QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator WONG (South Australia—Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:36): I think I have outlined quite a number of times to the Senate, during question times since the conflict began, the nature of the conflict and the nature of the fuel crisis, which is a global shock to energy markets—the largest in history. I again remind Australians, and remind you, Senator, that it is true that the Strait of Hormuz supplies 20 per cent of the world's oil—that in itself is a very large amount—but it supplies the majority of the crude oil going to the refineries of Asia, and the refineries of Asia are where we get our liquid fuels from.

That is an explanation of how the knock-on effects in global markets are affecting us. We are very realistic about that. We are very sober about that, and we are taking responsible steps to do all we can to shield Australians from the worst of this uncertainty.