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

Without trucks, Australia stops. Labor is acting now to ensure we can keep Australia moving. This bill, the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026, gives the Fair Work Commission the power to act quickly in those moments of crisis. At its core, this bill is about something very simple—fairness. It is about fairness for the men and women who keep this country moving, fairness for truck drivers hauling goods across thousands of kilometres, fairness for people who connect farmers with our food markets, fairness for people who keep our supermarket shelves stocked and fairness for small transport operators who are being squeezed out by global forces completely beyond their control.

This bill recognises a reality we cannot ignore: when conflict erupts in the Middle East, demand for fuel spikes here at home. When demand spikes, it is the driver, the subcontractor and the small operator at the bottom of the supply chain who wear the cost. This amendment bill removes the outdated, rigid six-month consultation requirement for contract chain orders during fuel price spikes, because in a crisis six months might as well be six years. This is about responsiveness, fairness and protecting livelihoods in real time.

Moments like this remind us why organisations like the Transport Workers Union are so vital. For decades the TWU has stood between vulnerable workers and powerful interests. It has fought for safe rates, ensuring truck drivers are paid properly so that truckies aren't forced to speed, skip breaks or drive exhausted just to make ends meet. Let's be clear: when drivers are paid fairly and safety is prioritised, lives are saved on our roads. The TWU has led the charge on gig economy reform, demanding that app based workers are treated with dignity and fairness and get workplace and injury protections. It's pushed for stronger safeguards in our transport, aviation and logistics industries for everyone using Aussie roads. The TWU's work has prevented fatal incidents, and it has made Australian roads safer for all of us.

We acknowledge people working around the clock right now. As demand peaks, so does demand on our retail workers and business owners. If you're stuck in a queue for fuel, spare a thought for the service station attendant. If there is anything missing from your normal supermarket shelf, think about the poor staff member who is trying their best to stock shelves with supplies as soon as they arrive on the back of a truck.

Speaking of roads, this moment represents a fork in the road for our nation. We have been here before. In 2019 Australia took a hard-right turn under Scott Morrison. With that came the member for Hume, Angus Taylor, Australia's worst energy minister. What followed was nothing short of a debacle, with 20 different energy policies—and they still can't stick to one. Under Angus Taylor's watch, six of our eight oil refineries closed, domestic fuel production capacity was hollowed out, Australia became dangerously dependent on global supply chains and our fuel reserves fell to alarming levels. So, in his own words, let me say: 'Fantastic. Well done. Great move, Angus.'

Once again, it falls to Labor to clean up a Liberal mess, and we do so working shoulder to shoulder with industry and working people—for example, Labor's Future Made in Australia policy, the biggest jobs investment of our generation. This is $22.7 billion with purpose for our nation's economic security, because if you don't make it you don't control it. So we are turning Australian industry from a ghost town under the Liberals into an economic powerhouse under Labor. We're backing Australian workers, Australian industry and Australian know-how, not just hoping that the market sorts it out. Keeping our smelters open at Mt Isa and at Boyne in Gladstone is saving thousands of jobs. This is how you future-proof a nation: build it; power and back it.

The funniest thing about our Future Made in Australia policy is that it is working so well that even those opposite can't resist in. Our Cheaper Home Batteries program is so popular in Queensland that the biggest uptake has been in Liberal electorates. Our electric car discounts are so practical that even National Party senators themselves are now saying they want to buy EVs. Just last week the new leader, Senator Canavan, said he had been wanting to buy a Tesla for years. And our solar rebates are so effective that they've achieved the impossible: bipartisan rooftop adoption by One Nation.

At the start of this month it was revealed that Senator Hanson had accessed Labor's rebate to install rooftop solar panels on her own home, despite publicly calling for an end to public subsidies for renewable energy projects. So Senator Hanson doesn't believe in net zero but she does believe in solar panels to get her own bills down to zero, although she doesn't believe that the average Aussie should be able to get access to the same rebates that she's already profiting from. You can't trust what One Nation says; you can only trust what they do.

Unlike those opposite, Labor walks the walk when it comes to meaningful nation-building reforms, which is what this bill does. It builds resilience into our economy, it strengthens our supply chains and it protects the people who keep Australia trucking.