Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say at the outset: Australians are hurting. And, after four years of this Albanese government, Australians are worse off, and they know our country is heading in the wrong direction.

The Iran war may have started four weeks ago, but Labor's war on fossil fuels started four years ago. What we have seen in this crisis is a government which has been slow to act. Just three weeks ago, we had the Minister for Climate Change and Energy standing opposite us here and telling Australians, and telling the opposition, that we, the opposition, were scaremongering when we were raising concerns about the lack of fuel supply to key industries around the nation. The shadow energy minister and I and my colleagues stood to ask questions about Australians who were experiencing a lack of fuel supply in their communities which was impacting their families, impacting their jobs, impacting their small businesses and impacting their farms, and the minister said that we were scaremongering. These were legitimate supply-chain issues being raised by members on this side of the chamber. Australians were feeling insecure—and they are still feeling insecure, because they don't believe this energy minister is doing his day job. Then, after accusing the coalition of scaremongering, the minister came into the parliament, just two days later, and announced a national fuel crisis. So on the Tuesday we were scaremongering, but by Thursday there was a national fuel crisis!

From where I sit on the front bench here, I get a very good view of the government backbench. What I've noticed in the last couple of weeks is, every time the energy minister gets to his feet, out come the phones. They look very closely at their phones—look at my Facebook; look at my Instagram. Whatever you do, don't engage with the energy minister because he is making a fool of you. He is making a fool of you because he can't do his day job.

The national fuel crisis, which the minister denied existed, is now very apparent.

If the aged-care minister wants to start having a chat, he can have a chat straight after me and he can explain to me—

Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, please.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors wants to make a contribution, he can stand up and explain what he's doing to ensure fuel is reaching its rightful destination—the people who are trying to provide care for older people in Australia.

Okay, so, the aged-care minister wants to keep intervening. Now, Minister for Aged Care and Seniors, when you do stand up and make a speech, perhaps you can tell Australians about the 100,000 people who are waiting to receive the care-at-home packages. Perhaps you can tell Australians about the 4,000 people who have died waiting for a care-at-home package.

Now, the aged-care minister keeps chipping away. He should focus on his day job as well. The Prime Minister finally convened a national cabinet meeting after knowing we had a problem, but the minister didn't bother going. So Australians are saying to this minister: simply do your day job and ensure the flow of fuel reaches the communities which need it most. Now, going to this crisis, the minister had two important jobs. He had to secure supply and get it to the critical industries that need it the most, primarily in regional Australia, and he had to prevent price gouging. If we look at the evidence over the last three weeks, we can see, once again, this minister has failed at both of those jobs.

The coalition will be supporting the legislation before the chamber today with some of our own amendments, because we will always act in the national interest, particularly in the interests of those small-business people, those farmers, those fishermen, the foresters and the miners who rely on a stable supply of fuel to create the wealth that our nation relies upon.

But I would urge the minister, going forward, to start listening to himself and to some of the contributions of peak bodies around Australia on this critical issue. Just this week, the National Farmers' Federation put out a media statement calling on the national cabinet to prioritise food supply. Now, Deputy Speaker Boyce, you understand, I understand and the regional members understand that fuel supply is food supply. The NFF has said that they want to see agriculture-specific plans to secure fuel supply for farmers and fishers, including clear trigger points for government action. They also want to see a clear direction on fertiliser supply into the medium term, including the establishment of a dedicated fertiliser roundtable and the government underwriting the purchase of fertiliser by the private sector, as it does for fuel. And they want to see targeted small-business support for those across the supply chain facing acute financial pressure.

The president of the NFF, Hamish McIntyre, has made it very clear why this is important, saying:

Farming is always a gamble, but right now too much is out of farmers' control. Our reliance on imported inputs is again being exposed, and it's putting farm businesses under serious strain.

… … …

At the end of the day, if farmers can't access fuel and fertiliser, they can't produce food. It's as simple as that.

So I do urge the minister to listen to the peak bodies, particularly around regional Australia, when he seeks to deal with the issues going forward. Obviously, everyone in this chamber hopes the war in Iran ends quickly and supplies are restored. But if the situation deteriorates further, Australians have a right to know what the government is planning. We want to see more openness and transparency in this place when it comes to the plans the government is making. Is it looking at demand management? Is it looking at fuel rationing? Is it looking at fuel mandates? We believe it should be focused on supply, but we want to know what other plans the government is looking at may look like in the weeks and months ahead if this situation deteriorates. We would be concerned that demand management measures might have a further chilling effect on the economy. We're already seeing our farmers and others making decisions on their business structure to try and accommodate the increased cost of fuel and the infrequency of supply. So we do want to know whether the government has plans, if conditions deteriorate, to prioritise our critical industries, such as agriculture, fishing, mining, the transport sector, health and emergency services and aged-care services. What is the government planning if this situation deteriorates further?

The opposition would argue that we are facing this fuel crisis at the worst possible time. After four years of economic mismanagement by the Albanese government, households are already poorer and they are already more exposed. They can't afford more price shocks like this. Australians, as all the economic evidence points to, are already working harder. They're paying more and they're getting less. And now this supply shock is compounding that pressure right across our nation but particularly in the outer suburbs and in rural and regional areas, where liquid fuels are a vital part of the social and economic life of our communities.

This is not an abstract issue. I'm sure everyone in this chamber is beginning to understand that fuel adds to the cost of everything. When the fuel supply is disrupted and prices rise, it immediately flows through to prices that our families are paying at the grocery check-outs in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. It impacts on our freight. It impacts on farming. Obviously, we want to see the government taking action that actually makes a difference to get the fuel to where it's needed and to take those price pressures off Australian families and business people and our farming sector.

What makes this situation worse, though, is that Australia entered this crisis in a weaker position than it should have. After four years, Labor have failed to build our sovereign fuel capability. Instead, they now want to fund imports of the very fuels that they have restricted here at home. If these fuels are important enough to stockpile, they are important enough to support domestically. There needs to be recognition in this place and throughout the nation that the world has changed dramatically in the past 10 years but even more so in the last four or five years. Our sovereign capability to make more things in Australia, whether it be fuel, fertiliser or other critical inputs, has become more and more exposed when the just-in-time supply chains are disrupted, as they have been by the war in Iran.

The contrast here is very clear. The former coalition government took practical steps to strengthen our fuel security—securing our last refineries, legislating the Fuel Security Act and establishing minimum stockholding obligations. We focused in government on capability, resilience and making sure Australia could stand on its own two feet. Let's be clear, though. We will support practical measures that improve supply in a crisis, including this bill. But also it's important to reinforce a simple fact. This is not a silver bullet in terms of a legislative response to the crisis Australians are facing. It won't get the fuel to empty service stations today and it won't bring down prices for families tomorrow. That is why we encourage the government to continue to act in the interests of our industries and the interests of Australian families. It should remove the barriers it's put in place on domestic production. It should back Australian energy supply and ensure fuel can get to where it's needed across the country. Most importantly, it should immediately implement cost-of-living relief measures by halving the fuel excise and the road user charge, which the coalition proposed to fully and responsibly offset, to avoid any inflationary pressures. The government could take that action today. The government could provide immediate cost-of-living relief by reducing the fuel excise, halving it, and halving the road user charge in the interests of Australian families and the Australian transport sector. I think the government probably will act in relation to those levies. I urge them to follow the approach of the coalition by fully offsetting those reductions that we have proposed.

When fuel costs rise, that flows straight through to our groceries, to our freight, to our farmers and to our small businesses. At a time when Australian living standards are going backwards, this is applying enormous pressure on families as they try to manage their household budgets. The coalition will always support practical, targeted action that helps secure supply and stabilises critical supply chains. This bill is designed to do that. It allows Export Finance Australia to step in during extraordinary disruptions, supporting the financing, insurance and logistics needed to secure essential imports like fuel and fertiliser. We believe it's a sensible objective. In a crisis, the government should be prepared to act quickly to keep supply chains moving and to ensure essential goods can reach Australians quickly. That is why we have supported the bill. The member for Wannon will be moving amendments to it at a later time in the House today.

I would also point out that there are risks in the supply chain that are not covered by this bill. While this bill will seek to underwrite the risks faced by major fuel companies, there are small-business owners and independent fuel distributors in our nation who are saying: 'What about our risk? What about our risk if we're buying fuel at these inflated prices?' If the war ends, which we all sincerely hope it does, and prices drop quickly, what about the risks they are carrying terms of the fuel in their tanks, having bought at an inflated price and then having to sell into a market that is cheaper?

You might say that's a good problem to have and that Australian consumers will benefit from those lower fuel prices, and I hope that day comes sooner rather than later. But if we're going to be in the business of underwriting these major fuel companies through legislation like this, the independent suppliers and the retailers, those mum and dad operators, are right to be raising their concerns. 'What about the small-business viability of the operation I'm running in rural and regional Australia?' Perhaps you're the sole operator. When you're already doing it tough, you ask, 'Is the government aware of the risk we're exposed to?' In the past we have seen governments provide direct financial support after crises, when there is a natural disaster or tourism related incident, and those businesses are now saying, 'What does it look like for our business going forward if the government is prepared to make decisions like this, through legislation, to underwrite the risk of these major suppliers?'

I will finish where I started, and just make the very simple point that Australians are hurting. Australians are feeling the pain of the insecurity surrounding the fuel crisis and fertiliser crisis. They want to see coordinated national leadership by this government. And they want the government to understand that when the opposition raises concerns in relation to fuel supply, don't say we're scaremongering. Acknowledge that we are here to do our job, on behalf of rural and regional Australians, to make sure the fuel gets to where it's needed to the most at a time of critical importance for our nation.

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

Australia is stepping up to lead globally on critical minerals and rare earths. I fully support the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Amendment (Strategic Reserve) Bill, which gives legislative effect to the Albanese Labor government's landmark commitment to implement the national Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, as well as the strategic reserve for other fuels and critical supplies. I want to speak mainly about the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve. This is a $1.2 billion commitment that will form a core component of this government's determined and consistent efforts to position Australia at the forefront of global efforts to bolster the world's reliable and trusted access to critical minerals and rare earths.

In an uncertain world, our resources are instruments of economic resilience and a source of strategic strength and relevance. My department has been developing the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, its structure and what is required to get the best outcomes for Australia. This bill before the parliament today was originally designed to enable the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve. The work that the government has been doing to adjust the financial tools available to Export Finance Australia for the reserve are eminently suitable to be applied to other commodities where supply may be constrained. Adjustments made to this bill to address issues caused by conflict in the Middle East that are affecting Australian supply chains demonstrate how ministers and departments of this government are working together to squarely meet the challenges the nation is facing.

While those opposite simply never miss a moment to politicise a national challenge, this government gets on with the job of securing strategic materials where needed for the benefit of the Australian people. I heard the comments from the leader of the National Party in the House of Representatives. He spoke about the need for fuel-refining capacity in this country. Well, I couldn't agree more. But I also did not see the member for Gippsland or the now leader of the Nationals in the House of Representatives be so keen to support Western Australia's fuel security when BP announced its closure in 2020, in Kwinana. So maybe that reflects on their record in government, where they saw four fuel refineries in this country go out of business.

This government, this Albanese Labor government, is taking immediate steps to address the immediate challenge of fuel security. I want to take this moment to thank my friend and colleague the Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell, and his whole team, for his cooperation on the amendments to the EFA bill and also my friend and colleague the Minister for Climate Change and Energy and his team for the work they have all done to make sure this important national action is taken. In relation to the critical minerals part of this reserve, it reinforces Australia's role as a trusted supplier of the commodities the world needs, and it signals Australia's clear eyed intent to forcefully step-up to diversify global critical minerals supply chains.

Critical minerals are vital for Australia's economy, for its national security and for a future made in Australia. But Australia knows, as our friends and partners across the world also know, that the playing field is not fair. Australia has some of the largest deposits of critical minerals in the world, and it is a conundrum that substances we talk about so often are not well understood. They exist in most products that we use every single day and nearly every moment, and they are essential to our national defence. Yet many do not perform well in what commentators refer to as the open market. That is because an open international market for low-volume rare earths and critical minerals is a mirage.

Market dominance, opaque trading arrangements and trade bans make for uneven playing fields. It's a field so uneven it is unplayable. As the US vice-president said at the Critical Minerals Ministerial convened by the Secretary of State in Washington in February, which I attended:

… the international market for critical minerals is failing.

…   …   …

… consistent investment is nearly impossible, and it will stay that way so long as prices are erratic and unpredictable.

Supply chains are brittle and are driven by forces beyond any individual country's control. This bill that we bring to the House today is an important step to take back some of that control.

The bill gives Export Finance Australia new tools to deliver the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, including offtake agreements with fixed or floating prices, trading in forward-offtake contracts, intermediary demand and supply aggregation, physical stockpiling and contracts for difference. These tools will ensure the reserve can meet demand, deliver offtake, virtually or physically stockpile critical minerals and provide some price certainty. Importantly, the reserve gives Australia the tools to construct financing arrangements between Australia's strategic partners and the private sector to build out critical minerals supply chains.

We undertook to establish the reserve by the second half of this year, but the bill is now before the House to address the immediate challenge of fuel security and our future economic and industrial security as well. This demonstrates our government's commitment to building a strong critical minerals industry and meeting the challenges facing the sector. The reserve will operate imminently, but its start date is in the hands of this parliament. I encourage the opposition and the crossbench in the other place to work with this government to get it up and running as soon as possible. I know the opposition has, this morning, agreed to support this bill. I'm yet to hear comment on the critical minerals part of that, so we will surely get comment on that soon.

Critical minerals are vital inputs for defence technologies on which our security depends. As the government announced in January, the reserve will initially focus on antimony, gallium and rare earth elements. They are also essential to clean energy technologies and advanced manufacturing. Secure supply of these minerals will support not only the development of our own capabilities but also our close partners. But these minerals are just the starting point. The government will update the reserve's target minerals over time as market dynamics, strategic interests and geopolitical situations evolve.

The reserve builds on the work this government has done to secure investment in our critical minerals sector from day one. Since June 2022 this government has supported the industry to create more secure jobs here in Australia and to bolster our economic resilience. We have invested more than $28 billion in critical minerals and rare earths, including $7½ billion for production tax incentives to encourage onshore processing, $5 billion for the critical minerals facility to help get projects off the ground, $1 billion for critical minerals investments by the National Reconstruction Fund and $500 million earmarked for such projects through the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. We've also, very importantly, provided $3.4 billion to Geoscience Australia for the Resourcing Australia's Prosperity program to find the next generation of critical minerals deposits, more than $150 billion in various grants programs and also funding to investigate really important common-user critical minerals processing facilities with state and territory governments.

The Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve positions Australia to collaborate even more closely with our key partners around the world. Over the last four years, we have worked with our counterparts internationally to advance our shared interests in these commodities. This is a global challenge, and Australia is at the forefront and playing a leading role. Australia's landmark framework on critical minerals and rare earths with the United States will unlock a $13 billion pipeline of projects. I want to take this moment to acknowledge the work of the president and chair of the US export-import bank, John Jovanovic, who works with our CEO of the EFA, John Hopkins. Together, they are collaborating and cooperating on these projects and doing excellent work to grow this industry.

Our agreement with the United States is in addition to agreements with Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and the European Union as well as our formal membership to the Quad critical minerals initiative and, very importantly, the G7 critical minerals production alliance. We remain committed to working with our international partners to diversify global supply chains and devise joint solutions to the challenges facing critical minerals markets. This is not only in the world's interests but also in the interests of industries and workers here in Australia.

Both our deposits of traditional commodities, such as iron ore, coal and gold, and our deposits of critical minerals and rare earths are the envy of the world. The resources sector of Australia has delivered security, prosperity and strategic relevance in a difficult world. That was built through sheer hard work and commitment by generations of Australians. Despite what some might say when they miss the point of Donald Horne's now immortal words, it sure wasn't luck. Australia will continue to mine our traditional commodities and our strategically important critical minerals and rare earths. This government, through the strategic reserve and our extensive work, is ensuring we match our geological advantage and our enormous capability in the resources industry with a strategy fit for a changing world—one that builds our industrial and strategic capability while strengthening our communities. We will capitalise on this opportunity to create secure jobs at home here in Australia and to take a global lead in diversifying the world's supply chains.

I support all aspects of the strategic reserve within this bill. It ensures our fuel security as well as security of other strategic materials and will ensure our security of strategic critical minerals and rare earths. Australia, under the leadership of this government, is stepping up to take responsibility to lead globally on critical minerals and rare earth elements, and I commend the bill to the House.

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I first came into this role, I made the point that Australians want to see their standard of living restored and want to see their way of life protected. Nothing threatens their standard of living or their way of life more than not having access, at an affordable level, to the energy and fuel they need. We're seeing right across this great country now the fear and the concerns that Australians have about whether they're going to get fuel and what they're going to pay for that fuel.

After four years of an Albanese government curtailing investment support for our endowment of natural energy resources, today we're presented with the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Amendment (Strategic Reserve) Bill to help fuel suppliers acquire the fuel we need as we stare down this energy crisis. We are, of course, supportive of emergency measures to secure our fuel supply. But make no mistake: this is happening at the worst possible time.

The economic situation Australians are facing in their household budgets and in their businesses is dire. It is absolutely dire. Australians are feeling as though this is the straw that is breaking the camel's back. That is how they feel right now because this government has let them down time after time over recent years. They were promised that inflation had been beaten. They were promised that prices would go back to that comfortable range of between two and three per cent that the Reserve Bank targets. They were promised that interest rates were coming down and that they would stay down.

The Treasurer sacked and stacked the Reserve Bank board. He got rid of the old board and stacked it with his appointments. That's a statement of fact. Then, lo and behold, there was an interest rate cut during the election campaign. We were told during that election campaign that that was it. Interest rates were down; inflation was down. It was all beaten. They'd beaten the beast.

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

Tamed the dragon.

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The dragon, exactly—they'd beaten the dragon! Well, what do you know? It didn't take long before inflation started to surge again. As they pour out money, with record levels of government spending from those opposite, we know that that has been quite literally pouring fuel on the fire.

Inflation continues to surge. It would be hard to find an economist right now that doesn't think that inflation will continue to surge in the coming months, not just because of what Labor was already doing but because now we have an additional disruption. Of course, many smart economists across the world were saying, 'The reason why you have to get inflation and interest rates sustainably under control without a resurgence is that a disruption might come along.' Many across the world were saying this. John Cochrane, one of the world's leading experts on inflation, has been saying this for years. You've got to beat it. It can't start to resurge. The moment it does, if a disruption arrives, then you're in trouble. That is exactly what's happened. They got the warnings.

The result of this is that we have the highest inflation of any developed country in the world. We have the highest inflation and rising interest rates. Australians are now paying $28,000 on a typical mortgage, after tax. With having to find $28,000 that they didn't have to find before, it is no wonder they are angry and frustrated. They are confused by this government. They've been told so many things by the gaslighting prime minister, the gaslighting Treasurer, the gaslighting energy minister—that's for sure. This has gone on and on from those opposite, yet what they're experiencing is entirely different.

The economy isn't working for them, and that extends beyond just inflation and interest rates. It's not growing in any meaningful way for households. There has been 7½ per cent aggregate growth in the economy since Labor came to power, but population—mostly immigration—has grown by exactly the same number, 7½ per cent. That means that, from a household perspective, there has been no growth for four years. I think this is how they were going to try to beat carbon emissions. The problem was that carbon emissions haven't come down. They have completely failed in their no-growth economy mission. Well, sorry, they've succeeded in achieving no growth for households; they just haven't seen out the green dream they were trying to achieve. This is the context in which we look at this fuel crisis right now.

With National Cabinet happening today, there are four imperatives for the government. I went out to petrol stations on Friday and on the weekend to make the point that Australians are suffering. We paid $3.16—$3.159 to be exact—for diesel, two days in a row. That was the leader of the National Party and me. He makes the point that the National Party paid for the fuel both times. For once, the National Party's paid for something! It's wonderful! We are a happy coalition though, aren't we!

Opposition members: Hear, hear!

We are a happy coalition. But, the truth is, to pay $3.16 a litre for diesel is absolutely extraordinary. That's why we said last Friday that it was time to slash the tax. I've just received a note to say that the Prime Minister has, under pressure from us, followed our lead.

Opposition members: Hear, hear!

He didn't want to go into question time and get asked questions about why he wasn't prepared to take 26c a litre off the price of fuel for Australians.

An opposition member: Who's running this agenda?

Who is driving the show here? The first objective—this is the right outcome for Australia. Let's be clear: this is the right outcome for Australians. We have led the way. We have set the agenda. We are showing leadership, and those opposite are following.

Look at $16 million a day—the delay. It's $16 million, every day that he's delayed, for Australians in the hip pocket. But we are pleased to see this outcome. We'll work in a bipartisan way to make sure this is put in place as quickly as possible. That's No. 1: slash the tax. No. 2: move the fuel. Now, it's pretty simple. The energy minister stood up in this place each day last week and told us that there are more stocks than there ever were—more stocks than before the crisis began. Well, if there are more stocks than there were before the crisis, and yet there are 600 or more service stations without fuel, it doesn't seem to me to be too complicated. The common sense of Australians would say: move the fuel to the service stations. It's there; move it. Move the fuel.

There's a second part of moving the fuel, which is to make sure fuel from offshore gets to our country. This bill is playing a role in supporting that. We do support that part of what this bill is doing. I think this is an important initiative, and we will absolutely support that, but it has taken too long. They were moving the fuel. They were moving all of the petrol, from one of our two remaining refineries, offshore. They were exporting it. They needed to move that fuel not off to Asia or wherever it was going but to regional communities and those 600 servos that didn't have fuel.

The third thing this government needs to do is make the situation transparent. Why is it that we have to walk into this place each day and ask the energy minister how many servos are without fuel before he actually answers the question? He should be putting this out every day. He should be telling us where the stocks are, where there are shortages and what he is doing to fill those shortages. That will give Australians the confidence they need to know that this situation is under control. This energy minister has spent most of this crisis telling Australians that it's their fault, that it's a jerry-can-driven demand surge. Frankly, this bloke will look for anyone he possibly can to blame. But, the truth is, it's been his fault for not moving the fuel to where it needed to go and not being transparent about what the situation is. We need real-time data coming in and him explaining to us where the gaps are and how he is moving with the oil companies, the energy companies and the fuel companies to get that fuel to where it needs to go.

The fourth thing this government needs to do is tell us where this is going to go from here. We've seen reports of all sorts of secret plans to ration—do we go back to the odds and evens? I'm old enough to remember that—Christmas 1973—and it was a pretty tough Christmas. Are we going back to that? Is there going to be a limit of $40 when you go to the bowser? What is this government planning to do? They keep telling us there's enough fuel, so I don't know why they would be going down that path, but what we need is an energy minister and a Prime Minister who are prepared to be upfront, and they need to do that straightaway.

We've got one out of four so far. They've slashed the tax. I'm delighted to get a note to say that they've come on board on that. They have three to go: move the fuel, make the situation transparent and explain to Australians—front up to Australians—where you're going from here. I should be clear about that final point. We do not support heavy handed mandates. We don't want a situation where Australians are feeling like they're back in a COVID-like situation and the government is telling them what to do. It's got to be supply driven. We want to see it supply driven. Labor loves demand management. They've been trying to push this through in the electricity sector, saying to people, 'Just use less.' Well, if that's what's necessary, explain it to us; be transparent. But, in the absence of that, they keep telling us that the fuel is there and is coming onshore, so we don't need those heavy handed mandates.

This is part of a longer term issue with this government: their complete and utter failure to get oil and gas and other resources, for that matter, out of the ground. We need a government that is absolutely focused on that, but in bill after bill that has come through this place—existing bills and past bills—we have seen, time and time again, exclusions for oil and gas and other sources of energy in this country. We've seen it with the EPBC, the environmental planning act. We have seen this government exclude oil and gas reserves from the accelerated process that applies to other parts of our economy.

An opposition member: The national interest test.

The national interest test—exactly right. The government has done it with EFIC as well. They've excluded oil and gas until now. This bill is actually going part of the way to addressing that, but it's only through the national account, not through the commercial account. The government will have to explain why it is they're not extending it to the commercial account. What that means is every single one of the transactions that EFIC engages in has to be approved by the minister. I guess this minister wants to do as little with fossil fuels as he can possibly do. That seems to me to be his sentiment, and it has been all the way along.

But it is also true that, across large swathes of programs that this government has in place, it has excluded oil and gas. We need our oil and gas in this country to be not sitting in the ground but coming out of the ground to serve Australians—to make sure we have the crude oil we need to keep the wheels of industry moving, to make sure that farmers can plant their crops and harvest their crops, to make sure that truckies in this country can keep moving food to our supermarkets and doing all the other things that they do and to make sure families across this great country are able to get to where they want to go on their Easter holidays and can take the kids to sport and to school.

We need we need a government that recognises that we're not all driving EVs. If people want to buy an EV, knock yourself out—great. But that is just not a feasible proposition for Australians in many cases, and so it is so important we continue to see oil and gas coming out from under the ground.

We need to dig and drill in this country. That's how we will make sure Australians are able to get what they need. It is also how we will make sure we have a strong economy. You dig, you drill and you can pay down the bills that way, and that is exactly what we need to see as soon as possible. We do commend the changes being made in this bill, but we do think they should go further. We do think the government should, having made progress on one of the four focuses that I've laid out, get on with the other three.

Basem Abdo (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One thing we have made sure is that our strategic reserves are here in Australia and not in Texas, where the now leader of the opposition had them. Those opposite carry on as though only they understand what Australians feel, but I represent a community in Melbourne's outer suburbs and I understand what communities are going through at the moment with this global disruption.

We're living through a period of profound global instability, and events unfolding in the Middle East, far from our shores, are having real and immediate consequences here at home. Australians are seeing it and Australians are feeling it at the petrol pump, in industry, across small businesses and across family budgets, which are under pressure. That is the reality all across the world. A conflict thousands of kilometres away can disrupt global supply chains overnight. It can drive volatility in global energy markets, which can place real pressure on households. So we should be clear. This is not theoretical; it is real and immediate and requires a serious, calm, measured approach.

In moments like this, governments have a choice. They can stand back and hope markets adjust, or they can step up calmly and with purpose to protect everyday people right across the country, including industry and business. This government has chosen to step up, not with panic, not with slogans, but with practical, coordinated action, because Australians expect leadership. As the Prime Minister has said, we are working around the clock to make sure we deal with the fuel security issues, to keep our people, our economy and our nation moving. That's the task before us, and that's exactly what this legislation supports, working in our national interest.

Let me start with what we've already done, because this bill is not an isolated measure. It is part of a broader coordinated response. As we've also seen, they've just come out of National Cabinet. We have empowered the ACCC to protect motorists from unfair price rises, we have boosted supply by releasing additional fuel into the market, we have acted to increase supply by temporarily amending fuel standards and we are working closely with industry and with states and territories to ensure that fuel gets where it's needed most, particularly in regional communities—because supply is only part of the story; distribution also matters. When demand spikes, some communities feel that pressure first and most acutely.

That's also why the government has strengthened national coordination through the establishment of the Fuel Supply Taskforce, working across the Commonwealth, states and territories and with industry. It's about acting as one country in response to a challenge—not fragmentation, not delay, but coordination because, in a strategic environment such as this, cooperation is essential.

We must also be honest about what recent events have shown us. While Australia continues to receive sufficient fuel overall, recent events have shown how quickly global pressures can translate into local disruption. That's why preparedness matters and that's why flexibility and action matter. In an increasingly uncertain global environment, Australia must act decisively to protect its sovereign capability and secure the essentials that keep our economy moving. And, when we speak about sovereign capability, we mean it with each letter of the words—not just being sovereign, like those opposite, but being capable. That's what sovereign capability is about.

We are evolving our approach, moving along a critical minerals strategic reserve to consider a broader, more responsive national interest framework. This includes the potential to secure critical fuel supplies as well as other essential imports that underpin construction and housing. Through Export Finance Australia, we are establishing mechanisms to finance the import of fuel and other necessary goods and to provide financial derivatives and price support to purchase, sell and stockpile fuel and other necessary goods to ensure domestic availability, as and when directed by government, and to financially hedge resulting exposures as appropriate. This would ensure government has sufficient flexibility to deal with the current fuel crisis now and into the future. Right now, the challenge is about affordability and volatility, with prices surging and smaller importers facing the potential of being priced out altogether. It creates a real risk, and that's why this government is acting.

While Australia continues to receive sufficient fuel overall, through recent experience we have identified some structural vulnerabilities in our fuel security framework that we should act now to address and that we are addressing. These will help position us to manage supply chain disruptions and ensure we have a wider range of tools to respond proactively and without needing to resort to emergency powers. It's a time for national unity, not a time to play politics.

This is not about also subsidising business as usual. It's about targeted, temporary intervention, supporting contracts that would otherwise not proceed, particularly where they fill urgent gaps in local supply, including in regional areas. If companies can demonstrate that a shipment is essential but commercially unviable under current market conditions, we will step in, ensuring those cargoes come here and do not go elsewhere. This is a supply-side measure designed to get fuel into Australia, and fast. Importantly, this builds on work already underway to strengthen sovereign capability. We're not starting from scratch. We are extending a framework developed through our strategic reserves policy to meet today's challenges. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Minister for Resources and the Minister for Trade and Tourism for their round-the-clock work in dealing with this global crisis.

This legislation is vital, it is timely and it is ready to move quickly. Addressing supply chain risks allows us to provide confidence to the market and ensure continuity of supply. It's about getting ahead of the curve. We are responding to global disruptions with practical, outward-looking solutions that strengthen our resilience while engaging with global markets from a position of strength. While others deal in hypotheticals and political instability, we are focused on delivery and focused on working to secure Australia's future. The Prime Minister has just announced, coming out of National Cabinet, that we've halved the fuel excise and we will reduce the heavy vehicle charge to zero for three months. That is a practical, coordinated approach—a national approach, an Australian approach—to a global crisis. This bill matters because it fills strategic gaps. It gives the government the ability to act early, to act proportionately and to stabilise the system before a situation escalates. It is about the risk-mitigation factors, adding supply here in Australia.

Getting fuel where it needs to be in this country is not a simple task. In Australia it means moving across thousands of kilometres, from ports to depots, from depots to distribution centres and from distribution centres to towns, farms and worksites and then further still, out to the edges of our economy where fuel is not just important but essential. Fuel keeps machinery running, it keeps trucks moving and it keeps businesses open. When that supply is disrupted, even briefly, the consequences are immediate. Shelves are not stocked, work is delayed and costs rise, and communities feel it straightaway.

When it hits, it often also does not land evenly in a country as broad and vast as Australia. When it travels from international markets to shipping routes to domestic supply chains and ultimately to Australian households and businesses, it often hits hardest in places that are furthest away—in regional communities and in our outer suburbs, which I am proud to represent, and in the logistics networks that hold this country together. It's why the actions that the Albanese Labor government is taking are fundamentally important. We recognise that, in a country like ours, fuel security is not just having supply somewhere. It's about getting that supply everywhere reliably, as affordable as can be in the global markets and conditions that we see today, and when it is needed most.

This legislation gives the Commonwealth the ability to step in early through Export Finance Australia to temporarily derisk the acquisition and delivery of fuel—to step in before disruption becomes crisis, to act before shortages begin to bite hard and to stabilise the system when pressure builds, particularly in regional markets, particularly in moments of volatility like now and particularly where the consequences of inaction would be felt most sharply. It does this by expanding the powers of Export Finance Australia, allowing it to provide loans, guarantees, insurance and financial arrangements to support price stability and, where necessary, purchase, sell or stockpile fuel and other essential goods. This is practical, it is targeted and it leverages expertise we already have thanks to the work the Albanese Labor government has already done on our strategic minerals reserve.

Let us be clear about what this intends to achieve. It intends to stabilise supply, keep fuel flowing, support businesses to keep operating, support communities such as mine and many right across this country to keep functioning and reduce the likelihood that we will need to resort to emergency interventions. Good policy is about acting in the national interest and acting early, it is about recognising risk before it becomes crisis and it is about putting in place the tools that allow us to respond calmly, effectively and with the confidence that this country deserves.

Fuel security, in an economic sense, is not just about supply. It is also about fairness to the everyday Australian. When global shocks hit fuel prices, the impact does not fall evenly, and nowhere is that more obvious than in our road transport sector.

I also want to recognise a group of Australians who are absolutely central to this discussion: our truck drivers and transport workers. When fuel prices spike, they don't just feel it; they carry it up and down our highways and through our supply chains—and, ultimately, they carry it into the cost of everything Australians rely on. In communities like mine, in Melbourne's outer north, across Calwell many workers are part of that supply chain. They are the drivers; they are the warehouse workers; they are the logistics operators; they are the people who keep goods moving every single day. When pressures hit this sector, they feel it first. This is not abstract policy discussion; it is affecting people's livelihoods right across my community.

That's why this government is acting. We are amending the Fair Work Act to allow truckies and transport operators to seek urgent relief through the Fair Work Commission—because fairness matters. Costs should not simply be pushed down the chain; they should be shared fairly. This ensures that the independent Fair Work Commission can act quickly, because, in a moment like this, speed and timeliness matter, responsiveness matters, and fairness will always matter and be at the forefront of the Albanese Labor government's agenda.

This legislation also looks to allow Australia to operate strategically—through long-term agreements, through participation in markets, through targeted supply acquisition and through mechanisms that provide certainty in uncertain times. If we are serious about a future made in Australia, we cannot leave critical supply chains to chance. We must be deliberate, we must be prepared and we must always act in Australia's national interests—and today's measures are targeted. In moments like these, tone matters. This is a global crisis, not a political opportunity or a time for shouting and theatrics, like we saw from the Leader of the Opposition just before. It is not a time for noise or to spread confusion or contradictions in words and policy. The Prime Minister put it plainly: we will do whatever is necessary; it is about being overprepared. That is the leadership and the responsibility that drives the work of this government each and every day.

Our approach to strategic reserves couldn't be more different than that of those opposite. We recognise that resources that will power the next generation of industry are of national importance. We believe in sovereign capability—not just putting it in titles. It is not just about acting sovereign; it is also being capable. Australians understand something simple: they need coordination and they need a government that acts. This bill is about energy sovereignty, it is about Australia's economic resilience and it is about preparing Australia for an increasingly uncertain world that we've heard about from our partners who have addressed the parliament most recently.

In communities like mine, where people rely on transport to work, where businesses depend on supply chains and where logistics underpins local jobs, this bill matters. It is practical reform, it is forward looking and it is exactly what this moment demands. We cannot wait for crisis to arrive before we act. We must be ready, we must be resilient and we must strengthen Australia's sovereign capability in the things and areas that matter most. I commend the bill to the House.

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

Can I say that, fortunately, through this national fuel crisis, the opposition has been able to lead. We've seen that quite clearly because the government, right through the last month, since the Iran war began, has put its head in the sand and pretended that absolutely nothing is going on—nothing is happening with regard to Australia's fuel security and the price of diesel and petrol that Australians are paying at the bowser.

Finally, it seems like the penny has dropped. The sad reality is that we're in this situation today where it does seem that the penny has dropped for the government, yet it's far too late for Australians. They're really, really hurting. I hope that when the Prime Minister comes into question time today the first thing he does is apologise to the Australian people. You need to apologise to the Australian people, Prime Minister, because you have messed this up. It's been a catastrophe. Your minister should go, and you should apologise to the Australian people.

The fact that we're here today with this rushed legislation coming through, which the opposition have been happy to support because we were given a briefing at seven o'clock last night, shows that the government is literally chasing its tail in trying to deal with this national fuel crisis. I'll give you the most classic example as to why they're doing that. We're making changes to the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Act so that they can deal with getting oil here to Australia. Guess what they did last year? They sent a message to EFA, a statement of expectations, saying: 'You're not to touch oil. You're not to touch gas. You're not to touch coal.' And, yet, here we are today, and they've finally realised that oil's important. They had no idea that diesel powers 50 per cent of our energy in this nation—50 per cent! Fishing, farming and mining are all dependent on diesel. They had no idea about the importance of diesel and no idea about the importance of coal and gas to our nation, especially when you have something like a war taking place. The government had to be led kicking and screaming to admit there was a national crisis going on. Now, finally, they seem to be taking some measures to deal with supply. I hope they're successful, and that's why we're happy to support it.

But the other thing the government has to be able to do is identify where the supply shortages are in the nation and get the fuel there. They've had rain in Western Australia. They're out in their tractors sowing. Have they got enough diesel to make sure they can get those paddocks sowed? They're about to do the same thing in Victoria. Have they got enough diesel to make sure that can happen? New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland—you name it—they need that diesel. The government have to make sure that they know where the shortages are and that they can get the fuel to them. So far, there is no sign whatsoever of them being able to do that even though we've been calling for it for over a month. There's no sign of it whatsoever.

The other thing that, once again, the coalition has led on is cutting in half the fuel excise. The government has finally realised that people are hurting. There's an example that we've been given of a service which takes kidney patients to get dialysis and the people who drive those patients so that they can get that treatment. They're now wondering whether they'll be able to keep that service going, because they can't afford the fuel. We obviously were out on Friday calling for a halving of the fuel excise. It's funny—the Prime Minister did a press conference afterwards and he pooh-poohed the idea. Once again, hopefully he's got the dignity to come in here and apologise and say to the Australian people, 'We messed up on the supply and we've messed up on the price, and I'm sorry.' We'd all say, 'Okay, fair cop,' if he would come in and do that. We'd say, 'There's a prime minister who admits he's been absolutely incompetent with the way he's handled this whole thing, but at least he's big enough and honest enough to be able to admit that's the case.' I'll be very, very surprised if we get that apology. But we over on this side all live in hope.

But the sad reality for the Australian people is that they're living in hope but with a huge financial penalty. They're hurting all because of the cost of fuel in this nation.

I wonder what the Prime Minister will say to them, because since we said what we thought should happen on Friday, carving out the fuel excise, and today—this will get higher by Wednesday, when I understand they are going to introduce the legislation—the government has raked in another $50 million through the excise just in that space of time. I wonder whether there will be some sort of asking for forgiveness with someone saying: 'Sorry, we messed up again. We should have acted when the opposition said'. They could have said, 'Great idea opposition,' on Friday and, bang, Monday we'd be here introducing that legislation along with these other three pieces of legislation. Wouldn't the Australian people welcome that? If we had the fuel excise bill cutting it in half and the road user charge bill in here today, wouldn't they like that? The government wouldn't be raking in maybe another $10 million today, another $10 million tomorrow and another $10 million on Wednesday—and who knows when all of these will get royal assent. We don't know that. We do not know that.

We are going to put forward some amendments this afternoon on this bill. We think that if you are going to let Export Finance Australia start dealing with oil, with diesel, with petroleum, with coal, with gas, then you should be able to do it not only on the national interest account but on the commercial account as well. We'll be pushing that forward; it's very good and sensible. In a national crisis, Export Finance Australia should be given all options, so we will be making sure we do that.

Then we will be looking to make amendments to the EPBC Act. One of the things that deeply concerns us at the moment—just say the government needed to build a brand-new storage facility to get the diesel or the oil or the petrol here, do you know what? They'd have to go through the full rigmarole of the EPBC changes, thanks to Labor and the Greens and their little grubby deal on the EPBC Act. We want to get rid of that because in a national emergency we need all the options on the table. This will be a good test for the Prime Minister. He could say: 'Yes. Six months ago we completely messed this up. We got carried away on ideology, not on practicality.' He could say: 'You know, I'm going to change it. We've realised this isn't good. Governing through ideology doesn't work for anyone. What the Australian people want is governing through practicality.' We will be looking at those amendments, and we will be circulating them later this afternoon.

It's good the government is listening to the Australian people. It's good the government is listening to the opposition. I hope the government will continue to act, and I hope the government understands the pain they have caused, the worry on supply and price. I conclude with this: I really do hope we will see the Prime Minister come into this chamber this afternoon and the first thing he does is apologise to the Australian people for the pain he's caused them, the worry he has caused them, the concern he has caused them due to his complete incompetence in dealing with supply, and also apologise for the fact that his and his government's incompetence has led to a dramatic rise in fuel prices, which is hurting Australians beyond their budget like they never, ever could have imagined.

Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia is facing a serious fuel supply shock, and it's hitting at the worst possible time. Families in my electorate and right across regional Australia are already under enormous pressure. They are working hard, doing their best to get ahead, but every month it feels like they are falling further behind. Groceries are up, power bills are up, rents and mortgages are up and now fuel, one of the most essential costs in daily life, is becoming harder to access and more expensive.

In regional communities, fuel is not an option. It is not a discretionary cost. It is how you get to work. It is how you take your kids to school. It is how small businesses operate. It is how farmers move goods. And it is how communities stay connected. When fuel supply is disrupted and prices rise, it hits everything. It hits the price of food on the shelf. It hits the cost of getting goods to market. It hits the viability of small businesses already running on tight margins. Right now, that pressure is real. We are seeing service stations running dry. We are seeing prices at levels many Australians have never experienced before. We are seeing families forced to rethink everyday decisions—whether they can afford to travel, visit family or even take their kids to sport. Let me give you a real-world example from a pineapple farmer in Yeppoon. Normally, this farm relies on 1,500 litres of fuel every week. Right now, it's been rationed to 1,000 litres, only around 60 per cent of what it needs. In the short term, this is a small buffer, but, if this rationing continues for two weeks, pineapple farming operations will stop. The farm will still pick fruit, but it will not plant new crops. That means that, in two years time, there'll be no fruit to harvest.

This is not just a supply issue; this is an economic warning sign. It shows how quickly a fuel disruption today becomes a production crisis tomorrow and a cost-of-living hit down the track. That is the reality on the ground. But at a time that calls for leadership and urgency, what Australians have seen from this government is delay and denial. For weeks, concerns about fuel supply were dismissed. Australians were told there was no problem. Then, when the situation worsened, the messaging changed, and then, when the crisis became unavoidable, the government acted. This is not leadership. In a crisis like this, Australians expect the government to be across the details, to be prepared and to act early.

In that context, we are debating this bill. Let me be clear, the coalition will support it, because this bill does something practical. It allows Export Finance Australia to step in during extraordinary disruptions to help secure essential imports like fuel and fertiliser. That is a sensible measure. In a crisis, governments should be able to act quickly to support supply chains to ensure that essential goods can reach Australia. We will always support practical steps that help keep the country moving, but we also need to be honest about what this bill is and what it is not. This bill is not a silver bullet. It does not get fuel to empty service stations today. It does not bring down prices at the bowsers tomorrow. And it does not fix the underlying problem that left Australia exposed in the first place.

The deeper issue here is one of preparedness. Australia is entering this crisis weaker than it should be. After years in government, Labor has failed to strengthen our domestic fuel capability. Instead, we are now more reliant on overseas supply and more vulnerable to global disruptions. What matters, especially for a country like Australia, where distance and logistics are everything, is that there is a clear contradiction at the heart of the government's approach. On one hand, they are asking taxpayers to underwrite imported fuel during a crisis; on the other hand, their policies are restricting investment in the very industries that underpin our energy security here at home. That simply does not make sense. If fuel is important enough to import and stockpile, it is important enough to support domestically. National security starts with domestic capability.

The coalition's approach is straightforward. We support practical measures to improve supply in the short term, like this bill, but we also believe in building long-term resilience. That means backing Australian production; it means removing barriers to invest in oil, gas and critical resources; it means ensuring our institutions, including Export Finance Australia, can support the industries that keep our economy strong; and it means rebuilding sovereign capability so that in times of crisis Australia can stand on its own two feet. We cannot keep lurching from crisis to crisis, relying on emergency measures to paper over deeper structural problems.

But supply is only part of the equation. The other part is cost. Right now, Australian families and small businesses need relief immediately. This bill helps finance supply, but it does nothing to ease the immediate cost pressures people are facing at the bowser. That is the gap that needs to be addressed. The coalition is pleased that the government has taken our advice and cut the fuel excise in half for three months, because this is the fastest, most direct way to deliver relief. It works immediately at the point of sale. It does not rely on complex systems or delayed reimbursements. It does not require small businesses to wait months for the BAS cycle to see any benefit. It puts money back into people's pockets straight away. The difference it will make is real, around 26c per litre off fuel prices and $20 off a typical tank—real savings for households already under pressure.

For small businesses, whether it's a tradie, a delivery driver, a florist or a cleaner, it means lower operating costs straight away—no delay, no paperwork, no lag, just relief when it is needed most. For the transport sector, it is just as important. Truck drivers and freight operators are on the front line of this crisis. They are facing rising costs, tight margins and increasing pressure. Reducing the road user charge alongside the excise ensures that relief flows through the entire supply chain. It's not just about fuel prices that come down; it's about the cost of goods as well. Australians are facing a perfect storm of global supply shocks on top of domestic cost pressures. Families are stretched. Small businesses are under strain.

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

The debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour and the member will have leave granted to continue speaking when the debate is resumed.