Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the establishment of a select committee on the impact of the conflict in Iran as circulated.

Leave not granted.

Pursuant to contingent notice standing in my name, I move:

That so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent me from moving a motion to provide for the consideration of a matter, namely a motion to give precedence to a motion relating to the establishment of a select committee on the impact of the conflict in Iran.

I don't know how much more urgent it needs to get before this government understands that standing orders need to be suspended and we need to set up a select committee into the impact of their mismanagement, quite frankly, of what has happened since the war in Iran started.

If today's answers in question time don't tell Australians that this is desperately needed, I do not know what does. Because what did we have? In the first instance, you have the Prime Minister, on Monday, standing up and saying to the Australian people: 'Enjoy your Easter. Have a happy Easter break; do not cancel your holidays.' The next thing you know, the Prime Minister is today telling Australians, 'I'm going to stand up and provide a national address.' Guess what that's in relation to? 'We want you now to stop driving and save fuel.' Then, we have the Prime Minister saying: 'Drive. Keep driving. There's nothing to see here.' Then, you have the Minister for Climate Change and Energy himself saying, 'There's no issue with supply in Australia,' but the problem with that is almost 900 bowsers have now run dry across Australia.

Then, of course, we had the very confusing message today from one government minister, who stood up and basically told Australians he doesn't have confidence in the fuel supply, despite what the Prime Minister has said and despite what the energy minister has said because, 'They're actually thinking about bringing down less staff to Canberra in the budget,' and, more than that, 'We're actually thinking of catching a bus.' Catching a bus to Canberra, seriously? The number of mixed messages that this government has given to the Australian people in a time of crisis is appalling.

We are now almost five weeks into this crisis, and the government keeps telling Australians everything is okay. There's more fuel circulating in the economy now than there was before the crisis, and yet, sadly, every single day that this goes on, the Australian people wake up, and what do they see? They see more bowsers running dry across Australia. One of the things that this Senate committee needs to look at is what in God's name has gone wrong on the ground with this government. If there is more fuel in Australia today than there was before the crisis, then there is a distribution problem, and that distribution problem is the fault of the government. It's the fault of the Prime Minister and the energy minister.

The fact is that they cannot pick up the phone to the energy companies or the fuel companies and say to them, 'You need to get that tanker to that servo that has run dry.' It is actually as simple as that because they know that, at any given point in time in Australia, where that fuel is. Yet, sadly, we get mixed messages—drive, don't drive; happy Easter, not a happy Easter; no fuel in Australia, more than enough fuel in Australia. You would not know what is actually happening under this government. What I think is worse is the total contempt that they have for any form of scrutiny when it comes to answering questions that are asked of them. All the Australian people want during a time like this is transparency.

When you have got farmers saying, 'We are not going to be able to plant our crops, because we can't get diesel,' what that ultimately means is that it will impact fuel security. You have Meals on Wheels saying, 'We can't get to our people to feed them.' You've got the taxi industry saying: 'Our taxis for disabled people run on diesel. We can't get access to the diesel to pick up our clients.' You've got NDIS carers saying, 'We can't afford the fuel to put in our tanks to get to our clients.' You've got the waste management industry across Australia saying to the government, 'Do you know that, if we don't get access to diesel, within two days, there will be a catastrophic event in this country, particularly in relation to the aged-care industry and the healthcare industry?' Guess what happens if you don't pick up the rubbish? Disease spreads.

I don't know what else could possibly constitute urgency to suspend the standing orders so the Senate can properly debate and then vote on putting in place a select inquiry to monitor the government's response to this crisis—which quite frankly, to date, has been appalling. (Time expired)

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I look forward to further discussions on this over the break. I move:

That the question be put.

Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the question be put.

Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will now put the suspension motion. The question is that the suspension motion be agreed to.