Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I support the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fuel Excise Relief) Bill 2026. The government has finally listened to the call of many on the crossbench, including me, to cut the fuel excise. Last week I introduced my fair fuel price bill into parliament. When I did so, I called on the government to slash the fuel tax. In fact, when I raised it in question time last week with the Prime Minister and I asked him to slash the excise, certain members in this place laughed. Well, they're not laughing now. The announcement that the fuel excise will be halved for three months is a welcome piece of news. It's a step in the right direction and it is what the crossbench had been calling for. This is what I had been calling for. So I appreciate the Prime Minister heeding the call. It's the right decision to make and it's the right call, but more is needed.

City motorists might see some immediate relief, but regional Australia knows that it will take a lot longer before even a cent of that relief filters down to our local pumps. Residents in the Central West are concerned that there is no guarantee that this reduction will actually be passed on at all. Given the predatory patterns we have seen so far, we know that any relief may be short lived. In regional Australia, we are very concerned that potential savings could easily be eaten up by service stations, fuel retailers and petrol companies jacking up the prices yet again. We saw fuel prices jump before the effects of war had even started. Prices were rising on fuel that was already in the country. Since then, pump prices have been rising faster than crude oil prices, which means that price gouging has been occurring. So this initiative on excise can't be the end of the story on fuel price relief; more is needed to complement what the government has put in place.

The government has increased penalties for price gouging, but it hasn't made it any easier to prosecute price gouging offenders. You can count the number of successful price gouging prosecutions over the last 20 years on one hand. What the government has done is akin to doubling the jail time for theft but never actually finding very many people guilty of it. It sounds good, but it doesn't deliver the fuel price relief that our communities are demanding.

The underwriting of fuel shipments to Australia is a good thing, and I support it, but it's still not going to stop the price gougers and the rip-offs. That is exactly why my fair fuel price bill is so essential—it stops the rip-offs. They are happening and have been happening for a long time. We're no stranger to it in country New South Wales.

We can't wait to act. The parliament is not going to sit again until May, so either we can do more now or we can watch prices continue to spiral towards $4 a litre. My fair fuel price bill would allow the Commonwealth government to temporarily regulate fuel prices during periods of extraordinary global disruptions, such as a war or similar crises. It would allow the minister, in consultation with the Treasurer, to set and control the price of unleaded petrol and also diesel.

This bill demands to be heard urgently because our country is in the midst of this devastating crisis. Both country and city communities are being pummelled by these prices. It's smashing our local businesses and it's stinging everyone, from pensioners to families. So urgent action is required and leadership is required. That is why this fair fuel price bill, which I brought to this place, is so important. It will reintroduce fuel price controls of the type ushered in during the Second World War to Australia. In 1939, this parliament passed the National Security Act, which gave the federal government the power to set fuel prices for the duration of that conflict. It was aimed at preventing price gouging, and it was effective. The fair fuel price bill gives the government the power to set fuel prices for the duration of the current conflict in the Middle East.

Our communities expect that members of this place come in with constructive comment, constructive ideas and constructive legislation, and that is what I have done with this legislation. Sky-high prices are throttling our country, community members and businesses. Our farmers can't get the diesel they need to put their crops in the ground. As we are speaking, farmers in the Central West of New South Wales are meeting and talking about whether they should actually put a crop in the ground. That's where we are. If farmers aren't going to be putting crops in the ground, the food's not going to turn up on the supermarket shelves in the cities and this country will not eat. So this fuel crisis can very easily turn into a food security crisis. It's happening before our eyes.

People in the bush have been putting up with sky-high fuel prices for many years. We've been campaigning on this in Mudgee for a long time. Prices in the main street of Mudgee are regularly 40c a litre more expensive than they are in other parts of the state. If you want to have a look at the current market, look no further than Yeoval. Today in Yeoval, the price for diesel is $3.479. These prices are not just high prices; they're like ransom notes to country people. We know that people in country communities have further distances to drive, so these skyrocketing fuel prices have a disproportionate effect on country people.

I saw that the Treasurer is writing to the ACCC to ensure that this excise saving is not eaten up by price increases. It's just talk. We're sick of the talk; we need action. When I was raising the issue of sky-high fuel prices in Mudgee with the Treasurer, he helpfully set up a meeting with the ACCC, and we met with them. But it didn't result in any action, because they don't have the ability to take it. All we've done is double penalties for price gouging, but we haven't actually given the ACCC more or better powers to prosecute petrol price fixes.

Our communities are tired of there being all talk and no action, and we want decisive leadership on this. The ABC's Alan Kohler recently pointed out that Australian retail petrol prices have risen to levels higher than they were in 2022 even though global crude oil prices have not returned to these peaks. He points out that this discrepancy indicates that margins have expanded significantly. In other words, it's petrol price gouging. We know it's happening. Everyone in the country knows it's happening, and it's got to stop. That's why my bill, the Fair Fuel Price Bill, is so important. But I want the House to be made aware of how much pain this issue is causing in our area.

I received an email from Kristy, who is an assistant in nursing. She has to drive about 45 minutes to get to work. She's earning $26.61 an hour. She says:

With current fuel prices, it is no longer financially viable for me to continue in my role. Despite working full-time, I have been forced to take on a second job just to survive. Even then, I am left with only $2.30 in my account this week after paying my mortgage. I am currently limiting myself to one meal a day so that my children can have three.

That's one example.

Bathurst Community Transport have contacted me. They said:

This latest crisis of fuel prices, coupled with the closure of Victoria Pass has brought us to our knees …

…   …   …

Without immediate relief, Bathurst Community Transport will have no choice but to reduce services to only those assessed as highest need—leaving thousands of clients in your electorate at risk of losing the transport that allows them to live independently.

Alex runs a disability support business. He said:

I, like many, am also feeling this at the hip pocket both from my business and my family. My business is a small, family run disability support company who prides itself on being able to get the members of our community out and about to much needed medical appointments and social engagement with friends and family.

While our fuel use isn't as much as other businesses, it still hurts. Our usage is generally around 900L a month, and climbing. When fuel hits $3 a litre this means our business will be consuming around $2,700 a month in fuel alone, that's $32,400 a year. This is not sustainable long term for us.

Elise writes in and tells me about the school excursions which are being cut because of these skyrocketing fuel prices.

Luke Knight from L-Con Building & Construction in Orange has written to me. He told me about the skyrocketing price increases from suppliers for the materials used to build our homes and factories. He says:

Using PVC as a prime example, the rise will be basically equal to the entire covid and subsequent 4-year period combined. This is extraordinary.

I am very alarmed by these increases. Let's hope it's not for long as any momentum with housing supply increase will be lost, just as we get traction.

People really can't afford building now, let alone if pricing will increase again.

Ric Ross from the Mudgee area believes that 'to not have adequate supplies is inconceivable in the current world economic climate and shows a lack of foresight and complete incompetence'. My former colleague the late Jim Molan would agree with that. He championed our country having greater fuel reserves, but, sadly, that fell on deaf ears.

Edward Brown from my electorate has written in to point out the discrepancy between the price of crude oil and the price at the petrol pump. It is proof of the price gouging and the profiteering that is occurring.

Josh from the Calare electorate indicates that the price increases are soaring, and they are increasing multiple times per day. He says:

Whilst I am aware that the ACCC has threatened to investigate wholesalers and retailers, we cannot afford to wait for a potential investigation which will not see proceeds returned to the customers being hit. Regional NSW also does not have the luxury of relying on public transport infrastructure as a an alternate form of commute due to decades of federal and state government neglect of this issue.

Jules Fotheringham writes:

Of particular concern in regional communities like ours is the availability of diesel. Supply disruptions, cancelled shipments, and increased demand have led to shortages at service stations, with some areas experiencing difficulty accessing fuel altogether. This is deeply worrying given the reliance of regional economies on diesel for agriculture, transport, and essential services.

Jules is absolutely correct. It is extremely concerning.

Liz Hammond has written to me. She lives in the Cargo area between Orange and Canowindra. She says:

As someone who lives out of town and has a child attending school, reliable access to diesel is not a convenience but a necessity. Daily travel for school drop-offs, work, and essential errands depends on being able to obtain fuel when needed. The current situation is making this increasingly difficult and stressful, particularly when supply becomes uncertain.

Tom Brownjohn from Godfrey Smith Funerals writes in basically on behalf of the funeral industry and says:

Our operations rely heavily on transport, particularly diesel-powered vehicles, to attend places of death, transfer the deceased into care, and conduct funeral services across multiple locations. In regional areas, this often involves significant travel distances.

He worries that their ability to carry out those vital services are heavily impacted by this fuel crisis, and he wants funeral services classed as an essential service.

Those are just a few stories from the Central West of New South Wales, and that is why action is needed on the double. What the government has put forward is a start, but it simply does not go far enough. My Fair Fuel Price Bill 2026 provides a tangible and effective solution. It brings in price controls and allows the federal government to set prices on fuel, just as it did in the Second World War. Until we have the courage to step in and regulate these prices during this extraordinary period of war and disruption, the national interest will continue to be ignored in favour of fuel company margins. The price gouging continues, and we all know it is.

The bill that we are discussing today is a step in the right direction, but it can't be the end of the story or the last word. In this fuel crisis, profit is being put ahead of people, the very people who work in our hospitals, teach our children or put food on supermarket shelves and tables. I would urge the government to support my Fair Fuel Price Bill and bring prices back to reality. (Time expired)

Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

While there is great uncertainty on the world stage, the Albanese government is working to deliver certainty for all Australians. We know conflict in the Middle East is not distant from us here at home. It is being felt in very real ways. Australians are feeling it when they pull up to the bowser. Across my communities in the Bellarine, the Surf Coast and throughout the Geelong region, people are concerned about rising fuel costs. We recognise this and it's why from the outset we have taken action. From tomorrow, the fuel excise will be halved for three months. That's what this bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fuel Excise Relief) Bill 2026, delivers.

This is immediate and meaningful relief. With the watchful oversight of the ACCC, it means lower prices for households, for businesses, for families, and it means support at a time when it is needed most. This bill legislates a three-month reduction in fuel excise and equivalent duties, and it enables changes to the road user charge to be made in response to the changing conditions Australians are facing. These are practical tools and they are deliberate measures. Importantly, they ensure we have the capacity to respond to our fast-changing global environment.

Schedule 1 of this bill gives effect to the core measure. It halves the excise and excise equivalent customs duty rate that applies to most fuels. From tomorrow, 1 April, through to 30 June this year, the rate will be reduced from 52.6c per litre to 26.3c per litre. That is a reduction of 26.3c per litre. For a typical 65 litre tank, that means savings of nearly $19. That is real money going back into the pockets of Australians, and it can make a real difference between stretching the household budget and staying on top of it.

We have also gone further. We are reducing the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero for three months. This is delivered through schedule 3 of this bill, which provides government with the flexibility to adjust the road user charge, including suspending limitations on increases over this financial year and the next. For the period from 1 April to 30 June, the charge will effectively be reduced to zero.

This is direct support for the freight sector. It recognises the critical role that transport operators play in keeping goods moving around our country, and it delivers meaningful savings. For a 400 litre tank, operators will now save around $130. But the benefit does not stop there. Because of the way road user charges interact with fuel excise and fuel tax credits, the total benefit to trucking operators is even greater. In total, they will see savings of around 32.4c per litre. They will save 26.3c per litre at the pump, and their fuel tax credits will increase from 20.2c to 26.3c per litre. That is an additional 6c per litre. It will provide critical cashflow support to operators at a time of rising costs and uncertainty.

Schedule 2 of the bill ensures we are not limited in our response to these uncertain times. It gives the Treasurer the ability to go further to reduce the fuel excise and equivalent customs duty rates by more than 50 per cent if we need to act. This is about flexibility and it is about being prepared for what lies ahead in uncertain times. It is also about ensuring that this government can respond quickly if global conditions deteriorate further. The reality is this: the situation is evolving, and our response must be proactive and capable of evolving with it.

These measures are not abstract. They flow through the entire economy, because, when fuel costs rise, everything costs more. This bill helps to limit that by easing pressure across the entire economy. We are also working closely with the ACCC and the states and territories to ensure the benefits of the excise reduction are fully realised. We are also acting to protect Australians from unfair pricing. At a time of volatility, there is real risk that some may seek to take advantage of the situation. This is not acceptable. Australians deserve fair treatment, and that's why we have strengthened the powers of the ACCC. When we came to office we increased penalties and we provided the ACCC with the ability to issue on-the-spot fines. More recently, we increased penalties further to ensure they are a real deterrent. Penalties can now reach up to $100 million because we believe price gouging during a crisis is unacceptable and it will not be tolerated.

The Treasurer has written to the ACCC to ensure that they are closely monitoring fuel prices. As these changes come into effect, Australians should see the full benefit of the excise reduction—not part of it, not most of it, but all of it—and the ACCC will be watching to ensure that happens. I am also calling on locals across my region to keep an eye on prices. If you see prices rising, please contact my office and we will get you in touch with the ACCC.

It is important to note that measures included in this bill have not been developed in isolation. This is the result of governments working together. Yesterday, at the National Cabinet meeting convened by the Prime Minister, all state and territory leaders endorsed the National Fuel Security Plan. That includes the cut to the fuel excise. National Cabinet includes Labor governments and it includes Liberal-National governments, and, at times like this, Australians expect cooperation. They expect governments to put the national interest first, and that is what has occurred.

The National Fuel Security Plan is built on clear and practical principles. The first is to plan and prepare. The second is to keep Australia moving. We want to ensure that supply chains continue to function effectively, we want to ensure that businesses can continue to operate and thrive and we want to ensure that Australians can go about their daily lives without unnecessary interruption. That is why we are also asking Australians to act responsibly—to buy the fuel they need and not more, and to make sensible choices that help stabilise supply. Australians are generous. We work together when it matters most, and that's exactly what I'm seeing across my communities right now and I'm confident that will continue. We know that managing the challenges of a global markets shock requires a collective effort, and that collective effort is at the heart of our response.

National Cabinet has agreed that we are at level 2 under the plan. That reflects a situation requiring heightened coordination and targeted action. Together, the Commonwealth and the states have established a fuel supply taskforce. Officials from across jurisdictions are working together to monitor supply, assess risks and respond quickly. Ministers across key portfolios are engaged. Energy, Treasury, Agriculture, Infrastructure—all working together, all focused on managing the impacts of a global crisis that is beyond any one country's control. And, while we cannot control global events, we can control how we respond, and we are responding in a coordinated and practical way. That is what this bill is all about.

At its heart, this is about people. It is about the worker who relies on their car to get to their job. It is about the small-business owner managing costs. It is about the truck driver keeping goods moving around this country. And it is about making sure that, in the face of evolving global uncertainty, Australians are supported, protected and treated fairly.

The alternative approach put forward by the coalition would not deliver this. While we are acting to bring costs down, they are lining up to cut support. They want to scrap initiatives like the Cheaper Home Batteries Program that is already putting money back into the pockets of Australian households and small businesses. Three hundred thousand households and businesses are benefiting from that program, and, at the worst possible time, those opposite are suggesting that the government rip that support away. That is the difference. In contrast, our approach, and this bill, delivers real relief. It delivers real coordination. It delivers certainty, it delivers support and it demonstrates real leadership.

We know the global situation is changing rapidly, but Australians can be assured their government's focus is on easing cost-of-living pressures, securing our fuel supply and getting it where and when it is needed most. I commend the bill to the House.

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

The coalition supports this bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fuel Excise Relief) Bill, because Australians need immediate relief and they need it now. Families and small businesses right across Australia and in the electorate of Cook are under real pressure. My office is getting emails about people struggling with the cost of living, struggling with fuel bills and being unable to make ends meet and get by.

Just this week I heard from the St Vincent de Paul Society telling stories about people in my electorate—mums forgoing lunches for their children, having to ask the St Vincent de Paul Society for help to provide their kids with lunch, asking them for help to put beds in people's houses because they're sleeping with blankets on the floor, asking them to help with the weekly groceries and asking them to help with fuel vouchers. These are real stories not in impoverished parts of Australia but in the Sutherland shire of Sydney, a well-to-do, reasonably affluent area. Yes, there are people doing it extremely tough there, and if they're doing it tough there I can only begin to imagine how tough they are doing it in the rest of Australia.

We support this because it will deliver relief for households. It's coming at a critical time ahead of Easter, where families looking to go away for road trips and school holidays are wondering how they're going to pay for those school holiday and Easter activities. Budgets are stretched for small businesses and tradies. Transport operators who I have spoken to as recently as last week were parking their trucks because they couldn't afford to make a loss or their businesses would go under. These transport operators may now be able to service their customers and get goods moving. We were facing, potentially, shortages at customer shelves in supermarkets and hardware stores.

How did this come about? Well, it was because of coalition leadership. It was over a week ago that we first called for a cut to fuel excise and road user charging. And, yes, it was pleasing to see the Albanese government listen to the coalition and listen to Australians to support them through the difficulties they were having. This government is just waking up to the fact that energy is the economy. We've seen it with electricity markets and how it's been hurting manufacturing, we've seen it in gas markets and how it's been hurting industry, and now we're seeing it in oil and fuel markets and how it's grinding Australia to a halt.

The issue Australia has had with this is prior to the Iran shock. Prior to any of this becoming an issue, Australia had the highest inflation of any advanced economy in the world. Australia was worse than the US, worse than anywhere in Europe and worse than in Asia. What is the responsibility of a federal government at a time like this? It's to shelter the businesses. It's to shelter the citizens. But, instead, Jim Chalmers and his reckless spending had Australia with the highest inflation—

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member is to use people's correct titles.

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

Sorry. I withdraw. The Treasurer had Australia flailing in the wind with the highest inflation in the developed world when this external shock came across, and, yes, of course it's adding to inflation. When you have the highest inflation in the entire developed world, there is nowhere for Australian businesses to hide. There's nowhere for Australian households to go. In that environment, an external shock like the war in Iran rips through this country. It rips through the businesses, it rips through the transport operators, it rips through the small businesses and it's ripping through households. Just like the St Vincent de Paul Society was attesting to me directly this week, it is ripping through Australia. These increased fuel prices were going straight to inflation.

The sad news is that, because government spending is at a 40-year high outside of the pandemic, inflation was already running high and interest rates were running high. We heard the Reserve Bank governor express herself less than a month ago that this increased government spending was fuelling inflation and fuelling interest rates. Unfortunately, this reckless, out-of-control government spending is going to add fuel to the inflation fire—and that is not fuel we want. We want more diesel, but we don't want more fuel added to the inflation fire. Why is it going to do that? Because there are no offsets for this. There are no offsets to what is essentially increased government spending, so there's going to be even more demand.

The coalition has sensibly proposed offsets for this measure. If they didn't like our offsets, we could have had a discussion. What other offsets are there? We don't want inflation to further increase because of this measure. It must be offset with spending cuts. It has to be. Otherwise, we're going to be back here again in another couple of months, staring down another Reserve Bank interest rate rise. I deeply worry for those families in my community—that mum unable to pay for her kids' packed lunches, those families who have children sleeping on the floor with a blanket without a bed, those families that are unable to make ends meet and who are getting fuel vouchers. These are real stories from real people in the electorate of Cook, and I can only imagine that there are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of similar stories right across Australia. The truth is that with government spending this high, without offsetting this in the budget, it's going to further add to inflation.

We heard from the Reserve Bank last month. They had modelled in another two interest rate rises this year. That was before the war in Iran. We've had one, so that means one of the Reserve Bank's interest rate models has come true, but they've modelled and forecast another one. On top of this inflationary cut to excise that has not been offset, how many more is that adding? Is that going to add another two or three? We know families with a mortgage are already paying $27,000 a year in interest alone. We know on average they're paying $1,400 a year more in electricity bills. We know that with diesel and petrol at its current prices, it's another $1,400 a year. That's for an average family with an average mortgage—they are paying up to $30,000 per year in after-tax money. And it doesn't stop there. Domestic inflation is running at 4.9 per cent. So guess what's happening? Their money is getting eaten up because things are costing more, they are not getting the wage increases they deserve and bracket creep is stealing more money from these hardworking Australians as the government's tax coffers grow through bracket creep.

There's still no clear plan on fuel supply. While we back in this reduction in excise and road user charging, and this price relief is welcome, you can't cost the price of fuel that just isn't there. Today in question time we heard that there are almost 500 petrol stations without fuel. We heard last week, in response to a question, the energy minister was unable to answer how much fuel there was in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. When pressed on that by those on this side, instead of answering that, he said he was done and sat down. Frankly, we need an energy minister who is across his brief, who is across those numbers. It was pleasing today that he was across those numbers in question time. I'm glad he has made those adjustments and moved forward, and I think the Australian people are glad and thank him for that. But we need an energy minister who is across these details.

It's great National Cabinet is working together. This needs to be a team Australia moment where we rally together to acknowledge energy is the economy. Energy is the economy. It's fuel, it's diesel, it's electricity and it's gas. This government is just waking up to it. We saw on the electricity and gas side what carnage it wrecked in the economy—Whyalla Steelworks going bankrupt, Nyrstar going bankrupt, Mount Isa smelter going bankrupt. We saw industry after industry get bailed out. The CEOs of BHP, BlueScope Steel, Cadbury and Mars say that they don't think manufacturing has a future in this country, that it's at a crossroads and they're investing at other places. BlueScope Steel is saying gas costs two to three times more here than it does in the US. The CEO of BHP is saying energy costs more than double here than it does in other countries. So we were dealing with this on electricity and gas, and now we are dealing with it on fuel. It's happened at such a rapid rate. Hopefully it's not too late for this government to change course. If they do, we will join with them to actually lower the price of energy.

Only a couple of weeks ago, we were forcing Ampol to export our fuel overseas. We said, 'This fuel is not good enough to be burnt in Australia; it can be burnt to overseas,' like that made a difference. As if burning it in Indonesia makes some difference to the atmosphere, since it wasn't burnt in Brisbane or Sydney or Melbourne. Somehow burning it in Indonesia is cleaner, more virtuous. What did that do? It cost Australian businesses more. It cost Australian households more. It's one of the reasons the people in my electorate are paying $1,400 more a year in fuel. We welcome the decision to allow Ampol to sell fuel here so that Australians can burn it. But we're in this crazy utopian world where the very things that make Australia wealthier, the very things that lower energy costs for the country, the very things that actually lower the cost of living, we don't allow here. Instead, we're giving the advantage away to Australia's competitors. We're giving the advantage away to countries that don't have Australia's track record of safety and that don't have Australia's track record of keeping their workers and the environment safe. We're giving that away and acting as though there's a difference between whether that fuel or that energy is used here or in another country. The effect on the planet is the same. So, if those opposite really believe it, they should outlaw it everywhere. Stop exporting it, or stop playing political games and exploiting political advantage.

One thing this prime minister has been very good at is exploiting domestic political advantage—I have to give him credit for that—whether it's a moment of national unity, such as post-Bondi, or it's fuel relief. But today we welcome this. We welcome it; we called for it. Australians must answer a simple question: why is the Prime Minister always last to lead with principle in a national crisis? Why is that the case, Prime Minister? He should have come out earlier with the plan, but instead, what he's apt at—and I'll give him credit for it—is to wait, sit back and look for the political advantage in any of these crises.

The coalition will always support measures that reduce costs for industry, that reduce costs for households and that reduce the costs of the inputs to business. We will hold the government to account for delay in poor planning and inflation risks—and those inflation risks are ample. They are everywhere right now. Australians deserve relief today and responsible economic management for tomorrow. Unfortunately, this fuel crisis is happening at the worst possible time. It's coming after four years of economic mismanagement—four years of inflation that has not been below the 2½ per cent that the RBA targets. It has never been below that target rate in four years. If you look at the RBA's forecasts for the next two years, it's not forecast to ever get below. So the RBA is forecasting that, in the first two terms of the Albanese government, inflation will never drop below their target range—never. At this very moment, when you're looking at two entire terms of inflation being above the RBA's 2½ per cent target, government spending is at a 40-year high. How irresponsible is that? But, yes, they have a spending problem. Why they're not quick to fix it is because bracket creep is helping that spending problem—that inflation is actually a good thing for the budget to pay for this increased spending.

The government's response has been chaotic in complacence. For three weeks they denied there was a problem. First they were dismissing concerns as, 'It was just panic buying;' now, this week, we're hearing there are problems with supply. We're now hearing that it's a crisis. This is not leadership. This is a drift that demands urgency—and that urgency is finally coming, because the consequences for this are real. Fuel is not an abstract issue; neither is energy. It's in the cost of everything. It's from freight to farming to family budgets. This crisis is taking the homegrown cost-of-living and inflation crisis and making it worse for every Australian household.

What makes this worse is that Australia is entering this crisis weaker than any other advanced economy in the world. This government had the responsibility to shelter us and to look after us, but, instead, Australian households and businesses are flailing in the wind. The thing I fear about this is the fact that they have not done budgetary offsets, which means it's going to be inflationary. That is the key difference between what this government is now doing and what the coalition government first proposed over a week ago.

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

I rise today to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fuel Excise Relief) Bill 2026. I relish the opportunity to support this bill and the actions of this government at this time in response to the war in the Middle East and the implications that it's having across the globe and to share with the House how that's impacting my local community. This legislation gives effect to the announcement on Monday 30 March by the Prime Minister, the Treasurer, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy and the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government that we will halve fuel excise—a reduction of 26c per litre—on petrol and diesel for three months from 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026. This will reduce the cost of a 65-litre tank of fuel by nearly $19. We will also reduce the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero for those same three months. This decision will save trucking operators 32.4c per litre in total, which is about $130 on a 400-litre tank. This is really important. We've also deferred, in this legislation, the six per cent increase in the road user charge. These measures are here to reduce pressure on our road users. Whether road users are filling a car, a ute, a truck or a bus—whatever they're using fuel for—these measures are here to create some wriggle room, some relief, on the price of petrol, in response to what's happening in the Middle East. I think they're really important measures.

I give a nod to those opposite for the contortions that they've had to do today in terms of claiming that the government's responding to their calls for this, while, in the same breath, saying it's the wrong thing to do. I'm very confused when I listen to those opposite. I hear from them that it needs offsets, but I never hear what they want to cut in those offsets.

In my community—and particularly in communities across the country that, like mine, are represented on this side of the House more often than not—people travel long distances for work and are already shopping for cheaper fuel to make it possible for them to get to and from work and still meet their commitments as a family. It's often two people who are doing that. These people are likely to be working often in transport and logistics, where I know these issues are having an impact every day.

I want to pay tribute to the leadership of this government for the measures that they've put in place across this week and for the way they have responded—not in a reactive way but in a thoughtful way. I want the people in my community to know that, as a government, this government has your back. We have your back on this. You can rely on the fact that this government is listening and understanding the pressures that you're under, but also that we won't react; we will think in measured ways about how we can act to support you. I think it's critical at the moment that everybody understands that that's what's happening here.

That's why it's also really important that the National Cabinet are involved here and that states and the federal government are working together. I think it's really important to see the three levels of government working together to support Australians through this. Unlike those opposite, we know there is no answer to the question of when the disruption from the Middle East conflict is going to end. We don't know that, and we can't predict that. What we can do is plan to do our best and plan to support Australians as best we can as a government. That's exactly what we're doing this week, and that's exactly what we're doing in this bill. This will give some comfort around price. There'll be a saving at the bowser.

As I heard the minister for energy say this morning, we're also very concerned. We don't want people to get out of their car and go in and abuse someone working at a service station because the price hasn't dropped yet. There's a flow-through time to this. But, by the same token, we do want to know what's happening out there. We do want to know if people are putting prices up that the public think are above and beyond what we should be seeing or if one company's putting prices up in an extraordinary way. We do want to know. We do want to know the impact that this is having on our families and on our communities, and I would encourage my community to let us know.

I received an email yesterday, while sitting here in question time, from a community member that relayed a story about a member of my community who is travelling a long way for health treatments. There's concern that, driving a diesel vehicle, he won't be able to afford those trips and therefore might miss medical appointments that are across the other side of Melbourne at times. We need to know those things. I need to be able to carry that story into this place to make sure that we're focused on the right things and, really importantly, to make sure that my office and I can work with state government member offices, state governments and local governments and be helpful where we can.

My first question yesterday on receipt of that email was: is there a way that we can transfer this person's health treatment to somewhere closer and is there a way that I can reach out to the state member and get him working with Mercy Health and Western Health to see if we can't move something from Sunshine or Monash to somewhere closer in Werribee or Altona? That would be something that we would look to do. If it's my community, I need to know. We can't help if we don't know. So please get those emails coming in.

Also the best people in the world to do price watch are our local communities. So let us know if you see something unusual happening out there because the Treasurer wants to know and I want to be the first person to tell the Treasurer so that we can make sure people aren't being ripped off.

I also want to pay homage to the other things that we've done this week that have ensured supply, ensured that the cargo ships with crude oil and fuel continue to come to Australia. I want to pay homage to the foreign minister, the minister for energy and the whole leadership team for the way they are working with our neighbours and our trading partners to ensure that we continue to get the supply into this country. Australians should not be punished for something happening in the Middle East. But, by the same token, this is global and, as a country, we can only respond. It's important how we respond. This legislation is one of the things that demonstrates the way this government will respond.

The cheapest fuel I can find in my local community is $2.51 per litre, ranging to $2.61.9 as the most expensive. Most servos are sitting at 259.9c at the moment. I'm putting that out there now. What I'm saying is that that's today's prices. Keep an eye on that locally and make sure that you're communicating with us.

I think it's really important that people understand that we do understand what people are going through. We know that these price shocks will be running through household budgets. We know that that will be impacting on local communities. Of course we know, because it's impacting on the people we know and love as well as it is on the people that we represent.

We have added hundreds of millions of litres of diesel and petrol by releasing some of our minimum stock obligations. We're temporarily reducing the sulphur content standards to ensure more fuel can be sold here in Australia, and we're providing more support to our domestic refineries. And, of course, we can't go past this fact. I am a Melbourne western suburbs MP and I stood in front of the Mobil gates when Mobil announced that they were closing the Altona refinery. I mourned that day because I knew what that meant to so many families and to so many workers—and generations of workers—at Mobil who live in my electorate. We are now bearing the costs for a lack of action from the previous government, where we have only two refineries operating in this country now because four closed under the previous government.

We're providing more certainty to the private sector by underwriting fuel imports where appropriate. This is really important. It's obviously really complex, but it's basically about the fact that Australian companies reaching out to contract to bring fuel into the country will be facing varying prices in the spot market, and this is a way that government can support them to underwrite or guarantee, if you like, that they can afford the shock if there's a rapid price drop. So it's us supporting companies to support Australians.

We're empowering the ACCC to crack down on misconduct, including doubling the penalties to up to $100 million fines for anybody caught price gouging the Australian public, and working with the ACCC to authorise major suppliers to get fuel where it's needed in the regions and ramp up fuel price monitoring. I think that's an important point to make, too, and I think it's important for people at home to understand that. As we hear in question time every day when the Minister for Climate Change and Energy gives us figures and numbers in response to our questions or those opposites' questions or when he's appearing on televisions in the morning, there is more demand. As people start to think, 'I'm going to need fuel next week,' we need to see people doing the right thing. We need to see people supporting one another as we do in times of crisis. We need to see that every day. We need it in my community. If you know that a neighbour catches the same train as you do, then knock on their door and offer to carpool to the station. Those are the sorts of things that will assist and will reduce the demand.

We've got fuel coming in, but we did make the decision that fuel would go to the regions we knew needed it most because of an increase in demand but also because of things like New South Wales farmers having to plant. They need the diesel to make sure that that can happen while it's planting season, which is right now. The decisions that are being made are not being made recklessly or without thought. We're being thoughtful. But the important piece here is that those decisions must be informed by what Australians know and what Australians need. As I've heard our frontbenchers say at the dispatch box all week—and I look to members opposite—if your communities have information that the government needs and that would inform government actions, then we need to hear about that as well.

I think that probably the strongest message I can give to my community is that the government are working hard every day and are trying to get things right and put them in place to give surety in an incredibly unpredictable time. No-one's got a crystal ball here. We can't predict what is going to happen with any surety. It's not the way anybody wants to govern. It's not the way any community wants to live, but it's our actual reality right now. Let's stay in touch with one another, stay connected and start to work together with one another—with our neighbours and community.

I want to give a shout-out to the Victorian state government for the free public transport for this month, because I think it's already giving some security to people at home that they don't need their Myki at the moment to travel on a train in Victoria. Just go down and get on that train. That's going to give some more cost-of-living relief where it matters. Again, national leadership was shown by National Cabinet in terms of the measures that are going to be taken around the GST windfall provision so that state governments aren't going to get more GST money in as a windfall. They're going to work with the Treasurer to make sure that that money stays in the system rather than be taken out of the system. I think that one's really important.

On a whole, to my community: keep the emails coming, and let us know how we might help. There are some pretty intelligent people at all levels of government, and, if all levels of government are working together, we'll be in a better place. To all members of this House: I think it's incredibly important that we all work together to make sure we get the best outcomes for people all the way along the breadth and length of this country, from the regions to the suburbs and the outer suburbs, like places I represent. We need to make sure that we stay aware of the specific and individualised needs of those communities and make sure that they're taken into consideration when we're making decisions.

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

I would just like to make some comments in respect of what the member for Lalor has just said, and I concur with her and congratulate her. Australians are suffering, and this is a crisis that affects everybody. The more that we can work together, the better results that we will have. So well done to you, Madam.

I rise to support the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fuel Excise Relief) Bill 2026. I think it's in the best interests of Australia that we support the government to do this. This is also the position of the coalition. And Australians need immediate relief. Removing half of the fuel excise and the heavy vehicle road user charge will go some way to alleviating those pressures, particularly for the transport industry.

Having said that, I do have some reservations about what that is going to do the budget, to our bottom line, to inflationary effects and so forth and how that might have influences on the economy into the future. It's really important, I think, that the government and the opposition and everybody concerned, including the general public, understand the ramifications of that. At the moment, we just do not see a plan to pay for all of that and a plan to outline offsets to make allowances for those hits to the budget—it's that simple. And it is a complicated thing; I understand that. But those are the things that we need to focus on.

I will make some brief comments about this whole issue in general. For me, this started about a month ago, in late February or early March, when this conflict in the Middle East started, and it had some significant immediate impacts—particularly to rural Queensland, where I come from, and the agricultural sector in particular. There developed, very quickly, a scenario where on-farm bulk diesel and bulk diesel to the transport sector and so forth was not being delivered—it was that simple. We heard the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Prime Minister, the Treasurer—many of the government people—say that there was plenty of fuel and there was fuel being delivered.

On the strength of that, I went to see the energy minister in his office—and I give him kudos for that. I walked straight into his office and met with his chief of staff, and one of his advisers, and the minister himself, and I tried to point out to them the issues that were actually happening—particularly in rural Queensland, where I come from. And it wasn't about supply, in respect of the big companies that control supply coming into Australia; this was about delivery. What was quite clear to me, in my discussions with people from Mr Bowen's office, is that they didn't quite understand how the supply chain works and what was happening at the time. The reality of it was that the third-party providers that usually transport fuel to the agricultural sector—on-farm diesel—and to the various trucking companies in the small communities all over rural and regional Queensland were simply not getting enough quota from the big companies. For me, that signalled the fact that the big companies that control the fuel were not allowing that distribution to happen.

Since then—and that was three or four weeks ago now—things have changed considerably, and we are starting to see some of that fuel getting delivered to where it's needed. And I note that, today, in question time, the Prime Minister, with the member for Grey down here, dealt directly with one of those issues down in South Australia, where there was a farmer that had no diesel and they'd sorted it out. So I give the government kudos for that. As I say, these are the issues that we need to work through, as a parliament, with an issue that is extremely complicated, because none of us really knows what is going to happen with the Middle East crisis and whether the Strait of Hormuz will eventually be opened and how that will affect future fuel supplies to Australia.

In my deliberations, I did also speak to the Minister for Resources—I actually spoke to her twice—about this issue of future fuel deliveries for Australia and how that might affect, particularly, heavy industry, transport and the agricultural sector. The big problem, to my understanding, is that, come the middle of April and May, for those fuel shipments that come to Australia in big ships from places like South Korea, for example, or from Indonesia or Singapore, many contracts will roll over, and it's very unsure whether they will get renewed again.

In my deliberations with the resources minister, I pointed out to her that it is extremely important that we ensure those fuel deliveries, particularly to our refineries, to the big importers, because, if Australia runs out of diesel, the whole country stops. We will be in a very, very difficult national security and economic situation if we don't have enough diesel for the mining and resources sector, for the transport sector and indeed for the agricultural sector. Like it or not, in spite of what some of my other parliamentary colleagues here have said, particularly the member for Warringah and the member for Canberra, who advocated that we should turn everything electric, that is not going to happen in the real world. Whilst that's a wonderful, pious idea, the reality of it is that there's no such thing as an electric combine harvester or an electric tractor that can farm round the clock.

I, unbeknown to many parliamentarians, own a road train. I'm probably one of the few parliamentarians that own a road train. I don't know whether anybody else does. My truck holds about 1,500 litres of diesel when it's full. At $3 or $4 a litre—you can do the maths on that—you're possibly spending $4,000 to $6,000 to fill the truck up. We use that truck to cart all manner of things, including cattle and grain and our requirements with respect to my agricultural sector. So the idea that one of those electric trucks that was proudly displayed down here in front of Parliament House over the last few days can replace what we've got now in the transport industry—whilst it might be a good idea in the future, it is simply not going to happen in the short term. The idea of an electric truck replacing diesel powered trucks is just absolute nonsense in the near to short term.

I think the removal of the road user charge has been a good thing from the government. Delivering that will definitely help the transport industry, who are absorbing a lot of this ongoing cost in the price of fuel, particularly with the delivery of all manner of consumer goods. Particularly in our grocery stores all over Australia, we will see groceries become more expensive for everybody because literally everything comes on the back of a truck. That's something that we need to be mindful of.

With respect to what I was talking about earlier with the minister for resources—I pointed out to her that she needs to make it known very clearly that Australia exports a lot of coal and gas to many of our near Asian neighbours, who supply us with fuel, and it's important that there's a quid pro quo scenario that goes on there to make sure that our fuel supplies are secured and their energy needs are secured. She concurred with that, and I give her kudos for that and for the meetings I've had with her.

I would like to touch on another issue that has come up. Some of the other speakers here in parliament have mentioned it. It's the fact that the ACCC has been given further and greater powers to police what might loosely be called rorting and playing the system. I've spoken on it on several occasions through the media and so forth, and what the people where I come from are asking is: what is the ACCC actually doing in respect of this? People are going to the local petrol station and, in a matter of a day, they're seeing price rises of 20c or 30c in some cases, but the fuel at the fuel station hasn't changed. So please explain to me, if that's not ripping the system and playing the system, what it is exactly. What does the ACCC need to prosecute people who are breaking the law? One of the speakers here in parliament mentioned that there was something like a $100 million maximum fine with respect to the big companies playing the system. I think what people want is evidence of what exactly the ACCC is doing, rather than it being seen as a toothless tiger.

One of the other issues I'd like to mention is our future, what we should be advocating for as Australians, and that is more self-reliance in this space—

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. In accordance with the resolution agreed to earlier, the time allotted for this debate has expired.

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

The question was that this bill be now read a second time. To this the honourable member for Goldstein moved as an amendment that all words after 'that' be omitted with a view to substituting other words. The immediate question now is that the amendment moved by the honourable member for Goldstein be agreed to.