QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS
Senator GHOSH (Western Australia) (15:14): Once again this week the coalition have come in and decided to be part of the problem, not part of the solution. Before I get to the details of that, I want to talk about the nature and significance of the shock we are in the middle of at the moment. We have a conflict in the Middle East that has led to a fuel supply shock and increased prices in the Australian market.
That's as a result of 40 energy assets being damaged or destroyed in the region and reducing global supply. We had Dr Fatih Birol of the International Energy Agency in Canberra this week, talking at the Minerals Council dinner and at the National Press Club, and he highlighted the significance of this issue and the magnitude of the problem globally. We're now losing 11 million barrels of oil per day.
To put that number in context, in the crises of 1973 and 1979 around five million barrels per day were taken out of the market. So this is a significant global supply shock. We also have a gas supply issue caused by this crisis.
When the Russians invaded Ukraine, some 75 billion cubic metres of gas were taken out of global markets. This crisis has resulted in about 140 billion cubic metres of gas coming out of global markets. So we have a disruption in supply and we have increasing prices.
We, the government, are pulling the levers we can, to try to manage this. We're trying to coordinate supply, to get it to where it's needed around the country. How have we done that?
We've boosted fuel supply by releasing 20 per cent of the baseline minimum stockholding obligation for petrol and diesel. That's the minimum stockholding obligation that we implemented; Minister Bowen signed the instrument that brought it into force. That's the minimum stockholding obligation that, for 10 years of coalition government, was just left—wasn't touched.
And they decided not to store fuel here, but to store it in Texas. We're also allowing Australian refineries to have more flexibility in making diesel, and more markets from which they can source their diesel: the United States, Canada and Europe. In terms of coordination and logistics—key elements in ensuring that fuel gets to where it needs to in this crisis—we are standing up the Fuel Supply Taskforce.
We've appointed a coordinator to that. And we are coordinating with the states and territories. Senator Smith talks about reliable information and getting that information out in time.
He must have blushed inside when he said that, because the stuff they've been running in this chamber this week has been outrageous. The way in which they have attempted to drive up concern about these issues in our society, in order to score political points, rather than assist with helping Australians get accurate and reliable information, reflects where those on the other side of the House are.
They are philosophically and temperamentally incapable of being a party of government, and that's why voters in this country are deserting them in droves. They have exacerbated concerns and contributed to panic-buying in this country with what they said last week and this week. And there's always a rush to find political attacks against the government, rather than to actually look at where we get to.
In terms of reliable information for Australians, we know that people need to know what's going on and what their options are in terms of accessing fuel. That's why a key part of the role of the Fuel Supply Taskforce and standing up the infrastructure between the Commonwealth and the states is providing information updates and communications to the Australian people.
That's very important to where we get to next. But it would be nice if, just once—and I've been in this place for two years—when there was a serious problem that faced this country that we needed to find a solution to, we had some cooperation, rather than the rank political opportunism from those opposite. It is shameless.
And they deserve the political consequences of it.