Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The government really has had its pants pulled down in respect of the fuel situation that we currently see in this country. They've been completely dakked—not a nice picture to paint, I know, but that's exactly where this government is. They've shown no understanding of the complexity, the scale and the depth of this problem that we face in this national crisis. First, of course, they denied we have a problem. 'We've got plenty of fuel,' they told us all. They criticised us for raising the issue, and then they, of course, went on to blame the Australian people for buying the fuel.

Of course, given the complete lack of capacity this government has had to demonstrate to the Australian people that they should have confidence in their management of this issue. Australians did what you would expect they might do: they went out, and they bought fuel.

Then, of course, we had the emergency National Cabinet and the declaration of the crisis, but the government continues to demonstrate that they don't really understand the complexity of supply chains or the depth of this issue. Of course, now, we've had a second national crisis meeting of National Cabinet, and, of course, again, they're late to the game. They're late to the game with the reduction in the fuel excise and the removal of the road mover charge. It's welcome that they have done that, but where have they been? They're missing in action. Of course, their chickens are actually, genuinely coming home to roost when it comes to fuel security and the issue of fuels in this country. They have teamed up with the Greens time after time to oppose gas projects, oil projects and exploration for these important fuels in our country, and now Australians, unfortunately, are reaping the benefits of their unpreparedness.