Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

This fuel crisis is a very loud wake-up call. Australia has been left at the mercy of global events. Our lack of influence on the world stage, our poor defence capabilities and our extreme dependence on global supply chains have been all exposed. Australia should never seek out wars, but we must always be prepared for them. It is now beyond any doubt that Australia wasn't prepared for the impact of the current conflict in the Middle East. This failure lies squarely at the feet of successive Labor and coalition governments. The warnings have been there for many years.

As much as the Greens and Labor demonise fossil fuels, Australia cannot function without them. Without petrol and diesel we cannot produce enough food, we cannot operate mines and we cannot get food from the regions to the cities. We can't get most goods or services we have taken for granted. If we don't have fuel, Australia literally stops. We literally begin to starve.

Any conflict involving Iran was inevitably going to threaten Australia's fuel supplies. Australian governments were told many times to increase our onshore reserves of fuel. They didn't. Our farmers, our miners, our truckies and every household or business which uses fuel are the victims of this neglect. Diesel prices have soared past $3 per litre. This adds to the cost of everything that moves on a truck. It adds to the cost of producing food and the cost of extracting our mineral and energy wealth. It's adding more to every household budget.

It didn't have to be this way. Increased onshore reserves of fuel would have given us some breathing room. They would have allowed us to cushion the impact of the war on fuel prices. Increased domestic production of oil would have further cushioned the impact. We have the resources, about 17 billion barrels worth around $1.7 trillion, which could be easily developed. We could make diesel out of coal or gas. Many other countries do this. But we've had no political leadership or will to make these resources work in the national interest.

We've had no long-term vision from the so-called major parties. One Nation has always put forward a vision for a self-sufficient Australia: a country which produces everything it needs right here in Australia, a country which gets a fair dinkum return for the exploitation of our mineral and energy wealth, a country which invests this return in nation-building infrastructure in Australian communities, a country which makes its own way and its own decisions. This fuel crisis is the wake-up call for a good old-fashioned streak of Australian nationalism. It's time to put Australians first.

One Nation calls on the government to cut the fuel excise by 100 per cent for three months or remove the GST on fuel. We call for the declaration of a national liquid fuel emergency to stop more price gouging and force fuels to regional and rural areas. We call for the development of plans to ration fuel in order to prioritise essential sectors like emergency services, food production, hospitals and defence.

These measures will help address the current crisis, but we need to go much further to make sure we're ready for the next crisis, because if you think this current crisis is bad then just wait and see what will happen to Australia's economy and trade if communist China makes good on its threat to attack Taiwan. We can fix this vulnerability, but we must act quickly. We must scrap net zero. Not only does it cost us trillions of dollars and cripple our economy, with no impact on global emissions increases; it prevents us from investing in development of our own sovereign fuel industry and creating the energy independence needed to keep Australians moving.

It was brought to my attention that, when the fuel excise is 52.6 cents per litre, the farmer pays that at the bowser and claims it back at BAS time, because it should never have been charged. When the excise is halved to 26.3 cents, the bowser price drops to 26.3 cents, but the amount the farmer can claim back also drops by exactly 26.3 cents automatically. The net result for a farmer is zero. The price paid for diesel to grow your food is exactly the same today as it was before today's announcement. But here is the part that makes it even worse: the farmer pays the full price, including the full excise component, the moment the diesel is delivered. That money leaves the farm account immediately. The correction only comes back when the quarterly BAS is lodged, meaning the government holds the farmer's money for up to three months before returning it. What we're doing is not looking after the farmers. They don't get the diesel rebate at all; that's only in the BAS statement. So our cost of farming is going to go up. The fuel excise is not a rebate to them because their tractors are not used on the roads. It's a shame. We don't get it right, do we?