Sean Bell (NSW, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians are watching the conflict escalate in the Middle East, and a terrifying truth is staring us in the face. The Albanese Labor government has left this country dangerously exposed on fuel security. When sea lanes like the Strait of Hormuz are threatened, Australia cannot pretend we are insulated. We are an island nation that runs on imported fuel, yet the Albanese Labor government has failed to build the reserves, refining strength and secure supply chains a serious government should have in place. We are told we have only weeks of diesel, and even that headline number can include fuel at sea on ships that can be diverted the moment global prices spike. If there is panic buying, if trucking companies scramble, if supply tightens then days may become weeks. Diesel is not a luxury. Hospitals rely on it when power fails. Our freight networks rely on it every hour of every day. Farmers, miners, manufacturers, tradies, regional communities rely on it to keep Australia moving. If diesel runs short, shelves empty, medicines are delayed, and rural and remote Australians are hit hardest and they are hit first.

Labor had time. They have had warnings over and over again. This issue has been raised in the past. They had the responsibility but they have dropped the ball and now Australians will pay the price, not just at the bowser but in higher bills, higher freight costs and a higher cost of living for every household and every small business. This is now an urgent matter of national security. Labor's inaction has consequences and Australians deserve better. Labor had the responsibility to be prepared for global conflict. They had been warned on fuel security countless times. They have failed to act.

One Nation is prepared to lead on this issue. Today Senator Hanson will be introducing a motion into this parliament to have an inquiry into resolving this urgently. We need to act and I hope the Senate supports her inquiry later today.

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We saw the Treasurer this morning indicate his concerns that the conflict in the Middle East could cut Australia's supplies of oil and fertiliser. But this begs the question about why the Treasurer and his government are imposing a carbon tax on the production of oil and fertilisers in this country. If the Labor Party were serious about securing our supplies of oil and fertiliser, they would remove the carbon tax—the so-called safeguard mechanism—from these essential suppliers of oil and fertiliser.

Right now we only have two fuel refineries left in the country, in Brisbane and Geelong, and both of those refineries are subject to Labor's carbon tax. Those refineries respectively emit around 600,000 and 800,000 tonnes a year in Brisbane and Geelong respectively. Because of Labor's carbon tax, they are required to reduce those emissions by roughly five per cent—4.9 per cent—each year, year on year, cumulatively. For this year, that means a reduction of 30,000 tonnes at the refinery in Brisbane and 44,000 tonnes at the refinery at Geelong. To do that, those facilities have to buy things called carbon credits to offset the emissions as required under Labor's carbon tax. Those cost around $35 a tonne, so the cost to the refineries in both Brisbane and Geelong is over a million dollars a year, and it gets a lot worse very quickly. Because it's a five per cent reduction every year, 10 per cent in the second year and 15 per cent in the third, by 2030 both of the refineries we have left will be up for a $10 million bill at those carbon prices per year—per year! If the government were serious about securing oil, securing our fuel security, they'd remove the carbon tax on the production of oil in Australia for Australians so Australians can keep moving.