to fuel markets. Australia cannot control global volatility, but we can control how strongly we protect consumers at home. These bills strengthen accountability, reinforce deterrence and ensure that the consequences for wrongdoing reflect the harm caused to real people and real businesses. This should be a shared priority across the parliament. I note the member for Wright has said we should be wary of the rush. My community can't wait for reliability of fuel price. Those opposite need to get on board and support a real measure that will make a tangible difference in the lives of Australians who are paying for fuel.

The Albanese Labor government's priorities are clear. We're addressing inflation, we're supporting productivity and we're protecting Australians through global uncertainty. Those opposite need to get on board for the sake of Australians right across the country. Ensuring fairer petrol prices and stronger enforcement is essential to the task of looking after Australians in a time of international uncertainty.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 and the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026. But I am a little bit confused about this. My question is: where did this come from? This just shows how this government is struggling. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy stood up here and said there are no fuel supply issues. As a matter of fact, he even got up and said that Australia has more fuel supply in the country now than before the Iran incident. That is absolutely amazing. So we don't have a supply issue; we must have a distribution issue.

On doubling the penalties for ACCC enforcement, my question would be: how much enforcement has been had by the ACCC so far? Can anybody point to me how many people have been prosecuted? Anybody? Crickets! I just don't think it's happening. Then, all of a sudden, we're going to double the penalties for something that's not even happening. That's why the coalition put in place and launched yesterday No Fuel Here. You can go to www.nofuelhere.com.au. That is a live reporting tool that everybody can jump on and say what service stations are out of fuel.

We were told by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy yesterday that there were over 500 service stations that didn't have fuel. Again, I definitely think there's a distribution problem if we don't have a supply problem, but I believe it's both. By launching www.nofuelhere.com.au, this will put power into the hands of constituents, who can then report, and it will be a live tool.

The residents in Dawson are struggling. They're struggling under the Albanese Labor created cost-of-living crisis, and, now, the extra price gouging that is happening from fuel is just adding insult to injury. We're seeing price increases of up to 40 cents in a day, and it keeps going. We're seeing fuel on the outskirts of Mackay now at $3.25 per litre, and that is simply not sustainable.

You hear talk from those opposite that there might be some rationing. Rationing in rural and regional Australia simply will not work. If you put $40 in the tank, then that's not going to get you very far. In my electorate, that's over 400 kilometres long, they'll be chasing fuel station to fuel station. People will be driving around, burning diesel or burning petrol, just looking for where they can buy their next bit of petrol. It just simply does not work. It's so important that the fuel flows to the regions because that's where the royalties come from, that's where the food comes from and that is the heart of Australia.

What we're witnessing here is a fundamental failure of logic and leadership from this government. They've dumped an amendment to the legislation on the desk and demanded that we blindly support two bills. This is a government that expects this House to rubberstamp their agenda without even a single second of proper scrutiny. It is an insult to the Australian people.

We're facing a national emergency, yet we're being forced to debate these bills together—a double-or-nothing legislative gamble. These are mafia tactics from a government who are clearly taking their tips from the CFMEU—speed over substance, power of people. The Australian people deserve a parliament that acts with transparency instead. We're being blindsided by a government that refuses to allow time for consultation. How are we meant to speak with the independent fuel providers when the government rushes legislation through in the dark of night? It is a fundamental truth that we cannot have a functioning democracy without scrutiny, but this government seems to believe they have the numbers and can just shake us down.

Doubling the penalties for the ACCC is not going to be a success. Let's make sure the government enforces what's there— (Time expired)

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our government, the Albanese government, has introduced new legislation to help consumers get a fair go at the petrol pump, with bigger penalties for misconduct, including in the fuel sector. The conflict, the war currently overseas, shouldn't be an excuse for profiteering from Australians. We have to support our truckies, and we won't cop big corporates treating Australian consumers like mugs. The Albanese government is helping Australia's trucking industry manage the impacts of the war in the Middle East, ensuring truckies and transport operators are better protected from fuel price rises. We want to change the law so that the Fair Work Commission can demand that companies pay truckies fairly when fuel prices spike. With global uncertainty leading to significant impacts on our transport industry, our government is taking practical action to support the truckies and transport operators who keep the Australian economy moving.

The government will amend the Fair Work Act to allow truckies and road transport businesses to make an emergency application for a contract chain order to deal with the current spike in fuel prices caused by the war in the Middle East, and, under the Fair Work Act, the Fair Work Commission can require transport clients, including retailers, mining companies and manufacturers, to offer fair contract terms, ensuring that truckies and transport operators are paid enough to cover the cost of fuel. Currently, a minimum of six months is required for a contract chain order, and our amendment will remove that wait time, so truckies and transport operators aren't left to worry about managing rising costs on their own.

I want to provide some context on the importance of retailers, wholesalers and everyone doing the right thing. Louise Bilato, Executive Officer of the Northern Territory Road Transport Association, said:

A sizeable portion of the NT's road transport fleet is comprised of owner-drivers and small trucking businesses.

These family businesses are already experiencing financial strain and their financial circumstances will worsen in the next month as they are forced to pay exorbitant prices for diesel.

There is a high likelihood that some transport operators will be forced into administration or bankruptcy—

without the sort of action that is required to make sure that people are doing the right thing.

We're calling on the Liberals and Nationals to vote for this bill that will legislate higher penalties for petrol companies that do the wrong thing by transport operators and by all Australians. This is on top of all the other action we're taking to address fuel affordability and security. We have introduced new laws to double penalties for petrol companies that are price gouging, which this bill has been discussing as well. We've begun the release of 20 per cent of Australia's fuel reserves. We've changed petrol standards temporarily to get more fuel flowing and changed diesel standards so Australia's refineries can supply more diesel. We've tasked the ACCC to ramp up fuel price monitoring and issue on-the-spot fines. We've engaged with international partners to keep supply flowing. We've convened the National Cabinet with states and territories. We've appointed a national fuel supply taskforce coordinator. We've engaged with the states and territories on supply and distribution, including holding a special energy ministers meeting; activating the National Coordination Mechanism, which has already met twice; and convening the National Oil Supplies Emergency Committee six times. We're also unlocking $2 million in financial counselling funding for impacted farmers and changing the law in order to make it easier for Australia's refineries to access government funding when they run at a loss.

When it comes to our fairer fuel bill and doubling penalties for ACCC enforcement, it is essential that, in order to support our trucking companies and in order to support everyday Territorians and everyday Aussies, these companies are held to account, and maximising the fines will provide an effective disincentive. Despite what some opposite have said, there have been huge fines handed out to petrol companies that have done the wrong thing, and that will continue and be much harsher now.

Simon Kennedy (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just last weekend I'd run the tank dry. I went to my local servo in Gymea Bay and I filled up. I watched it go higher and higher and higher and, before I knew it, I was over 200 bucks. I made a video about it straight after that, just because I could not believe that, when filling up only a couple of weeks earlier, it was basically half the price.

Now, this isn't a luxury. This wasn't for a road trip. This wasn't for a getaway. This was to get the family around the town. This isn't a future problem; it's happening right now. And when fuel prices hit this level, everything changes. Families start doing maths about everyday life. They say: 'Do we drive to sport this weekend? Can we go away this Easter? Can we afford a holiday? Do we go away at all? Do we stay at home? Do we start cutting back on groceries? Can we afford next month's school fees?' That's the reality everyday families are living right across Australia.

Yes, the war on Iran may not have been foreseeable, but what is foreseeable is how quickly you react and how you get across your brief. And, unfortunately, all everyday Australians are having to adjust their way of life faster than this government has been able to adjust to a fuel crisis. You can't tell everyone that everything is fine on a Monday and then on Friday call it a national crisis. As soon as this started, what would happen was absolutely foreseeable. This government was caught flat footed, and they still are. While we welcome the doubling of ACCC penalties, there's more the government should have been looking at.

Earlier we heard from Scotty Buchholz in here—a man who has dedicated a huge proportion of his life to trucking, who owned 14 depots right across this country, who understands this industry. For him, this isn't policy. It's not a piece of legislation. It's not words on paper. He knows the people in this industry who are going to go bankrupt without adequate help. And, when they go bankrupt and stop delivering food to supermarket shelves and when crops stop getting sowed, it's everyday Australians that'll pay, and we risk stagflation. What he raised was: should we be looking at adjusting the fuel excise? Why is the government not having discussions on these topics—on road-user charging, on fuel excise—which would provide relief overnight to truck drivers right across the country?

Yes, we support doubling these penalties, but the ACCC takes time. They have to investigate cases. They have to create litigation. Australians need relief now. They need relief urgently. They are doing the maths right now on how they will get through Easter. I personally spoke to two trucking companies this week who are worried about going insolvent, and, when they go insolvent—they have customers who they deliver to. They go to Bunnings. They go to Woolies. They go to Coles. It's not just a bush issue. Right now, it may be. People in the cities might say, 'The worst thing that's happening to me is paying 200 bucks for a tank,' and that's pretty bad. But it could soon get much worse. When you start having road transport break down, you get shortages on supermarket shelves, you get unemployment spiking and you get inflation going through the roof.

The truth is that Australia was already experiencing the highest inflation of any advanced economy in the world. What should the federal government be doing? They should be protecting everyday Australians from international shocks. Instead, this government and Treasurer Chalmers had Australians flailing in the wind, with the highest inflation in the advanced world. So, when this international shock came through, it hit us like a freight train. Yes, you'd much rather be in the US. You'd much rather be in the UK or Japan. You would much rather be in any other advanced country in the world because they had lower inflation to begin with and lower interest rates, and, because they were not caught as flat footed as Australia was, petrol prices have gone up less in those countries than in Australia.

So, yes, the trigger for this event may not have been foreseeable, but how you react, how you prepare and how you get across your brief is. Unfortunately, disappointingly, Australians working across the suburbs of Gymea, Cronulla and Caringbah are paying the price for this. You're paying it at the bowser. You may soon be paying it at the supermarket. We will do what we can to work with this government to give you relief.

Rowan Holzberger (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a new member of this place, there's still so much that I have to learn. One thing I've learned over the last few days is that, when members of the opposition are talking from the dispatch box, they don't generally look around the room. They like looking in that direction, which I guess is so that they get themselves on camera, because, actually, all they're really doing is making a social media video. They're not really contributing to the debate that's taking place in this parliament—not all of them, of course. I think that what we're seeing here is a complete abrogation of their responsibility to take part seriously in this debate.

So, to that end, I would implore them to support this legislation, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 and the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026. The member for Cook talked about the urgency of all of this, yet they're not prepared to act urgently. In fact, I remembered during those crises of the term 'to be alert but not alarmed', whereas the opposition actually seem to have it the other way around. They're being alarmed but not alert, otherwise they wouldn't be coming in here asking ridiculous questions of the government such as if they will co-ordinate a national response after they've already had a National Cabinet meeting. They would actually be on top of what's going on rather than trying to score political points.

I have got to say, in my short 53 years on this Earth, there has really only been one national crisis that I have lived through, which was COVID. Do you know what the Labor Party did on that? They worked with the government at the time in the nation's best interest. To give a little bit of free political advice to the opposition, do you know what happened to the Labor Party after we worked with the then government? We won an election because actually the smart thing to do politically is to put differences aside and act in the national interest. You know what Australians hate most of all? They hate division in this place at a moment of national crisis. I realise this is free advice, which is unsolicited, but you're going to pay. You're going to pay for it out there in the electorate for the stance that you're taking. Mark my words. It is exactly the sort of behaviour that has seen your party become a total irrelevance. It really gets to the point where it's not worth talking so much about what this opposition is doing, because they have now got themselves into such a position that, out there in the community, they aren't even the real opposition. Please take heed of that advice and act in the national interest. Act like the sort of responsible adults that the people in our community expect us all to act like. It will pay political dividends as well as national dividends.

This legislation is exactly designed for the moment. These two bills are designed to do two things. As the member for Cook indicated earlier—and Deputy Speaker Buchholz yourself, who was heavily involved in trucking, like my neighbour. I know firsthand, from working in construction and running a construction business, how important those fuel costs are and how important it is that we get those deliveries on time. So these pieces of legislation deal with that. They give certainty to truckies that they're going to be able to negotiate a fair deal that's going to be able to keep their trucks moving and get those materials delivered to site or the goods delivered to supermarkets. The other thing it does as well is it gives powers to the government and the ACCC to actually properly prosecute companies that are profiteering out of this. We know—as if the member for Cook was telling us something we don't know!—what is going on out there, but the difference between us and the opposition is that we're acting on it, and they're point scoring. We're out there taking effective measures; they're out there collecting data and asking for people's emails. We're out there acting in the national interest, and they're out there acting in what they think is their very narrow political interest.

I would appeal to them to support this legislation. This needs to happen quickly. It needs to happen urgently, and all of the urgency that the other side have been talking about needs to be more than words. They need to stop making social media videos. They need to start acting in the national interest, and the best thing they could do would be start by supporting these bills.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we have heard from the Labor Party for the last two weeks is that people should stop panic-buying. It's apparently Australia's fault that we don't have the fuel that we need. We should stop panic-buying. What we are actually seeing today is the Labor government, under Prime Minister Albanese, panic-legislating. That's what they're doing. They're panic-legislating because they have been left flat footed.

People in Australia are going through a cost-of-living crisis. They have had energy bills go through the roof. Inflation continues to rise. Interest rates on mortgages continue to rise. Rents continue to rise. And now we have trucks who cannot deliver and are at risk of folding their small businesses. This absolutely lies at the feet of the Albanese government. It is not Australia's fault that this is happening. It is not the panic buying that has caused this today.

Today I just got off the phone from one of the farmers. He happens to have a small fuel depot in Robinvale. He has just told me that he's talked to citrus growers in my electorate who are literally in the process of deciding whether they will take the fruit off the tree to deliver to market or not. We hear today that one in five farmers is making the decision not to sow a crop. What is this Labor government doing about it? Well, you know what? They're panic legislating, finally getting the ACCC to do their job, and they're allowing truckies to put their prices up according to the fuel they're paying for. Great! Guess what. There is a flow-on effect, Labor. Prime Minister Albanese needs to understand that, if people cannot afford their groceries and they cannot afford vegetables, they won't buy them. Guess what happens when Australians don't eat fresh vegetables and fruit. You know what. They get sick. So our health prices will also go up.

The amount of trouble that people in the regions have trying to get health services now—many of them are having to drive to get to those health services. I had a woman write to me this week who said that she cancelled her health appointment because she couldn't get fuel to put in her car to get to see her doctor. Great! Just fantastic—all under the Labor government. The Labor government need to stop blaming Australians, and they need to take responsibility. What we have now is a panicked government who is making last-minute decisions to throw in legislation, of course, in an omnibus fashion—always. 'Let's throw this in, and let's throw that in.' And, if we, the opposition, don't approve it, then it's all on us. You know what? The previous speaker just blamed the coalition for the mess that Australia is in. No, we will not accept that. This is absolutely Prime Minister Albanese's problem to fix.

As for the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, where do I start? Last week—'No problem at all with supply.' Three days later, suddenly we've got a fuel crisis. Did we see that coming? If only somebody had told him! So now we are trying to mop up the mess that Labor have created. I don't think that we can overestimate the poor decision-making and the poor processes that this government have put in place. They are late to come to the table, late to call the meetings—they're pretty fond of meetings; I've got to say. They love having the roundtable to have the discussions. What decisions are being made? 'Oh, we'd better rush and make some legislation that looks like we're doing something.'

Australians are going to wear the cost of the failures of this government into the future. Who knows how long into the future? I am deeply worried about farmers who are choosing not to pick fruit, farmers who will not grow crops. Everyday Australians and families trying to put food on their table will be wearing the cost of the incompetence of this government.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Whether you're a teacher commuting from the mountains to a school on the plains; a disability worker driving a client you support; a turf farmer, construction worker or truckie operating diesel vehicles; or a family just trying to keep the wheels turning, the price at the pump is hurting and availability has been hard. I know we've had petrol stations in my electorate out of one or more fuels. It's constantly changing and in flux as the supply continues to flow through.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 and the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026 are designed to add to the work we've already done to respond very promptly to the world environment that we're seeing. They're designed to do two things. The first is to protect consumers from petrol price gouging, and the second is to provide the trucking industry with a way to respond and manage the impacts of the war. We are less interested in blaming someone for what's happened and more interested in solutions, and I really urge those opposite to support the solutions. These are two key parts of the things that we can do in this unprecedented situation. All they seem to be saying is, 'You're doing it too fast and you should have done it before.' I'm really not interested in debating that rhetoric.

Let's look at the practical things that the Albanese government is doing. One is the new legislation to provide for bigger penalties for misconduct in the fuel sector to help consumers get a fair go at the petrol pump. The conflict overseas should never be an excuse to profit off Australians. We're putting petrol companies on notice and this Treasury laws amendment to double the penalties does literally that. It doubles the penalties for false or misleading conduct and cartel behaviour to a maximum of $100 million per offence across the economy. We'd already increased penalties to $50 million—that's five times higher than what they were when we came to government—and we've given the ACCC more tools, such as extending petrol price monitoring powers and the ability to issue on-the-spot fines. This is a really important step, and it comes on top of the other action we're taking to address fuel affordability and security.

We're boosting the fuel supply by releasing 20 per cent of the baseline minimum stockholding obligation for petrol and diesel, and that is already beginning. We're getting more fuels into the market by temporarily amending the fuel standards, and we're engaging international partners to strengthen the supply chains and fuel security. The work we've done with Singapore in the last couple of days is a very good example of that. That is one side of this legislation that is about making a practical difference.

The second is around truckies. My electorate has truck drivers all over the place in every possible sector, and what we know is that they haven't had the tools to respond. Before the chamber is an amendment to the Fair Work Act to allow truckies and road transport businesses to make an emergency application for a contractual chain order to deal with the current spike in fuel prices. Instead of something that would normally take more than six months, we want this to be done fast. The minimum six months will no longer apply when there is an emergency declaration made, and this gives the minister the powers to do that. As the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations said, this is about us stepping up to help create fairness through the supply chain and manage the impacts of global fuel challenges and helping truckies and transport operators be protected from fuel price rises. This is a second really important piece of legislation being put to the parliament.

We are asking those opposite to get on with it and allow this to go through the parliament in a very prompt way. It adds to multiple announcements we've made to support getting more diesel flowing. One of those that I want to focus on is the minor adjustment to diesel standards. This is going to support truckies in my community. The six-month adjustment lowers what's known as the flashpoint for diesel from 61.5 degrees Celsius to 60.5 degrees Celsius, and what it means is that we can increase the diesel supply options from refiners and from international sources.

It's about having more flexibility, and that's exactly what's needed here—flexibility by a government that's saying, 'What are the things we can quickly put in place to support our industries adapt and be flexible to the conditions they're facing?' I commend the bill.

David Batt (Hinkler, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Right now, the cost of diesel in my regional Queensland electorate of Hinkler is sitting at a high of $3.15 per litre. Unleaded is upwards of $2.50 a litre. Those opposite keep telling Australians that we are in a good position to deal with this crisis. Tell that to Brian from Bundaberg, who called my office this morning. He's wondering how he will afford to visit his grandchildren in Brisbane during the upcoming Easter holidays. Tell the farmers and producers of Hinkler that we are in a good position. They are already changing the way they do business. They're busily reconsidering who they can viably supply and how they can do it. What about the truckies taking our produce to market from Hinkler and delivering essential supplies to our region? What about the tour boat operators taking visitors to the southern Great Barrier Reef, with fuel costs now skyrocketing by upwards of $2,000 every day? What about the Hervey Bay retirees who are changing their driving behaviour, too afraid to leave their homes because they simply can't afford it? Australia is facing a genuine national emergency and fuel crisis, and this is being felt everywhere, especially in regional Australia. Prices are visibly hitting households in real time. Working from home is not an option for so many in the regions.

So what about the bills before us here today, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 and the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026? Yes, the coalition is backing the doubling of penalties for the ACCC. This is tangible. Increasing the maximum penalty for anticompetitive behaviour and ensuring the price of misconduct is high enough to deter unfair activity is good. We must ensure consumers retain a robust level of protection. Yes, we support tougher penalties for those doing wrong, but the commission must also prosecute. We won't cop fuel gouging, but let's not forget to give confidence to the independent fuel retailers, who don't know where their next order is coming from or when. Doubling penalties won't help supply.

This government needs to do more. It needs to do better. How about acting for regional Australia too? Don't put the blame on Australians. Speaking of confidence, it's worth pointing out that consumer confidence has now fallen to its lowest since records began, stretching back over 50 years to 1972. It is even below the COVID-19 pandemic low of 2020.

As for the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026, we on this side of the House are weighing up what that means. It was brought in here at 9.15 this morning, and I'm sure those on the other side are also still reading their talking points as they're speaking in here. It'd be nice and, more importantly, appropriate to have the opportunity to properly understand it and scrutinise it, but right now all we are seeing is a game of politics.

Regional Australians don't have the luxury of jumping on a bus or working from home. Fuel is how we get to work, how we get our kids to school, and how our businesses and our farms keep running. When the pumps are empty, our communities grind to a halt. The parliament should be focused on getting fuel flowing and prices under control now. Be wary of bills that are this rushed. Should we be talking about fuel excise? Can we reduce the excise? The government should be looking at every option to take pressure off, including temporary and targeted relief, because so much damage has already been done.

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support both pieces of legislation before us in this cognated debate. For those at home, particularly for the people I represent in Melbourne's west, it's worth making a few comments so as to understand why it is that we're talking about two pieces of legislation this morning. It's because those opposite came in this morning to demand a debate on one piece of legislation, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026, and, in the process, said that they would support any legislation that was going to assist Australians in the situation we find ourselves as a result of the war in the Middle East. Of course, there's another piece of legislation before us, the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026, that we've therefore called on this morning for debate so that we can get both of these pieces of legislation passed through the parliament as quickly as possible to support Australians.

I want to start with that second piece of legislation, which is about supporting truckies across Australia, something that's close to my heart as someone who had truck drivers in the family and something that's really close to my electorate's heart as it has many transport workers and many who work in transport and logistics. Every conversation we have here in this place about that system, whether it be for truck drivers or for those doing the loading and unloading, means hundreds of individuals in my community who work in this space. In fact, I was having a conversation about it with a next-door neighbour as late as Friday evening.

The Albanese government is helping Australia's trucking industry manage the impacts of the war in the Middle East by ensuring that truckies and transport operators are better protected from fuel price rises. This is incredibly important, and this legislation goes to the heart of that. It sees the government again stepping up to help create fairness through the supply chain and manage the impacts of the global fuel challenges. In short, it means that, rather than wait six months to be allowed to respond to things, the minister will be able to give people permission to do that quickly and easily and be more responsive. So it's a very important piece of legislation, and I'm pleased that we're bringing it in today for discussion and to pass.

The other piece, of course, is the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026. This allows penalties of up to $100 million for those who are found to be in breach of the Treasury Laws Amendment Act by the ACCC. It works quite simply as a deterrent to stop businesses from price-gouging Australian citizens. Obviously, everyone in this chamber supports the ACCC in pursuing anyone found to be doing these things. In response to the fuel price increases, we have raised this to $50 million and now again here to $100 million to ensure that we've got legislation and that the CQC is empowered to support Australians and prevent them being taken advantage of by companies who want to do these things.

I want to go to a couple of points here. The first is those opposite claiming that the government is acting too slowly and in the next breath that the government is acting too quickly—a theme we have seen since January, I must say. As someone who was here and who remembers very clearly news of the pandemic breaking in this parliament as I sat on the opposite side, I can attest that the Labor Party in opposition was supportive of government because Australians needed us to be supportive of government. I ask those opposite to put down their weapons and be supportive of Australians in this instance. I note some jocularity coming from the other side. You don't get to call something a crisis and then play politics with it. You can't do both things and be perceived to be reasonable.

The government has already introduced new laws to double penalties for petrol companies for price gouging. We've convened National Cabinet, we've appointed a national fuel supply task force coordinator, we've begun the release of 20 per cent of Australia's fuel reserves, we've changed petrol standards to get more fuel flowing and we've changed diesel standards so Australia's refineries can supply more diesel. The list of the actions that this government has taken goes on and on. I call on those opposite to support both of these bills, support the government and support Australians.

Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 a second reading, the House:

(1) notes that:

(a) price gouging is not banned under Australian law except in relation to supermarkets;

(b) this Bill will do nothing to stop fuel corporations from price gouging because it only increases penalties on existing offences; and

(c) claims that this Bill will stop fuel corporations price gouging are misleading the Australian public; and

(2) calls on the government to:

(a) stop backing President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu's illegal war on Iran, which is a key driver of skyrocketing fuel prices; and

(b) extend the supermarket price gouging ban across the whole economy including fuel corporations".

The Greens will be supporting the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 in the House and reserving our position in the Senate. We also intend to support the passage of the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026 in the House and reserve our position in the Senate. Labor's actually lying to you that they're tackling price gouging. All this ACCC bill does is increase penalties on existing offences—offences which have never in their history been used to crack down on fuel.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister is seeking the call.

Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think there was some unparliamentary language just used.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To assist the House, I ask the member for Ryan to withdraw.

Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw. All this ACCC bill does is increase penalties on existing offences—offences which have never in their history been used to crack down on fuel price gouging. They can still put up prices as much as they want; they just can't lie about it—so they just won't say anything at all.

Under pressure from the Greens, Labor has finally done something about price gouging in supermarkets—so why not across the whole economy? Is that because Coles and Woollies happen to be catching a bit of flak recently? There's no reason not to do the same across the whole economy. Maybe they're not doing it because they know it's corporate profiteering, not everyday people, that is causing inflation. They want you to pay for the crisis. The prices of everything go up, then interest rates go up and you're then paying more for your mortgage and more on your rent. Politicians, the media and the billionaires want to make you think that this is inevitable—but it's not. Inflation is not caused by everyday people spending what they need to get by. You can't decide to opt out of putting a roof over your head or buying food for your family. Wages have hardly moved. When you pay more, someone else gets more money; it's pretty simple.

The money has to go somewhere and it's going to the top. When Russia invaded Ukraine, it caused an enormous transfer of wealth from regular people to the top one per cent. Publicly listed oil and gas companies worldwide tripled their income from previous years to $916 billion in 2022, enriching their wealthy owners—and this includes Santos. Santos tripled its net income from 2021 to 2022. Santos has never paid corporate tax in Australia since the ATO started reporting it. It's inflation for you, and profits for the one per cent. Billionaires worldwide have increased their total wealth by 81 per cent since the pandemic, according to Oxfam, to $18.3 trillion. It's not like the weather; it's not inevitable. Your living standards have gone down while the superyacht business for the ultra-wealthy booms, and this latest oil crisis, which will increase the cost of food, diesel, fertiliser and everything downstream from those goods, will only accelerate that trickle-up to the price gouging corporations and their billionaire owners.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the amendment seconded?

Nicolette Boele (Bradfield, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the amendment and reserve my right to speak.

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This matter goes to the very heart of fairness—fairness for everyday Australians, fairness for families doing their best and fairness for the workers who quite literally keep this country moving. The Albanese government has been clear from day one. Our focus is simple—to build an economy that works for people, not the other way around. That means standing up when markets fail, stepping in when big corporations overreach and making sure Australians are never taken for granted. Across this country, from our major ports to the smallest rural towns, there is a workforce that never stops: transport workers, truckies, logistics operators—the people behind the wheel at all hours of the day and night, connecting communities, delivering goods and keeping shelves stocked. These workers are not just part of the economy; they are the backbone of it, and they deserve our protection. They deserve fairness in pricing, fairness in conditions and a system that does not allow them to be squeezed while others profit. When price gouging occurs in fuel markets, it does not just hurt motorists in the suburbs; it flows through the entire supply chain.

That is why legislation like this, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 and the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026, is important. Supply chains are the lifeblood of the nation, and when they come under pressure like this because of global uncertainty they need good government to step up. They ensure food reaches our tables, medicine reaches our hospitals and goods reach every corner of this country. When those chains are strained and when transport is not supported, everything slows, everything costs more and everything becomes harder. Let us be clear. If truckies cannot afford to keep moving, food does not get delivered. If fuel prices are manipulated, regional communities feel it first and worst. If supply chains stall, the economy does not just stumble; it risks grinding to a halt. I'm sure no-one in this House and no Australian out there wants to see that happen.

I've seen the impact on the transport workforce firsthand through my time working alongside the Transport Workers' Union of Australia and, more broadly, over more than 22 years in the transport industry. When you support truck drivers, warehouse workers and those on the frontline of our supply chains, you understand just how quickly things like unfair fuel prices and unfair market behaviour hit their livelihoods. These are workers already operating long hours, on tight margins and with immense responsibility. So legislation like this is practical protection, ensuring that people who keep Australia moving are not the ones paying the price for corporate misconduct, which should never be tolerated by any government that claims to stand for fairness. That is why we are putting petrol companies on notice. We will not cop big corporates treating Australian consumers like mugs. We will not accept behaviour that undermines trust, distorts markets and drives up the cost of living.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 is a clear statement of intent. It doubles penalties for false or misleading conduct and for cartel behaviour to a maximum of $100 million per offence. Our job is to act in the best interests of Australians, and that is what we are doing here today. We know people are doing it tough. We know it's a hard slog. These bills are our work to improve the lives of everyone in this country.

I want to say to those opposite: when times are tough, when crises are on our shores, there is a time for real leadership in this place. That's why we've been elected. We need to stand up as one collective force in this place at this time for our country and ensure that our truckies are treated with respect and dignity and that our system is not taken advantage of. It is reprehensible that those opposite continue to politicise this crisis. It is time for the Leader of the Opposition to stand up and show some leadership on this very issue and stop politicising it. We need to act as one. We need to act in the best interests of every single Australian. It is time to support these bills.

Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak today for many people across my electorate who are struggling with fuel supply. Let me be clear, though, about what is happening here. The coalition recognised the urgency of the first of these bills, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026. We recognise the urgency of it. But what's also happening is that, in the purest form of arrogance that has long characterised them, the Albanese Labor government have bundled it up with another piece of legislation, the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026, which we only received earlier today.

Petrol and diesel prices are rising across the country. I spoke recently to Jon and Sharon, who own a family crane company in my electorate, and they have seen a considerable rise in the cost of fuel. Theirs is a company that purchases between 7,000 litres and 10,000 litres at a time. Between just the 28 February and 18 March, they've seen an increase in their costs from $1.63 a litre to $2.73 per litre. This cost is being passed on, as you'd expect, to their clients, and it is, in turn, being passed on to builders and to the cost of construction. Many of the people and the companies who use these cranes engage in the construction of both commercial and residential housing as well.

The impact we're seeing on families from rising fuel costs is multifaceted, and it's compounding, because we're already seeing a government that has presided over an incredible cost-of-living crisis. We're seeing inflation that is out of control, and we are now seeing families having to add, to their already growing burden, the increased cost of fuel. I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge my colleague the federal member for Wright, someone who is very familiar with the transport industry. He has worked as a transport operator, and he spoke very passionately about this topic earlier in this debate.

The country is at breaking point. We are not seeing any sort of meaningful action here. There's no talk about solutions, no talk about, for example, adjustments to the fuel excise. There's no talk about what the government is actually doing. Instead, the talk we have heard has been confusing and conflated, especially when it comes to the presentations by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy during question time over the last couple of days. We've seen the government contradicting itself. We've gone from there being no fuel problem to a national crisis being declared. We've seen multiple national cabinet meetings. We've seen a government that has ultimately been caught flat-footed and asleep at the wheel. And it's not only individuals who are hurting; it's small businesses. Many of us on this side of the House have been involved in and run small businesses. It's those people who are really struggling at the moment. These are the ones who are wanting to make sure they have a future for their business, for the people they employ, and no guarantee is being given by this government.

As the coalition, we will definitely scrutinise this legislation, especially in the Senate. But the way it has been put through today is characteristic of this government. We're approaching Easter, a time that is very special to Australians. But what are we going to actually see? We're going to see an increase in holiday cancellations. We're seeing families who have probably been looking forward to travel after working very hard but being unable to travel and take time with their families. We need a government who is not only prepared to act but prepared to act in a way such that we can work with them. We've been very constructive in the sense that we've said, in relation to the first part of this legislation, that we're happy to provide some support. But the way it's been rushed is, again, characteristic of a government that is arrogant and out of touch.

Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to counter the assertion that the government has been found flat-footed on the issue of fuel security. You can't suggest that we're flat-footed and then say we're not acting expeditiously enough. Those opposite need to make up their mind about that. It's completely inaccurate and, quite honestly, unfair. I know, having come into this place almost 10 years ago, that we have better fuel reserves now than we had then, under the former government, which saw the closure of refineries and certainly wasn't acting to secure fuel certainty, as this government has done—off the back of what I might say have been extraordinary circumstances the world over. Crude oil has doubled in price in the last month alone, and we've seen an extraordinarily geographically difficult conflict in a strait of water that has been taken prisoner by Iran. So to suggest that we have been flat-footed and had no action is a complete misrepresentation of the action this government has taken.

I rise today in strong support of the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026, which will again be a piece of legislation that we have worked quickly and adroitly to get through this place to help with the circumstances and a world in flux as we see it at the moment. This is a practical, targeted and time-sensitive reform designed to respond to extraordinary global circumstances that are placing significant pressure on Australia's road transport industry. And I want to give shout-out to the truckies of Australia today. You are turning up, delivering and doing your darndest for our nation, and we thank you for it.

As we know, the conflict in the Middle East has emerged rapidly and, with it, sharp volatility in global fuel markets. The flow-on effects have been immediate and profound. Fuel prices are surging. Supply chains are under strain. Across Australia, road transport businesses, many of them small and family run, are facing mounting financial pressure, with very little time to respond. Our government sees you, we hear you and we are working with you. The duration and full scale of these impacts remain uncertain. What I mean by that is that we don't know when this war is going to end. But we are working to mitigate the circumstances of it every minute of every day. What is clear is that the consequences are being felt now.

This bill amends the Fair Work Act 2009 to ensure that our industrial relations framework is capable of responding quickly and effectively in times of national economic stress. It enables Minister Rishworth, who has worked day and night on this in recent days, to recognise when extraordinary circumstances are having a significant national impact and to trigger an expedited process so that the Fair Work Commission can act more quickly. That means faster decisions on contract chain orders, ensuring that rising fuel costs can be dealt with fairly across supply chains rather than being borne disproportionately by drivers and small operators. It's an important safeguard, and it's a necessary one in times like this. In circumstances like this, delays have real consequences.

Importantly, this bill does not alter the independent role of the Fair Work Commission. It respects that role. The commission will continue to assess applications and make decisions independently, but this bill will ensure that in times of crisis it can act with urgency. This legislation builds on the significant steps the government has already taken to respond to this fuel crisis. We've acted quickly to protect Australians, doubling penalties for petrol price gouging and really teething up the ACCC to increase monitoring, enforcement and crackdown. We've acted to stabilise supply, releasing a portion of Australia's fuel reserves. We've adjusted the fuel standards to increase availability. And we've been working with our international partners to ensure that those ships keep coming. We're a reliable partner with LNG and coal, and they know they need to reciprocate those deals—and they are—but we're working constructively with them.

We've coordinated nationally, convening National Cabinet, working with states and territories, and activating key emergency coordination mechanisms to ensure that fuel continues to flow where it's needed. And we've been engaging directly with industry every step of the way. This bill is another step in this response, because, when supply and price oversight are critical, we must also ensure fairness within the supply chain itself. If this bill isn't passed in this autumn sitting, the consequences are clear: road transport contractors may be forced to absorb rising fuel costs for an indeterminate period. I thank the House.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're hearing the word now, aren't we? We're hearing the word 'crisis'. It took a little while before they started saying 'crisis', but by gosh we're hearing it a lot now. And we're hearing the word 'urgency'. It took a little bit of time before they started saying the word 'urgency', but we're hearing the word a lot now. And of course what we're seeing is that they're rushing forward a bill. Do you know why they rush bills forward? It's because they're panicking, because they're not across the situation.

I'll show you how much they're not across the situation. When I first brought this up three weeks ago on Sunrise, they said, 'Don't worry, because we have electric trucks'—electric trucks, electric prime movers. I was gobsmacked. Then I asked the minister, 'How many days supply of diesel do we have?' And he was almost incredulous: 'Nothing to worry about here!' Within a week: big problems. Right now, this is how bad it's got. I have funeral directors contacting me. They don't have the fuel to pick up family members who have died and cart them back so they can, in a dignified way, be kept in a condition that's appropriate before they're buried. And the government says this is not a crisis.

I'll tell you where we're going to have a big crisis. We now have tractors that are unable to produce the food you need. They are basically sitting in a paddock because we can't get the supply of diesel. At the start, it was just like the fuel crisis: 'It won't matter, because there's stuff in storage.' But, as it starts to filter through and we can't get it to the marketplace—like we can't load cattle—you're going to start running out of food. We have got to have a plan. That's why I say that we must start rationing now. People aren't going to like it. People are going to be very upset by it. But it's better to show the people that you've got a plan, that you've worked out how much diesel is required and how much fuel is required, and that you'll work your way down through the most essential parts of your economy so they get the product first.

If things sort themselves out in the Middle East, we can just wait until the fuel's running again and we can just go back to the way we were. We've been fascinated—well, I haven't. But this place has been fascinated by such rubbish as green hydrogen, solar panels, wind towers and climate change. This issue should have been seen. I tell you why. It's because one of the issues that we should be planning for, unfortunately—President Xi says he's going to take Taiwan by 2027. It's 2026. That will also shut down all your supply lines. They'll all get shut down. We should have had that plan. We should have had that worked out because the situation in a smaller form is what's happening now. If we had that worked out, we'd be able to better handle this one.

Even now, there is no sense of really grasping this situation for exactly what it is before it's in its more, to be quite frank, worrying form: it doesn't start arriving at the supermarkets. If it's arriving with funeral directors, if funeral directors in country areas are contacting me because they can't get access to fuel, I think that should ring a bell about how trucks are going to go in carting product around. I can assure you that, every time they say there's more fuel, my phone rings hot. They say that there's more fuel in Australia. Well, why haven't we got it? Why isn't it in regional areas? What have you done wrong? Have you got it hidden? Who has got this fuel? The mythical fuel company? It's just there. It's out in the ether. We just can't get it to the stores. We can't get it to the fuel stations.

If you have bulk uses of fuel like trucks do, 1,800 litres in a B-double—if they don't get it delivered to them in bulk so they can use it at their depot, they go to the fuel stations. When they go to the fuel stations, the towns run out of fuel. This has not been managed. This has been a fiasco, and I might say that it was first brought to the attention of this chamber by One Nation without a shadow of a doubt. We were talking about ISIS brides, we were talking about fuel, and now everybody's playing catch-up. You better start coming up with rationing. You better start coming up with alternative paths for fuel to come in here, because, if you can't work that out, we're going to have problems getting food to supermarkets.

Alice Jordan-Baird (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our road transport industry is vital to keeping Australia's economy moving. You see it in action in my community on our roads in the western suburbs of Melbourne.

The Western Freeway stretches over 250 kilometres, linking western Victoria to the rest of Melbourne. It's a major freight route, and it's why we're upgrading the Western Freeway between Melton and Caroline Springs. Our truckies keep our economy moving. They spend their days on the road, delivering the goods that our Aussie households and businesses rely on, and they are amongst those who are feeling the issues with fuel prices the most. It's why the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026 is amending the Fair Work Act to enable the commission to respond more quickly to contractual chain order applications in time-sensitive circumstances. We need to make sure hard-working truckies and smaller road transport businesses are not pushed to the brink by these severe costs.

I'm a proud member of the Transport Workers' Union, a union that represents over 20,000 members in Victoria and Tasmania, many of whom are truck drivers. These are mums and dads with families living in my electorate, and these truck drivers are the backbone of our economy. After anticipating feedback from organisations like the TWU, the Australian Trucking Association, the National Road Freighters Association and the Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation, we're amending the Fair Work Act to allow emergency powers to deal with surging fuel prices causing imminent risk to transport businesses and our national supply chains. I'd like to thank these organisations for their support and advocacy—in particular, the TWU.

As the Albanese Labor government, we have consistently taken a stand to give transport workers a fair go, delivering landmark workplace relations reforms with the clear goal of fair minimum standards for employee-like workers and the road transport industry. These changes responded to practices in the road transport industry that weren't sustainable, putting businesses, workers and their families under immense financial pressure. Our employee choice pathway has seen casual employees transition into permanent employment, and our closing loopholes legislation removed the loopholes that undermined a level playing field for employees as well as pay and job security and safety for workers. We're also looking after our truckies by cracking down on sham contracting, with stronger protections against sham contracting and compliance reform from the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Australian Taxation Office and stronger penalties for employers who dodge their obligations to their employees.

We are a party that fights for workers, and we fight for transport workers. When it comes to fuel price hikes, we will not back down. These surging costs are felt right across the community, including by everyday Aussies in my community, who are feeling the surge in petrol prices. That's why we're also introducing new legislation to double penalties for petrol companies that are price gouging. What petrol companies are doing to inflate prices at servos in my community, across our cities and, in particular, in regional Australia must stop. We won't cop corporations taking advantage of Aussie consumers, and conflict overseas is no excuse. My message to my community in Melbourne's western suburbs is: when you go to the servo you deserve a fair go at the petrol pump, and any corporations that engage in misconduct, ripping you off, should face bigger penalties. We've already increased penalties up to $50 million—five times higher than they were before—and we've given the ACCC more tools, like extending petrol price monitoring powers and the ability to issue on-the-spot fines.

How have the opposition responded to the real concerns of Aussies about the price of petrol? They've responded with politics, with rhetoric and with bad-faith attempts to manufacture fear and outrage. Instead of doing their job, they've rushed this bill in today in a blatant political stunt. This is not a genuine attempt to help Australians. It's just more evidence that those opposite are not focused on the real needs of everyday Aussies. They vote against every single cost-of-living measure that this government introduces. They do nothing but play politics in their own party room, and now they're playing politics on the floor of this chamber.

Our government is delivering for Australians. We have Australians' backs during times of crises, and we have the backs of truckies and all Australians at the bowser. On that note, I commend this bill to the House.

Ben Small (Forrest, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Electoral Matters) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move an amendment to the amendment moved by Ms Watson-Brown, as circulated in my name:

That all words after "whilst" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"not declining to give the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026 a second reading, the House:

(1) notes the Leader of the House has previously stated that the reason Governments rush legislation is because 'they don't want there to be a debate in the people's house about the impact of this legislation';

(2) notes the Government's shameful opportunism in preventing the House's consideration of the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026, or the impact of the legislation; and

(3) calls on the Government to explain why these provisions for a temporary crisis are permanent".

Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the amendment seconded?

Jamie Chaffey (Parkes, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the amendment and reserve my right to speak.

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

Australia is facing a genuine national energy and fuel crisis that is devastating our nation. Across the country, particularly in our vital regional communities, everyday citizens are quite literally running on empty. Hardworking people are looking to the Labor government for leadership, urgency and decisive action. Instead, we are—and I am—very disappointed. Unfortunately, this is a government that has completely run out of gas when it comes to this issue.

The reality is stark: petrol is soaring to nearly $2.50 a litre while diesel hits $3.20 in many of the towns in regional South Australia. These prices are hitting households, and hitting fishers, farmers and tradies. Regional Australians rely on diesel vehicles for basic survival, yet they are currently being bled dry by Labor's errors around fuel management and ignoring blatant price-gouging market tactics. Families are carpooling just to save money and, with Easter approaching, cancelling planned holidays and visits to see other family members because travel is just too damn expensive. In my electorate, hardworking tourist operators in Wallaroo, Port Lincoln, Coffin Bay and the bottom end of Yorke Peninsula, who rely on critical seasonal revenue, are watching bookings disappear. This is on top of the harmful algal bloom.

Australians expect real leadership. Instead, they receive silence, confusion and mixed messaging. The government's contradictions on this issue are breathtaking. Within days, we watched the flip-flop from saying there was no fuel problem to suddenly declaring a national crisis. We have seen multiple hastily convened National Cabinet meetings achieve absolutely nothing. This government was caught completely flat footed, totally asleep at the wheel and in absolute denial about the scale of this issue. The economy-wide impact is severe. Fuel costs are hitting farmers and fishers hard. Dedicated manufacturers are being squeezed, and the vital freight and logistics sector is being crushed. Predictably, these surging costs are going to be passed directly onto everyday customers at the local supermarket checkout. Meanwhile, small businesses—who are already facing industrial relations pressure, crippling inflation, rising taxes and heavy compliance costs—now have to take this brutal blow.

The coalition today offers a broader warning. There is a genuine risk for an absolute economic earthquake if this is not addressed urgently, yet we see a complete failure to act. This government has introduced legislation but has not progressed it. They have failed entirely to act on essential price-gouging protections. This crisis is now visible in both our regional and urban areas. The core message from the coalition today is simple: this emergency is undeniably urgent and it is incredibly real. It is hitting vulnerable Australians exceptionally hard and immediate action is needed. Labor must finally prioritise our struggling families and our hardworking farmers. Right now, everyday Australians are unfairly paying the ultimate price for constant government delay and stubborn denial. We cannot afford to waste any more time engaging in empty political spin while regional towns suffer through these wildly inflated prices. This parliament should be completely focused on getting fuel flowing and getting prices firmly under control right now. We need real solutions to ensure no community is left behind.

Australia is a net energy exporter in the form of coal and gas. Why are we not working with our export partners to get agreements to ensure that the liquid fuels flow to this country? I'll end with this: Mary Morris, a farmer from Eudunda, said it best: 'Today I received a phone call to say I was reclassified as "critical" and I might get fuel on April Fool's Day, if it comes. This is an absolute disgrace.' April Fool's Day—what a sick joke.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This whole debate has been an absolute joke. I think the member opposite summed it up when he said he didn't know what he was talking about. What we've got is a situation where we came to government and had a shortage of fuel stocks and supplies. We've addressed that. We've fixed that. Every day, we have worked forward to get things done, and that's why we're backing our truckies to keep going. But what we've got is the coalition over there of the National Party, the Liberal Party and one neuron all fighting against keeping truckies on our road, keeping prices down and keeping people working.

The fact of the matter is that we have more supplies than we've ever had before. It's available; the distribution is the problem. They know it's the problem. It's because people are hoarding fuel, and more and more fuel needs to go out. That's where the blockage is. But what do they do? Rather than them stand up and do anything in any way, shape or form to support Australians, support workers and support the nation, they want to come in here and say, 'We need to do this desperately. It's so important,' and 'it's so important, we're going to block it. We want to put it to a Senate committee and lock it away for ages.'

Never has hypocrisy been writ so large than what we see from those opposite—

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

In light of the resolution that was passed today, time has now expired.

Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why do we have a speaking list if we don't adhere to it?

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

Order! I'm guided by the resolution that the House voted on earlier today, which stipulates that debate will cease and consideration will begin no later than 1 pm. In accordance with the resolution agreed earlier today, the time allotted for the debate has now expired. The original question was that the bills be now read a second time. To this, the honourable member for Ryan has moved as an amendment that all words after 'That' be omitted with a view to substituting other words. The honourable member for Forrest has moved as an amendment to that amendment that all words after 'whilst' be omitted with a view to substituting other words. So the immediate question before the House is that the amendment moved by the honourable member for Forrest be agreed to.

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

The question before the House now is that the amendment moved by the member for Ryan be agreed to.

A division having been called and the bells having been rung—

As there are fewer than seven members on the side for the ayes in this division, I declare the question negatived in accordance with standing order 127. The names of those members who were in the minority will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings.

Question negatived.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm just conscious, given the urgency, we were told, of dealing with this, that we've got no Liberal members of the frontbench in the chamber at all. Should we wait any longer before we put the questions?

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

I just wanted to give everyone the opportunity to have their say, but I don't want to detain the House any longer. There will be one vote before the House on the two bills. I want to make sure it's clear so that everyone follows the process. So the question is that the bills be now read a second time.

Question agreed to.

Bills read a second time.