Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Choice in Childcare and Early Learning) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026. I always listen carefully to Senator Roberts. I think he makes often great contributions on debates. Whether I agree with them or not, they're always well thought and considered. One thing I'll point out though, with their vote on the appropriations bill last week—it was actually quite reckless to do, to come into this place and vote against a supply bill, a bill that enables the government to fund essential services: defence, health, education. That's what One Nation voted against last week. They tried to move a pious amendment in relation to net zero, the spirit of which I support. I'm dead against this government's net zero plans and policies and the reckless way that they're affecting our economy, but to move a stunt amendment to a supply bill was a reckless thing for One Nation to do. I wish they were a little more focused on sensible measures to address the issues that Australians are facing, rather than coming in here with those sorts of stunts.

Anyway, I come back to the issue at hand here. This bill gives the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations the power to declare certain applications for road transport contractual chain orders as emergency applications and enable faster regulatory responses when the road transport industry faces sudden, nationally significant disruptions such as sharp fuel price increases. The coalition fully supports the trucking industry. We intend to propose a few amendments to this bill to reflect the industry feedback and aim to support a commercially viable, competitive and effective transport sector. Before I continue with my speech, I want to correct something that Senator Sheldon said in his contribution.

We support the passage of this bill today. We understand what we're dealing with in this country right now. We understand the emergency and the crisis, and that's why we'll be supporting it. We do want to see a retrospective inquiry into the bill, though. That will not in any way stand in the way of this bill having effect as soon as it's given royal assent. Senator Sheldon said that we are proposing to delay the implementation of the bill until 29 May. That is incorrect. What we're calling for enables the bill to pass but requires a retrospective inquiry. We are rushing this bill through. It was only just introduced into the parliament, and we're rushing it through. Given the circumstances, that is appropriate, but we think that it should be examined. This is the house of review, by the way. The government has a tendency to just rush stuff through, and it's inappropriate. There are times when it's appropriate, and, as I said, dealing with this matter right now might be one of those times. But, when you take measures to rush stuff through, you need to open yourself up to transparency and scrutiny and allow the bill to be properly examined by way of an inquiry. That way, when we come back in May or June—whenever we're back here—if there are some unintended consequences from this bill passing without proper scrutiny, we will be able to make the necessary amendments to ensure that it achieves its intended objectives. Senator Sheldon is a good friend of mine, and I don't like criticising friends, but faithful are the wounds of a friend; they're better than the kiss of an enemy. So I will say, Senator Sheldon: you are wrong in this instance. We don't want to stand in the way of the passage of this bill.

The coalition has called for lots of things in relation to dealing with this fuel crisis. The government is not fully responding to the fuel impacts affecting the transport sector. That's why the coalition has called for a temporary reduction in the petrol and diesel excise, along with a corresponding adjustment to the heavy vehicle road user charge. A reduction in the fuel excise would lower the tax on petrol and other liquid fuels, from 52.5c to 26.3c per litre. The coalition has indicated it would work with the government to identify appropriate budget offsets to support long-term fiscal outcomes and manage inflation without introducing new taxes. We could go after the crazy EV subsidy, for example, which is enabling wealthy people, essentially, to get a tax deduction for purchasing an EV, while the people that can't afford to get an EV are paying at the bowser every day. It's $3.20-odd a litre for diesel at the moment. We could go after things like that to make the savings that are necessary.

Now, such a reduction would provide relief to small business and to tradespeople and essential workers who rely on driving as part of their daily work. Halving the petrol tax would result in a saving of 26.3 cents per litre at the pump, which represents half of the fuel excise and more than 10 per cent of the average price of, for example, unleaded 91 in New South Wales as of 25 March 2026. The proposal is a temporary and targeted measure with the stated aim of easing cost-of-living pressures for Australians affected by higher fuel prices.

This bill also gives us the opportunity in this debate to shine some light on the government's general mishandling of the fuel crisis, particularly by the Prime Minister and the hapless Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Mr Bowen. A headline in the West Australian said last Friday: 'Crisis? What crisis? Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen's panicked response to the energy shock.' Every community in Australia, metropolitan, regional and rural, has to deal with the shortcomings of this government's handling of the fuel crisis. Petrol prices have soared more than 30 per cent in four weeks. Farmers and others in agricultural and mining industries in my state of Western Australia, who rely heavily on diesel and fertiliser to go about their jobs, now have to reduce output and prioritise what is feasible with the existing fuel capacity they have. It's as if the government did not even consider what would ultimately occur after the gulf situation happened.

Back in 2020, the then opposition, now government, liked to tell the former Morrison government at frequent intervals what it had done wrong with the preparations related to the pandemic. Remember that? Remember the COVID pandemic? Well, increasingly, we are seeing that rhetoric come back to bite this government. Senator Ayres said in this place, sitting somewhere around here when he was in opposition back in June 2021:

The government has been warned for years that fuel security is a matter of national importance. The question is: why did it take them so long to act?

He also said:

Australia will still be noncompliant with its International Energy Agency obligation to hold 90 days of reserves. Australia will still disproportionately depend on imported fuel from vulnerable supply chains, still leaving us vulnerable to geopolitical tensions.

Indeed, we could ask the same thing of the minister here today. Well, we have been.

Reviewing the actions of the current minister for energy over the past two weeks is like watching that old episode of Fawlty Towersthe one in which the hapless Manuel starts a fire in the kitchen, which then results in setting off the building's fire alarms. Each time Manuel frantically runs in to tell Basil Fawlty, the hotel proprietor, about the fire, Fawlty sends Manuel back into the kitchen, into harm's way. At first, Fawlty's reaction ranges from indifference to ignorance. When he realises that there is, indeed, a fire, he causes more confusion and panic than Manuel ever did when he tried to warn him in the first place. Well, the minister for energy is a bit like Basil Fawlty: 'Fire? What fire? Nothing to see here. What problem? No problem. What crisis? No crisis.'

And then let's unpack the form of the minister for energy over the past couple of weeks. First, he said the country had plenty of fuel supplies and told the reporters in Brisbane that fuel rationing was not even being contemplated. Then, last Monday, he told the House of Representatives that his own department—the one he is responsible for—was undertaking analysis for fuel rationing. He's told commuters that it was un-Australian to panic-buy fuel and stock up on surplus supplies, yet, in the Perth suburb of Nollamara, one motorist who'd already waited for 40 minutes for fuel and anticipated another 30-minute wait put it plainly. They said, 'I have to because I'm working every day, so I need fuel, and what's going on at the moment with the oil—it could get worse.'

Minister, Australians are not mugs. They know what fuel reserves this country has, and certainly, with the minister behaving like Basil Fawlty, he's not giving them any assurances or even comfort. People are not acting out of hysteria; they are responding to uncertainty and the lack of leadership.

I want to deal very quickly with this idea that it's people who are going to Bunnings and buying a jerry can and putting it in their boot or on their ute and filling it up—that 20 litres of extra fuel that they've bought—that is bringing down the distribution system. I mean, it's ridiculous. It's not the 20 litres or 40 litres. Commuters can hoard only so much fuel. Your fuel tank has a certain capacity, and then you might be able to get a couple of extra jerry cans. That's not what is pulling down the system. Yet the way the government has carried on in the past couple of weeks—blaming commuters, blaming consumers, motorists, for having a bit of extra demand—is ridiculous. I mean, come on. It's people who are maybe buying tens of thousands of litres of extra fuel. It's not the average commuter who's bought a jerry can from Bunnings. Australians are not mugs.

This is not an isolated incident. This is happening every day in every part of this country. Working Australians are queuing for fuel, budgeting their time and income, and worrying about how much worse things are going to get. We know that many Australians are cancelling their Easter holiday plans. They can't do the big commute. They can't do the big drive. They can't hook up their caravan and go far away, because of the cost and the worry about whether they'll get there and not be able to refuel to come home. This is not another episode of Fawlty Towers. This is a very serious real-life situation. Yet the minister is performing the role of an actor. What Australians see is confusion, mixed messages, and a government reacting instead of preparing, despite its warnings way back in 2021. This government needs to step up and take action.

I'll close by sharing the sentiments of many Western Australians, echoed by Derek Goforth, a father of three living and working in Geraldton, who wrote in the Geraldton Guardian on 27 March, just last week:

West Australians are practical people—

I agree—

We understand that global markets play a role. We understand that not everything can be controlled locally. But we also expect honesty, clarity, and when things go wrong, action. At the moment, what many of us are hearing is one thing, while experiencing another.

I couldn't agree more with Derek up there in Geraldton.

Prime Minister, responsibility cannot be accepted in words alone. It must be demonstrated in action. Just saying that it's not your responsibility because it's the responsibility of the states is not okay; it's not acceptable. When we've got fuel shortages across the country—and we just had the most magnificent rains across the Wheatbelt over the weekend, beautiful—those farmers, for whom now is the time to go and sow their crops, to fertilise their fields, are not sure they're going to do it, because they don't know whether they'll have the supply of fuel and fertiliser over the next six to nine months while their crops grow.

So we've got to take action, and we're not seeing this prime minister step up and take the action that is needed. We need secure fuel supplies. We need secure fertiliser supplies. We've got to get fuel to where it's critically needed. Prime Minister, do your job. Just get the job done.