MATTERS OF URGENCY
Senator SCARR (Queensland) (16:20): I move: That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency: The need for the Albanese Labor Government to stop blaming others and take responsibility for fuel supply disruptions and rising prices by explaining how fuel will be delivered to Australians despite Minister Clare O'Neil's claim that there is more fuel circulating in Australia than before the conflict in Iran began, and whether it will rule out fuel rationing or other restrictions.
It is extraordinary that, in the midst of this fuel supply crisis, Minister Clare O'Neil has come out with the stunning claim that there is more fuel circulating in Australia after the crisis in Iran than there was before. It's absolutely extraordinary! What planet is Minister O'Neil living on?
She is in a parallel universe. The proprietors of Grantham Fuels in my home state of Queensland, who run an independent fuel station, responded, with the greatest amount of clarity, to Minister O'Neil's claim. On Monday, they said: It makes us laugh that we keep hearing reports that there are no restrictions on Distribution and that there is ample fuel … available in the wholesale fuel world—whoever is advising that needs a bit of a reality check … That's from a fuel station operating in my home state of Queensland.
As at Monday—I'm not sure what the position is today; I hope it's alleviated—they had run out of unleaded 91, they had run out of premium 95, and they had run out of premium 98. In that context, the minister has the gall to come out and say there's more fuel circulating in the Australian market today than there was before the crisis—absolutely extraordinary. She's living in a parallel universe.
We've seen this consistently after the outbreak of hostilities in Iran and in gulf. Queensland now has 55 petrol stations out of diesel and 35 with no regular unleaded fuel supply. We're in a situation where the Albanese Labor government is blaming everyone except themselves.
They've blamed Australians for going out and purchasing fuel after watching their TVs, seeing what is happening in the gulf and then trying to protect their own position and that of their families. Then they blamed the opposition for coming into this place and asking questions and making points about the impact of this fuel supply crisis upon our constituents.
I've done that in this place. I spoke about the trawler fleet in Mooloolaba that didn't have the diesel supply, so the five or six trawlers with 50 or 60 crew were unable to leave port and actually go out and harvest wild tuna. All those opposite do is blame the messenger, shoot the messenger, instead of taking responsibility and actually providing leadership.
The Australian people are not interested in the Labor government seeking to deflect, seeking to shift blame, seeking to come out with embarrassing—it truly is embarrassing—statements like what Minister O'Neil said. More fuel circulating in the Australian system than there was before the outbreak of the conflict—for goodness's sake! That is so far removed from the reality of all Australians, it is just laughable.
It would be laughable, except Australians are living through a crisis. The Labor government has been caught sleeping at the wheel, and it needs to wake up and stop blaming Australians for this fuel supply crisis. It needs to wake up and stop blaming the opposition for raising the legitimate questions or concerns our constituents are raising with us.
It's our job to raise those concerns in this place. It needs to wake up and actually provide some leadership and communication to the Australian people. The mixed messaging we've received over the last three weeks is just extraordinary, and it's culminated in this absurd statement from Minister O'Neil, which claims that there is more fuel circulating in the Australian market today than there was before conflict broke out in Iran and the gulf.