Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

It's an area I know well. The artery that runs through it, the New England Highway, is vital for our trucking sector.

You refer to misinformation. I want to be crystal clear about this question. There are people who have been spreading mischievous misinformation, and that is why it is so important that, on this supply question—I don't doubt that there are petrol stations in regional Australia where exactly the kind of circumstances that you've outlined are the case, but there is not a supply problem in Australia. Just now, the Australian Institute of Petroleum has issued a statement which makes it very clear. There is not a supply problem in Australia; there is some unusual demand behaviour. I'm sure, in a moment, we'll get to come to that. We are in a more fuel-secure position than we have been for 15 years, and that is the result of the government applying the minimum stockholding obligations that we've actually implemented.