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

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the following from occurring immediately:

(1) the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 being called on immediately and having precedence over all other business;

(2) debate on the second reading of the bill proceeding without interruption, with the time for each speech limited to 5 minutes;

(3) questions then being immediately put on any amendments moved to the motion for the second reading and on the second reading of the bill;

(4) if required, a consideration in detail stage of the bill, with any detail amendments to be moved together, with:

(a) one question to be put on all government amendments;

(b) one question to be put on all opposition amendments;

(c) separate questions then to be put on any sets of amendments moved by crossbench Members; and

(d) one question to be put that the bill [as amended] be agreed to;

(5) any remaining questions required to conclude consideration in detail being put from no later than 1 pm;

(6) when the bill has been agreed to, the question being put immediately on the third reading of the bill; and

(7) any variation to these arrangements being made only on a motion moved by the Manager of Opposition Business.

The standing and sessional orders must be suspended, because the opposition is being forced to do the government's job for it during this national fuel crisis. The government made a big deal about this ACCC bill. They said that it was urgent. We had the minister saying that it was urgent. Yet here we are, on Thursday of this parliamentary sitting week, in the middle of a national fuel crisis, and all we've had is this bill introduced. They've made no efforts to come to the opposition and say: 'This is what's in it. We want to get it done quickly.' There've been no briefings for the shadow Treasurer. And all this is happening while diesel and petrol prices are going through the roof. I've just had a report in Warrnambool, in my electorate, that the diesel price has just hit $3.20.

It gives me no joy to be in here doing the government's job for them. As a matter of fact, I find it quite sad, because there doesn't seem to be an understanding on the government benches of what is actually occurring out in Australia at the moment. They seem to be just caught in some sort of bubble where they don't have any realisation about what is happening in Australia right across the nation. At the moment, families are sitting at their kitchen tables, saying: 'Are we going to be able to afford to go on Easter holidays? Are we going to be able to travel to where we normally go, and is there going to be fuel there for us to be able to get home with?' All they're getting from the government is—and we saw this; there were five senior cabinet ministers out there yesterday saying, 'We've got more fuel than we did when the Iran war started.' Where is it?

We've been saying to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy: 'Why don't you do your job? Find out where the fuel shortages are, and get the fuel to where the shortages are.' Yet we've had nothing. They've said that they're going to make this big impact on anyone that's gouging—'We're going to double the fines.' Where's the legislation? It is not here. Where is the urgency in dealing with the national fuel crisis?

You have to remember: this is the minister who made changes, because there was fuel being exported out of Australia, to say that it will stay here. He basically changed the sulphur requirements. Guess how long the paperwork sat on his desk for him to do that? Over five days for the paperwork! This is in a national fuel crisis. Guess what we said to him two weeks ago? There are more changes that you could make around the fuel standards. Guess what the minister did? It took him till yesterday to do it. That was two weeks. And he accuses us of not being positive, not offering solutions, during a national fuel crisis.

Well, here is another one. This ACCC bill—we've been through it. The shadow Treasurer spent all night last night going through it because he wants to make sure it's fine. He wants to make sure that we can bring it on and bring it on immediately. That is exactly why we are seeking to suspend the standing and sessional orders—so that we can do this.

If the government wants to sit on its hands and pretend there is nothing happening out in our country at the moment, why not be honest with the Australian people and just come out and say that? Everything that we're hearing on our side shows there are real issues and real problems everywhere, and yet we've got a government which seems hapless and helpless about trying to do anything.

Just to give you a sense of what's happening in Western Australia, there's a cyclone that's coming through. Hopefully, that won't do too much damage, but that's going to bring rain with it—and we've got the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry here. It means that, as soon as that rain goes through, all those grain growers in Western Australia are going to want to get on their tractors and start sowing but, if they don't have the diesel, they're not going to be able to do it. Then you go to a family in Tasmania. They might be thinking, 'We might go over to the mainland for the Easter school holidays,' but they're worried. They're worried about the cost of petrol. It has hit $2.60. The cost of diesel has hit $3.20. They're worried that they'll get over there and won't be able to get fuel to put in the car to get back. This is what people are dealing with.

This weekend, there will be mums and dads across Australia who will be doing the drop-off to sport. As they go to netball, as they go to soccer, as they go to football, as they go to gymnastics, they'll be sitting there thinking, 'Gee, this is costing me a lot. We will probably have to limit the Easter eggs that we buy for Easter Sunday. We're probably going to have to think about, okay, are we going to get those pair of soccer boots? Are we going to be able to get those runners for netball?' They are the sorts of things that they will be thinking about. What's the government thinking about? They're not thinking about anything. I mean, there is no urgency whatsoever, and it's going to be an absolute insight into this government's dealing with this issue, this national fuel crisis. Remember, the only reason we got it called a 'national fuel crisis' was because Minister Bowen, finally, under enormous pressure, had to admit that that's what it was.

But this is going to be the biggest test yet, because here's the opposition offering bipartisanship. We've got this motion. Let's just suspend everything else to do with the parliament and let's bring the ACCC bill on. Now, guess what I think the leader of business in the House is going to do? Guess what I think he's going to do? I reckon he's going to gag us, so this will be a real test. Here is a genuine offer of bipartisanship, so will you agree to our suspension and will you bring the bill on? Will you let us debate it? Will you let it pass, go into the Senate and, hopefully, then it will offer a little bit of reassurance? I mean, the Australian people are going to need a lot more reassurance, because nothing else that's been done has been done with any sort of urgency. But this will be a test for the government, because, if you're serious, here we have bipartisanship being offered to bring this on and away we go. Let's whip it through the parliament and, if there's any other legislation, here's the offering to the government from the opposition.

We understand how people are hurting. We understand the importance of this, so, if you're genuine, we will work in a bipartisan way with you with any legislation that we think will make this better. As a matter of fact, we're happy to go and sit in the minister's office when the paperwork comes up so that he doesn't sit there for four or five days while fuel's being exported out of this country. That's the type of offering that we are making to you because we want you to understand how serious this issue is—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Please direct your comments through the chair.

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

and we want the government to understand that they are asleep at the wheel. They're sitting on their hands. They're not acting with the immediacy that this requires and that's why we're bringing on this motion.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

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

I second the motion. I really welcome the motion being put forward by the member for Wannon and shadow minister for energy. Australia is facing a national crisis right now. If every member goes and looks at the cost of petrol or diesel in the petrol stations across their electorates, they will see the consequences of this crisis and, more importantly, how their constituents are doing it tough.

Before I came to the dispatch box today, the price of petrol a litre was about $2.50 in the Goldstein electorate; it was about $3.20 for diesel. As the shadow minister correctly pointed out, there are going to be so many families driving between soccer and various other sports this Saturday, questioning whether they can afford to do it and keep supporting their kids. But more importantly, they're going to increasingly be carpooling to see how it is that they can save a buck, particularly in the lead-up to Easter. In the lead-up to Easter, it's so important to understand, habitually, how important it is that families connect. They can't even afford to drive to see their family or afford the holiday that they have booked and had had booked for months at a caravan park or somewhere where they're driving. That is increasingly being put at jeopardy because of soaring energy prices and fuel prices. This is something that Australians are fixated on right now.

What do they expect of their government? They expect leadership. They expect action. But instead what they're hearing is silence. And this is what is so terrifying for so many Australians. We've gone through a situation where, within one week, we've had the Minister for Climate Chang and Energy go from saying, 'There is no problem; we've got plenty of abundant fuel,' to three days later declaring a national crisis, to now already having our second National Cabinet on the national energy crisis. This government has been caught not just flat footed, not just asleep at the wheel—though they have been—but in a state of denial about the scale of the challenge that is being faced by our country and the cost impact it's having on Australian farmers, manufacturers, the freight industry. Of course all of that gets picked up by Australian consumers and also Australian small businesses.

Think about it. Right now, we have small businesses that are already living with the consequences of industrial relations inflation, monetary inflation stoked by pouring debt petrol on the inflation fire because, under the Albanese government, there's always fuel for inflation, just not for farmers or families. All of the other costs and taxes and charges are going up. And now those that are holiday destinations or part of the tourism industry are getting cancellations for Easter because families are saying: 'We can't make ends meet under the Albanese government. We can't make ends meet when you add on the extra cost of fuel.' Australian households are the ones that are living the consequences of this government, but it will cascade.

This is always the worry about these sorts of events. The first tremor can often be the sign of a bigger earthquake that is to come. The economic earthquake that is going to happen under the Albanese government if we don't take prompt, immediate action to stand with consumers—to make sure they can get the fuel at the pump so they can be in the position they need to be—is a central thing this parliament should be focused on this week. Instead what we've had is a government that has dithered. They introduced this bill. They have not brought it to a vote to drive it through legislatively, to increase the penalties for those who seek to price gouge or take advantage of vulnerable Australians at this time. I've written to the Treasurer and asked for a briefing on the legislation. He hasn't even bothered to respond.

It's quite simple. We need action and we need it immediately. We should expect the Treasurer and the minister for energy to step up to the plate, let alone the dispatch box, and do their job, but instead they have not worked with us in a bipartisan fashion in the way that we have wanted. They are not seeking to bring out a sense of urgency about the importance of this legislation, and the only people who are going to pay the price are going to be Australian families, Australian small businesses and of course, particularly, rural and regional communities.

We've had this consistent delusion from the government that there is no problem around fuel—this denial from this government that there is no problem around fuel. Yet, after initially saying there's no problem, the minister for energy has had to come into this parliament every single day and answer simple questions in question time and has had to read out the number of petrol stations that are going dry. Australians are living that. Increasingly I'm hearing stories in urban areas of Australia, including in Melbourne, where people are parking cars deliberately to stop people accessing petrol pumps. This is urgent. It is real. Can the Albanese government please act?

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

The opposition have decided to progress the agenda of the government, and I thank them for that. I would remind the opposition of two things. First of all, the government is always ready for our legislation to go through the parliament the moment we introduce it—always. The reason that we wait till the following week is at a request of the opposition to allow them to have their party room meeting. But I take it that the House of Reps tactics committee for the opposition have met and have decided they're ready to progress—I take the Manager of Opposition Business at his word—with any legislation that will help in the current circumstance with respect to fuel. That was the commitment he made, and I will be moving an amendment to this motion to make that true. There is another relevant bill, a Fair Work Act amendment bill that was introduced today, and we will be taking him at his word that that will go through the House today as well.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just a moment?

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

Could we see the amendment?

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

Not until I move it.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sit down, please. Resume your seat—and a little less interjecting; we might get through this debate in an orderly, efficient manner, and get a result. The Leader of the House has the call.

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

I just wish that this position that the opposition's House of Representatives tactics committee has taken was the same position that their Senate tactics committee has taken. Right now, as I understand it, their Senate tactics committee are indicating in the other place that they want this bill to go off to a Senate inquiry, not to be put through straightaway. If the opposition members of the House have decided that this is urgent, can they tell their Senate colleagues, because nothing makes any difference out there to the rest of Australia until the bill has gone through both houses and is able to become law. If their position is, 'Let's push it through here today, but we couldn't care less whether it becomes law,' that gets us nowhere.

Part of the challenge here for those opposite is the fact that their leadership construction, if we can call it that, is something we have never seen before in the history of Federation. The deputy leader of the Liberals is no longer in this House. They looked throughout the whole of the parliament and they couldn't find a single person to be their deputy leader, so the deputy leader of the Liberals is a senator. But the deputy leader of the Liberals, who is a senator, does not lead the Liberals in the Senate; there's another person who leads the Liberals in the Senate. In fact, the deputy leader of the Liberals in the Senate is still not the deputy leader of the Liberals. And the Nationals have managed to have a leader of the Nationals who is in the Senate but is not the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate. I can see why they've ended up jumbled with all of this.

My request is simple: if they have decided that they want to be constructive, and if they have looked across all the policy ideas that are out there and realised the way to be constructive is to back government legislation, then we welcome that. But we take the Manager of Opposition Business at his word, when he said that the opposition stood ready to support any legislation dealing with the current circumstances—the fuel crisis. For that reason, I move the following amendment:

That the motion be amended to read as follows:

"That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the following from occurring immediately:

(1) the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 and the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026 being called on immediately to be debated concurrently and having precedence over all other business;

(2) debate on the second reading of the bills proceeding without interruption, with the time for each speech limited to 5 minutes;

(3) questions then being immediately put on any amendments moved to the motion for the second reading and on the second reading of the bills;

(4) if required, a consideration in detail stage of each of the bills, with any detail amendments to be moved together, with:

(a) one question to be put on all government amendments;

(b) one question to be put on all opposition amendments;

(c) separate questions then to be put on any sets of amendments moved by crossbench Members; and

(d) one question to be put that the bills [as amended] be agreed to;

(5) any remaining questions required to conclude consideration in detail being put from no later than 1 pm; and

(6) when the bills have been agreed to, the question being put immediately on the third reading of each of the bills."

I don't think we need 'any variation to these arrangements being moved by the Manager of Opposition Business', because we will be giving him what he wants. I am really pleased they are willing to support the changes to the Fair Work Act, because when those principles to give decent conditions to, and to secure the future of, the trucking industry were put in the Fair Work Act, they opposed them. But apparently they only oppose the six-month consultation period.

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

Point of order—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will give you the call—

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

If I can explain—

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

No, no—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resume your seat, Manager of Opposition Business. That is exactly the same point of order you raised with me only minutes ago. I asked you to resume your seat. Let's proceed in an orderly manner according to the standing orders, shall we?

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

We're heading to the weekend. I have two suggestions for weekend reading for the Manager of Opposition Business. There's a little book, and there's a big book. They're both green, and they tell you the rules.

When it comes to an amendment, there are two ways you can move an amendment in the House. The first way you move an amendment is you have the amendment circulated, in which case you then say, 'I move the amendment which has been circulated in my name.' I respect that the Manager of Opposition Business is very new to being a member of this House and hasn't seen this done before! The second option, if you have not circulated it—and the shadow Treasurer knows this rule, so you can explain it to him because we made the shadow Treasurer do this when he didn't have one of his amendments circulated—is you read out every word of the amendment to the House. I just read out every word of the amendment to the House. I checked those words before I read them out to the House with the Clerk to make sure that they were in order. When every word is read out, it doesn't need to be circulated. That's why, when someone moves 'that the question be put', they don't need to have a piece of paper that says the words 'that the question be put'. That's why when a whole lot of motions are moved in this House, if you say it out loud, you don't need to have circulated it.

The Manager of Opposition Business seems to have developed this concept that if he occasionally stands up and says, as slowly as possible, 'standing order 104(a)' that people think that means he knows the whole rulebook. No, it means he knows one paragraph on one page where he can stand up regularly and still get it wrong. So, for the Manager of Opposition Business, I simply say that we're taking the opposition at their word. If you've come in here and said that you've done the about face; that you now want to be constructive; that you have recognised that the way to be constructive is to back the agenda of this government in making sure that we're looking after Australians, in making sure that we're dealing with people who might be engaging in price gouging and in making sure absolutely that we are securing a fair deal for the trucking industry at the current time; and that everything those opposite said last term is no longer true, then we welcome that. We support it. Let's get it done before question time today. Without writing it on a piece of paper—but you can just hear me say the words—I will then, once the amendment is stated, move that the question be put.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for this debate has now expired. The question before the House is that the motion as amended be agreed to—sorry, I've got to move the actual amendment first. I'm moving the amendment as read just a moment ago. I put that to the House.

Honourable members interjecting—

Please—a bit of order.

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

The noes have it!

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yelling at me doesn't work. Manager of Opposition Business, I just tried to bring order in the House, so yelling back at me is not a great tactic. Just so we are all clear, I called for the noes. Now you can take your chance of talking respectfully to me.

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

Deputy Speaker, the only reason I was trying to make it that the noes have it was because of the wall of noise over there—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sit down! For goodness sake, is a division required? That's the simple response I require at this point.

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

The noes have it. Division required.

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

The question before the House is the amendment moved by the Leader of the House to the motion by the Manager of Opposition Business be agreed to.

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

The question now is that the suspension as amended be agreed to.