QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS

Senator DEAN SMITH (Western Australia) (15:10): What do Australians want? They want reliable, regular and credible information on fuel matters during this Middle East crisis. When do they want it?

They want it now. The question is: why is the Labor government denying Australian consumers access to reliable, credible and regular information about this fuel crisis. Diesel underpins everything in regional Western Australia, from the Kimberley to the Pilbara to the Mid West, from mining to pastoral operations and to tourism.

But rising prices, constrained deliveries and global instability have combined to reveal how fragile that supply has become. Diesel prices are pushing $3 a litre in some Western Australian towns, well above city prices, despite fuel being purchased at much lower global rates. One operator has put it to me: Fuel arrived into Port Hedland and yet we pay some of the highest prices in the State … Businesses are paying more but receiving less.

Mining operations, which consume close to 10 billion litres a year, are already scaling back, with reports of workers stood down due to fuel shortages. Tourism is also being hit. In Exmouth's whale shark season, operators warn diesel is no longer guaranteed, with overseas tourists now cancelling over fears of being stranded.

This time, unlike during COVID, there is no flurry of domestic tourists. Just last night, we were met with news that the iconic Karijini Experience has been cancelled. The announcement said the Karijini Experience 2026 is cancelled 'as a result of the ongoing uncertainty and risk of insufficient fuel supply across regional Western Australia'.

The announcement went on to say: The increasing pressure on supply and transport networks has created significant logistical and operational risks … Of course, the tourism experience is now being matched by the pastoralist experience. Pastoralists are also under strain, hauling, as they do, water and feed across vast distances. They are rationing fuel and report receiving barely half of what they need.

Growers are cutting their programs by up to 40 per cent due to increases in production costs. Confidence is collapsing, generating panic buying, which is driving up demand. One industry voice observed to me: It is rational human behaviour to obtain supplies while they last.

It is dictating whether trucks move, generators run and water flows. How can it be that fuel security in this critical part of Western Australia has been treated as a secondary consideration by this federal Labor government? Fuel security in WA's north and mid-west is economic security and national security, and both are being put at risk under this Albanese Labor government.

The demands of Australian fuel consumers are simple. They are looking for regular, reliable and credible information about access to fuel during this Middle East crisis. Why is it that the government continues to deny Australian consumers, whether they are in our cities or our regions, access to reliable, credible information that they can use to make informed decisions about how to protect themselves, how to protect their families and how to protect their businesses during this fuel security crisis?