Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to Senator Stewart. The longer this war goes, the worse the impacts will be. Iran's weaponisation of the strait is causing unprecedented energy supply shocks, impacting oil and fuel prices worldwide. Australians know this is pushing fuel prices up for consumers and businesses.

It is why we are acting now to prepare and shield Australians from the worst of it. On Monday, the Prime Minister announced the National Fuel Security Plan, outlining all Australian jurisdictions' collective response to fuel security, including immediate actions already taken and longer term measures to strengthen our economic resilience.

We are empowering Export Finance Australia to step in to support businesses purchasing critical supplies in the national interest so we can secure additional fuel and other strategic materials, including fertiliser. We've appointed a national fuel supply taskforce coordinator and released 20 per cent of Australia's petrol and diesel fuel reserves, targeted at regional areas. We've changed fuel standards to get more fuel flowing and changed diesel standards so Australia's refineries can supply more diesel.

We've tasked the ACCC to ramp up fuel-price monitoring and passed new laws to double penalties for petrol companies. Our decision to halve the fuel excise on petrol and diesel for three months will begin to flow through to users this week, and we have engaged with international partners to keep supply flowing, including agreeing a joint statement with Singapore to strengthen energy supply resilience and to help ensure the continued flow of essential fuels. I acknowledge Minister Tan See Leng, who I was pleased to meet with today, and we welcome him to the chamber. Many of Singapore's refineries that provide Australia's petrol and diesel are powered by Australian gas. Nothing better demonstrates our partnership, how much we rely upon each other and why we are committed to being reliable partners.