Leah Blyth (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence Infrastructure) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

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

I think it's fair to say that there are a lot of Australians out there who are doing it tough. We heard from our leader Senator Cash today, asking questions on behalf of many of those families out there who were planning an Easter trip, an Australian tradition, and are worrying about whether they are going to have fuel for their road trips. I certainly count my family as one of those families as my three children, my husband and I consider what we're going to do over the Easter long weekend. Can we take out the caravan? Is there going to be fuel for us, for our holiday, or are we going to be stuck somewhere with no fuel?

It is very unfortunate that the Labor government haven't been able to provide any particular answers or any particular plan. All we keep being told by this government is that there is no issue with supply. When we look at quotes from them over the last few weeks, it has been said by various senior members of their cabinet that fuel supply is actually greater than it was before the conflict in the Middle East commenced. In fact, we've got some 800 petrol stations across the country that either don't have diesel or don't have petrol. What this government is telling us and what the reality is on the ground are two very, very different things. Families out there are the ones who are paying the price for that confusion and this government's inability to get the fuel. If the supply is stronger—and that's what they tell us—than it was before the conflict, then why is that fuel not at petrol stations? Why is that fuel not available for Australian people to fill up their cars or even to plan for an Easter long-weekend holiday? It does not make sense. Either there is an issue with supply and the government is not being honest with us or they're just completely incompetent and cannot get the supply where it needs to be. They're the only two explanations for that.

We've also seen today that the Prime Minister has announced a cut in the fuel excise for three months. They have adopted the coalition's call to cut the fuel excise for three months. It took them days to consider this. They came up with no solutions of their own—zero solutions. Instead, they've had plans of meetings for plans, and they've got a fuel tsar who's helping to coordinate the supply, and that's not working out well because, every day, there are more petrol stations with no fuel. So we are delighted to see that the government has followed what we asked them to do.

It is disappointing that they have come up with no plan of their own and, instead, seem to be following the advice of the opposition. We don't have the resources that the government does. But I will say that there seems to be no discussion about what will happen to the GST windfall that the states are getting from the increased fuel prices. Fuel prices are well into the high $2 range and even the $3 mark. That means that our states are going to get a significant GST windfall, and I wonder what this Labor government is going to do with its Labor mates in state governments to make sure that that money goes back into the pockets of hardworking Australians who are being squeezed right now.