Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Bell. I've been here long enough to see people campaign in the Senate for state elections and for by-elections, and I can say to you that I've never seen it actually have an effect on the ground, but you go your hardest. That's fine.

Secondly, the point I would make in terms of the track record of the government—Senator Gallagher went through it, I think, very clearly in the question she answered—is that it is our government that established domestic fuel reserves for diesel, for petrol and for jet fuel. It is our government that put a gas reservation in place so more affordable gas goes to Australian households and industries. We introduced minimum stockpiling obligations so we could withstand energy supply shocks, and that does stand in contrast to Mr Taylor's decision, while he was the minister, to put Australian fuel reserves in Texas.