Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution on the matter of public importance moved by Senator Smith in relation to fuel security. At the outset, I want to assure the Senate that the government takes this issue extremely seriously. I also want to assure everyone listening that we have the supply of fuel that we need. We do not see evidence that we will face a shortage at this stage. I must stress again: our nation is fuel secure. We are above our minimum petrol stockholding obligations, and we are fuel secure because this government has acted. The government has been clear. This is an international crisis; it's not a commercial opportunity.

The immediate priority of the government continues to be the safety and security of Australians across the Middle East. We are closely monitoring the evolving situation in the Middle East, including impacts to agricultural trade. We will work with industry on any potential disruptions and will continue our strong track record on diversifying our agricultural export markets.

Petrol companies have informed us that their fuel stock continues to arrive in Australia on time in the quantities that they expect. But it is clear there are some impacts in the supply chain which are exacerbated by uncertainty and the market responding to global price pressures. This is not a matter of supply but rather commercial decisions and market pressures. The National Oil Supplies Emergency Committee, which brings together all the states, has already met twice as an information-sharing forum, and this body has considered there is no shortage of supply.

I'd like to place on the record and state for the information of the Senate what our current stocks are. We have 36 days of petrol, which is 1.56 billion litres of petrol; we have 29 days of jet fuel, which equates to 802 million litres of jet fuel; and we have 32 days of diesel, which is 2.97 billion litres of diesel. As was reported during question time earlier today, our government convened a roundtable with petrol and farming peak bodies today. This will form the basis of an ongoing taskforce between agriculture and fuel suppliers, ensuring that they are able to share information and identify emerging market problems quickly. Part of this is getting everyone on the same page, making sure people understand where the market pressures and bottlenecks are.

We have a range of measures that mean increasingly closer engagement between government and industry. Minister Bowen has indicated that he will instruct the department to convene the National Oil Supplies Emergency Committee regularly to maintain regular information sharing and readiness to act. But right now we do not see a risk of national shortages of supplies or risks that warrant activating extraordinary powers, nor do we believe it appropriate for the opposition to unnecessarily stir fear and create alarm.

The government is prepared, and we are ensuring Australia's fuel security. It stands in stark contrast to the coalition's failure to act when they were in government. I remember when the coalition closed refineries. We kept them open, one of which was the Kwinana oil refinery in my home state of Western Australia. After being closed in 2021 it was to be converted to an import-only terminal. As of 2025 it was transitioning into a biorefinery and green hydrogen production facility. The coalition stored emergency fuel on another continent; we're storing it here. The coalition talked about minimum stockholding obligations; we implemented them. The coalition oversaw closures of urea facilities; we're building a new one—and the trucking industry have not forgotten what they did. The coalition talked about low-carbon liquid fuels like ethanol; we're investing in them.

As I said at the outset, we are fuel secure because this government has acted—and it's not just me and senators on this side of the chamber who know the opposition got it wrong on fuel security when they were last in government. As recently as yesterday, former Nationals MP and former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce agreed with Tanya Plibersek's assessment of the situation, when he said:

Tanya's right, storing it—

referring to fuel reserves—

in the United States is a very stupid place to store it.

That was Mr Taylor's idea.

In addition to that admission, Mr Joyce said the coalition had done the wrong thing and referred to their fuel security policies as 'a bad decision'. Even the Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate, Senator Duniam, in an interview on 2CC today, was critical of the coalition's track record when it comes to safeguarding Australia's fuel security.