Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In rising to take note of answers given in question time today, I can't say I'm surprised that Senator Cash, shamelessly, is using an international crisis as an opportunity to stoke fear and an opportunity for political gain. We heard it here in this place during question time, but we also saw it over the weekend in her media sprint across all the major networks. Once again, in times of international crisis, Senator Cash is looking for a press grab instead of looking for solutions.

But our government will not be lectured by Senator Cash and by the Liberal Party on fuel. Senator Cash was a member of a Liberal-National cabinet who oversaw the closure of four out of six of our oil refineries while they were in government. Senator Cash is playing hyperpartisan politics, running Facebook ads that are stoking fear and division about fuel supply, instead of getting behind our plan to secure supply for Australians. Daily outrage is not a plan, Senator Cash. The Liberal Party should not continue to escalate panic under the guise of representing the real concerns of ordinary Australians. Senator Cash and the Liberal Party are confusing amplifying panic with showing real leadership. They are blaming everyone else while offering no real solution.

Our government knows that, in times of crisis, Australians are looking for calm and responsible leadership and real solutions, and that is what our government is doing. Where Senator Cash sees political benefit in raising the temperature and stoking fear, our government is committed to doing the hard work that Australians need. While Senator Cash was across the major networks over the weekend giving media interviews, the Prime Minister and our government were working hard to secure our supply chains, to make sure that ordinary Australians could get the fuel that they need. They were working on establishing a taskforce to get fuel into regional towns that are feeling it the most.

When the coalition were in government, Australia's emergency fuel supplies were not held in Geelong or Brisbane; they were in Texas—and, as Minister Ayres rightly pointed out in question time today, not Texas in Queensland but Texas in the USA. That is not how you secure fuel supply for ordinary Australians. When the now leader of the opposition, Angus Taylor, was the energy minister, they sent our fuel security to the other side of the world, and they call that a plan. Then they come in here and lecture us on fuel. They say those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Well, in this case, the Liberals didn't just build the glass house; they closed it, scrapped every Australian tanker and stored our reserves overseas. They can throw all the stones they like, but I think Australians can see through it. They want us to get on with the job.

Our government is investing $1.1 billion to build Australia's future fuel supply here at home, and this is work that began long before the crisis in the Middle East. We've been managing supply today and building the next generation of fuel production in Australia. Renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuels, e-fuels—this is what long-term security for fuel looks like, when a government is actually committed to doing the work that is needed, instead of using the opportunity for political grabs.

So what is the government doing? Well, we've heard it a number of times today, but I'm going to say it again: we are taking real action to help Australian families who are feeling it at the moment. We are making sure that fuel is moving where it is needed the most. We are working with state and territory governments on getting fuel particularly into regional towns. We know that supply remains broadly stable and shipments are continuing, and fearmongering by claiming otherwise is dangerous. But we are taking action to make sure Australians get the fuel that they need. We've released fuel from our reserve into the domestic market and adjusted fuel standards to increase supply, and we're working closely with industry to keep supply chains moving. So, while Senator Cash and the opposition are out for a media grab, we are out for making a real difference for Australians at the petrol bowser. (Time expired.)