Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to also take note of answers to questions during question time. What I will say is that Australians are taking notice of, and are following, the events in the Middle East. Senator Wong today, in question time, had questions directed at her—as had Minister Ayres—in relation to what we are seeing and feeling: the consequences, right here, at home, for Australians. But the first question from Senator Cash, as the Leader of the Opposition here in the Senate, to Senator Ayres, around fuel security, was from exactly that hyperpartisan position that those opposite have taken.

I know it's difficult to sit through the constant conversations around those four of six refineries that were closed by those in opposition. We are now seeing those consequences; we are feeling them here at home.

The longer that conflict goes on in the Middle East, the more significant the impact will be on the global economy, and particularly on Australia's economy. That is the fact, and that is what, on both sides of this chamber, people should stick to—not following the tail that wags the dog over there, for the Liberal Party, after this weekend's disastrous results that you saw in South Australia. Let's see you guys think for yourselves over there, or join the uniparty down the end there—the new folks who've made their appearance today—asking those sorts of questions.

But we, our government, are looking at the very, very practical measures that are required for our nation to be shielded from some of the issues. Our household budgets are being affected because of some of the worst global uncertainty that we've seen in some time. We are working to ensure that our farmers and our regional communities and services—and all Australians—can rely on these services to access the fuel that they need. That is the work of the government, and it is the work that we are continuing to do. So, across the board, we have been working through, and planning for, the impacts of what we see in this crisis, and protecting Australians from some of the worst of these global challenges. We have empowered the ACCC to protect motorists from unfair price rises and price-gouging. That is the reality of the work that we are doing. We have boosted fuel supply by releasing 20 per cent of the baseline minimum stockholding obligation for both petrol and diesel.

So do not listen to those opposite. And Senator Cadell coming in here and saying, 'That's not the thing—it's just petrol,' is misleading. It's misleading to the Australian public, because we have released that 20 per cent. That is the stuff that, when Mr Taylor, from the other place, was in charge of their energy security portfolio, had been held up in Texas, or somewhere else, overseas—no-one knows.

We are acting to get more fuels into the Australian market by temporarily amending those fuel standards. We are doing the work. We are working closely with industry, and our state and territory partners, to ensure that fuel gets to where it needs to—particularly in our regional communities. But, as to that supply chain, it takes time to do that. And we know that. We know that there is more to do, and our government will look at every practical option to shield Australian households and businesses, as I said, from the worst global uncertainty that we've seen.

Now, following the meeting of the National Cabinet, the Commonwealth has already appointed Anthea Harris as the Fuel Supply Taskforce Coordinator, to support some of that coordination that's already happening across governments and sectors. This is a new role. The Fuel Supply Taskforce Coordinator will be responsible for leading the new Fuel Supply Taskforce that will be established in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, driving coordination between the Commonwealth and the states and territories on fuel security and that supply-chain resilience. And 'resilience' is the operative word. It was a word that was mentioned many, many times today around practical options to ensure that everyone's responsibility is about the energy security in this nation. We take that approach, and we will continue to pull on the levers that we need to.