Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked today.

I rise to respond to answers to questions. Labor, it's hard to believe you can think it's feasible that, when the pump is dry and when fuel is rationed, there is not a supply issue. When last in government, the coalition implemented a comprehensive fuel security package which included the establishment of a domestic fuel reserve through a minimum stockholding obligation, which safeguarded key transport fuel stocks at a baseline level, with a 40 per cent increase in diesel stock holdings from mid-2024; delivered support to ensure Australia's long-term refining capabilities through the fuel security services payment; and established a diesel storage program.

The coalition has written to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy seeking assurances the government has access to up-to-date data on Australia's fuel stocks and an explanation of the strategy in place to ensure adequate fuel supplies. Despite the government claiming there is plenty of fuel supply in the country, there are reports that wholesalers have begun rationing petrol and diesel and some transport companies have been cut out from bulk supplies and forced to purchase fuel at higher retail prices.

In South Australia, three days ago, people were pulling up to bowsers to be let down not just at the pump but by this Labor government—flat-footed, incapable of recognising risk and even less capable of responding to it. They were met with '20 litres of fuel only due to fuel shortage' signs on the bowsers. Another says that it's $200 for those seeking to fill up tanks. Another quote is: 'Sorry, out of order'—let alone $2.23 per litre for petrol and above $2 per litre for diesel. The list goes on. In fact, you only have to look at a fuel app right now to see that, in Canberra, fuel is $2.40. In Darwin, it's $2 45. It's $2.60 in Alice Springs, $2.50 in Adelaide and $2.60 in Port Augusta. It's not just a supply issue; it's also a cost issue, and Australians deserve better answers than the ones we heard today. For tradies, truckies and everyday Australians, the reality, for them, is that the fuel's not flowing—not on the weekend, not yesterday, not today. They need the wheels to go 'round, not your round table.

The coalition has requested an urgent briefing on the current situation. The coalition has asked why the government's publicly reported petroleum stockholding data has not been updated since December 2025 and whether the department is providing the government with daily updates on fuel stock levels across the country. The letter also seeks advice on what action the government is taking to identify industries at serious risk of fuel shortages, including transport, agriculture, manufacturing, mining and fisheries. What steps are you taking to protect those sectors? Angus Taylor, as energy minister, stepped in to save Australia's last two refineries and legislated the Fuel Security Act to ensure that governments had the powers to prepare for exactly this kind of crisis. The issue today is not whether the government had the tools; it is whether it had the judgement to use them. The buck stops with the energy minister and the Prime Minister.

It is on the government. With all the information it tells us it has at its disposal and all the horsepower of the public service, which we know is growing bigger and bigger, they could have ensured Australia had adequate supplies of fuel. You could have ensured that the risk that the conflict in the Middle East posed was able to be responded to. Last week, we sat in here and I watched five ministers cross the floor over and over again. They shouldn't have been in here; they should have been working out what was going to happen in Australia within their portfolios, given the conflict in the Middle East. But, instead, they were crossing the chamber over and over again in here. We know the Albanese government will not and cannot protect our way of life or restore our standard of living. They're not prepared for it nor are they capable of it.