David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One message coming through loud and clear from people here in Canberra that I represent, communities across the country and stakeholders representing them is that there's an expectation that our governments do far more in the face of the current crisis. Yes, a 26c per litre cut to the fuel excise makes a great headline, but are we actually going to see that flow through to people at the bowser? We've got politicians who get a car from the Commonwealth and get a fuel card telling people that, on Wednesday, they're going to see a reduction in fuel prices. That's not what the fuel retailers are saying. They're saying it will take quite a while for that to flow through. Is it a good headline? Yes, every cent counts, but I don't think this really cuts it in terms of our response.

People were expecting far more out of yesterday's National Cabinet. If we're going to spend $2.5 billion, surely it should be more targeted, and we need to be looking at all options. We need measures that are targeted to people who need it the most in our communities. Every time you talk about this thing, people talk about the cost. We could implement a 25 per cent tax on gas exports tomorrow, and start to bring in funds for things like immediate funding for food banks nationwide—they're asking for $5 million in surge funding—free public transport for pensioners and those on fixed incomes and discounted public transport, so we could actually save fuel where we can in the cities for regional areas. We could see immediate increases in the base rate of safety net payments and things like Commonwealth rent assistance. We could be doing more when it comes to price gouging. People know that simply doubling the fines on something that's very hard to get petrol stations on is just signalling. We can actually address the root cause of the challenges we're facing.

Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, 937 fuel stations is the number of fuel stations that have no fuel right now. That's 50 more than last week. Yet, what does the government keep telling us? 'There's not a problem. In fact, we have more fuel than we had before the crisis began.' Try telling that to farmers who can't get fuel or fertiliser to harvest or plant. Try telling that to small mining companies who can't operate their mine. Try telling that to local governments who don't have fuel to pick up rubbish. This is not a problem of supply. This is a problem of distribution, and we have been raising it for five weeks since this began. It seems unbelievable to me that the government continues to gaslight Australians, saying: 'There's no problem. It must be your problem. Maybe you bought too much fuel.' How ridiculous is that, when Australia's cost of living is already going through the roof thanks to out-of-control spending under this government. This only makes it worse, when farmers are talking about if it's worth harvesting their crop, much less sending it to the supermarkets.

This is a fuel crisis that the government is not managing. The fuel tsar, who also manages water—we all know that oil and water don't mix—tells us she'll have the report back in a month. It's cold comfort to most of us. The Prime Minister told the Australian people that he would turn up when things got tough. But now that things have got tough, the system has started to crack, and Labor is not showing up. They're choosing to gaslight the Australian people instead. The coalition believes in Australia. We will drill more, we will mine more, and we will have more domestic gas production.