Corinne Mulholland (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It feels like it's become a full-time job for the government to come into this place and correct the scaremongering of those opposite. They're not happy unless they're scaring little old ladies, worrying them about fuel, scaring them about fertiliser. Next, they'll be whipping them back up again about toilet paper. But facts matter right now, and they matter to the Australian people. Those opposite have never let the facts get in the way of a good bit of social media clickbait. In the era of increasing misinformation and disinformation, we cannot sit back and let this opposition put their political games ahead of the interests of the Australian people.

Let us turn to the fertiliser supply in this nation. It is vital that, like any critical supply measure, we discuss it calmly, based on facts, not on fearmongering. Since the escalation of the Iran conflict, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, has been upfront about this difficult situation facing our nation. He has not denied the pressure that global supply chains are under. He has not sugar-coated the challenge. In fact, Minister Bowen has explicitly acknowledged that fertiliser sits at the acute end of the supply chain challenges being felt globally right now. In my home state of Queensland, where we have Australia's only producer of ammonium and phosphate fertiliser onshore, operating at Phosphate Hill in the north-west of the state, this is more important than ever before. We know that Australia sits in a very precarious situation because we are still reliant on imports of around 65 per cent of urea based fertiliser from the Middle East. That's how the Iranian conflict underscores why Australia can't rely purely on imports. It's part of our future made in Australia. That is why this government is charting our future made in Australia. We need to support the development of our sovereign capability. We know Australia's domestic urea production won't restart in Western Australia—in Senator O'Sullivan's own state—until 2027. We know there is more work that needs to be done to continue to build our sovereign capability, not just shutting refinery after refinery, like we saw under those opposite when they were last in power.

Turning back to fertiliser supply, fortunately there are supplies already in this country that are covering early-season demand. However, as the planting season continues, in mid-April, the government will continue to monitor the supply closely, which is why Ministers Bowen, Ayres and Collins met with the National Farmers' Federation and the fertiliser industry representatives, just last week, to coordinate our national response. Minister Collins, in partnership with the industry and the ACCC, is working on allowing sector coordination to make sure that fertiliser gets to where it needs to. This increased level of coordination and active monitoring is about greater transparency. Transparency is critical in times of crisis. It would be beneficial, in the difficult weeks to come, if those opposite could try to show a similar level of leadership, because the coalition knows perfectly well it is impossible for Australia to somehow insulate itself from the global fertiliser markets overnight.

Senator O'Sullivan knows that fertiliser production is intrinsically tied to global energy markets, particularly gas. It's traded internationally and, when global supply chains are disrupted at scale, every country feels it. The question is not whether Australia can avoid global shocks entirely; the question is: how does a responsible government plan for and respond to those shocks when they occur? We know that those opposite did not have any real energy plan when they were last in government. Just the mere sight of a solar panel sends a shiver up their spine, and the mention of climate change sends their party room into a nuclear meltdown. Your new leader of the opposition was the worst energy minister in Australian history, overseeing the shutdown of six out of this country's eight oil refineries and wanting to stockpile our fuel in the United States of America. You never had a real plan, because you never did any real work in this space. You just crossed your fingers and hoped things would get better. Hope is not a plan; action is. In the Albanese government, Australians have a leadership team that has been talking action in a calm, considered and deliberate way as our country faces one of the most significant global energy and supply disruptions in our history.