Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026. Labor has forgotten Australians. We've heard some evidence today they might have just caught up with what's going on. Finally, the Prime Minister has responded to coalition pressure and, I understand, is moving to change the fuel excise. As I speak, I'm mindful of the fear, anger and frustration that are very real for Australians: anger because Australians are suffering through a fuel crisis that this Labor government firstly denied was real, calling those in the coalition who raised it 'right-wing extremists'; frustration because this government delayed responding, distracted by politics rather than the things that matter to people; and fear because this government is not focused on relief at the bowser—immediate, targeted relief that matters to those most affected.

On Friday, when I left this place, my diesel vehicle fill-up cost me $3 per litre. That's in the city. Today, in just two days, it is a new price of $3.25 a litre. A tank cost me $18 more 48 hours later, and there is not much from this government that tells me where this ends. It is real fear that this government has not understood. There's no plan, no urgency and no understanding, and this government has shown no leadership. That's why Australians are fearful. The coalition will not stop pushing until this Prime Minister acts with the urgency this national emergency demands. This bill Labor has come up with does not bring relief at the bowser or for the bills that need to be paid now. The bill itself didn't amend the fuel excise, and it does not alter the heavy user charge. It provides no immediate relief.

This is not a political attack; it is a statement of fact backed by the lived reality of millions of Australians who cannot find fuel, cannot afford fuel or are watching their businesses buckle under pressure because fuel prices and supply have spiralled out of control. And where is the energy minister while all this unfolds? This is the man who stood at podiums and told Australians, 'There is no problem,' while servo after servo ran dry. Over 870 petrol stations across this country are now reporting some form of fuel outage. This is a national emergency, and the minister is missing in action. This crisis has landed on top of Labor's inflation disaster. That already existed. The Treasurer himself has admitted that Treasury's estimate of five per cent inflation this year was actually conservative. Rising costs were an issue even before this conflict in the Middle East, and this has made it much worse.

Interest rates remain elevated, national debt is racing towards $1 trillion and South Australia carries the burden of record insolvencies—no thanks to the work of state and federal Labor governments. In rural South Australia, locals are watching fuel costs spiral to $3.50 per litre and nearing $4 in most remote parts. Trucking costs are up more than 33 per cent, leaving businesses at breaking point. Already, these costs are being passed on to consumers. Small businesses, cafes and restaurants, which are barely getting by already, are considering implementing a five per cent surcharge to offset their costs. How long before their customers stop coming through the door?

We've heard about the impact on volunteers providing and delivering food to people on aged-care packages. This is having an impact right across the country. Livestock SA, who are in direct contract with producers right across the state, is reporting delays, disruptions and, at times, no fuel at all. We just had rain recently. They have to get their seeds in at exactly the right time or else there's reduced production—or none at all. These delays are putting livestock, crops and livelihoods at risk—even food supply. One primary producer ordered 25,000 litres of fuel and received just 16,000 litres. That's not an inconvenience; for him, that's a crisis, and it's real.

Fuel theft is up. Drive-offs at fuel suppliers are up. I was sent photos on the weekend of fuel tanks broken into on cars parked on ordinary suburban streets. Again, this is real. The only people that don't seem to get it are those people opposite—the Labor Party. In the remote APY Lands, the situation is dire. Fuel costs are approaching $4 per litre for diesel and a single order requires four truckloads, at a cost of between $80,000 and $100,000—money that these community stores don't have, and neither do their customers. Most are on fixed incomes or government income support. They are already going hungry because they cannot drive to stores and, like others, are sacrificing food and other basic necessities.

Correspondence I received from a funeral service provider illustrates just how far the consequences of this crisis reach and how little this government has thought through who gets left behind when the fuel runs short. Funeral services rely on transport—in particular, diesel powered vehicles—to attend places of death, to transfer deceased people and to conduct services across multiple locations. In regional areas those distances are significant. There is no flexibility in the timeline, and families in grief can't be told to wait. Yet funeral service providers are not formally recognised as an essential service within emergency and fuel allocation frameworks. This means that, when fuel is scarce and allocations are made, funeral providers are among the most vulnerable. This is the real-world consequence of a part-time energy minister, asleep at the wheel, and a prime minister with no plan, no urgency and no leadership.

I go back to looking across this chamber at the number of ministers—those people who should be making the decisions and who should have been planning—crossing the chamber for 3½ hours on a single day, instead of being back at their offices and working out, 'How is this going to affect not just my portfolio but also the people in my electorate?' Instead they spent 3½ hours every day crossing the floor in here.

The Prime Minister needs to move fuel to the hundreds of service stations that have run dry. When there's a sign that says that there is no fuel and when you're told not to take so much, well, that's rationing. The coalition has been clear about the fuel excise. The Prime Minister has finally relented to that pressure, but he should have done so earlier. What he could also do is look at a reduction in the heavy vehicle road user charge. That would also provide immediate targeted relief to those who need it now. Addressing excise will ease the crushing pressure on the trucking industry and would send a signal to Australians that their government is actually on their side.

Instead, what has the Prime Minister offered? I couldn't believe it—the suggestion to buy an electric vehicle, just like that. I'm not making it up. In the middle of a national fuel crisis with people in the APY Lands going hungry and with truck drivers facing weekly fuel bills that have jumped by tens of thousands of dollars, the Prime Minister and his government's answer is, 'Well, if you had an electric vehicle, it wouldn't be so tough.' It would be laughable if it wasn't so insensitive and offensive. Every Australian should be angry, because that's not leadership.

Now, going to the legislation before us, the coalition will seek amendments. The amendments seek for this bill to be sent to a committee to inquire into it further, but it will be a retrospective inquiry. The coalition's amendments also seek an independent review as to the effectiveness of the amendments and for that review to be tabled in this parliament. Australians deserve to know that what Labor proposed is actually working. The coalition's amendments are aligned with a request from industry and are in the interests of commercial, competitive and well-functioning transport industries. We ask why this measure is not temporary. We ask why there is no sunset clause. We ask why there is no automatic review provision.

It was the coalition that called on the government to convene National Cabinet to direct fuel supply to where it is in short supply and to accelerate new powers to the ACCC. At every turn, this government has not taken this crisis seriously, but the coalition will. This crisis is now five weeks old. Labor spent the first week denying that the risk existed. Remember when we were told there was plenty of fuel? The second week was spent blaming consumers. In week 3, it was the states and territories that needed to play a greater role and, again, it was consumers who were responsible. It has been more than a week of catching up, outsourcing responsibility to a national fuel coordinator rather than every single minister working out how their portfolios, and the states and territories, should be protected from this.

Australia is at the end of a supply chain—and it's pretty obvious; we're pretty close to the South Pole. It was Labor that did not plan for this supply shock or to protect Australian consumers with all the intelligence available to it, with all the levers at its disposal and with all the members of parliament it has in ministerial positions. It was like a shock to this Labor government. The government did none of the things that were necessary in a timely or responsible manner, and it is Australians who are paying the price. We need the government to move fuel to the servos. It's a move that matters now to every single Australian. We need an end to the excuses and we need the Prime Minister to start listening and to start leading. I commend the coalition's amendments to the Senate.