Portfolio — 23 March 2026

The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Dr Daniel Mulino, used a Question Time appearance on 23 March to frame the government's economic management around two pillars: macro resilience in the face of global volatility, and targeted cost-of-living relief delivered through tax cuts, cheaper medicines, child care, minimum wage increases, energy bill support, free TAFE and expanded paid parental leave [TA-260323-house-068fade26cde:s230].

The more operationally specific thread of his contribution concerned competition and fuel markets. Dr Mulino pointed to the 11 March joint announcement — made with the Treasurer, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy and the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury — of a consumer protection package that doubles maximum penalties for false or misleading conduct and cartel behaviour to $100 million per offence, described as a tenfold increase since the government took office.

The fuel-supply dimension then escalated rapidly: the government directed the ACCC to conduct weekly price monitoring, hold emergency meetings with fuel companies and actively scrutinise supply-chain information for signs of collusive or anti-competitive conduct [TA-260323-house-068fade26cde:s230].

The most concrete enforcement development Dr Mulino cited was the ACCC's 19 March launch of an investigation into alleged anti-competitive conduct by Ampol, BP, Mobil and Viva Energy over diesel availability for independent wholesalers in regional and rural areas. In parallel, the ACCC authorised fuel suppliers to coordinate supply under conditions that expressly prioritise independent distributors, a structural response designed to protect fuel access in regional communities while the investigation proceeds.

Taken together, the parliamentary record shows Dr Mulino presenting a portfolio posture in which macro-economic confidence and sharply targeted regulatory intervention are advanced as complementary. The repeated reference to regional communities as beneficiaries of the fuel-supply action suggests this strand of competition enforcement is being pitched as a cost-of-living measure, not a purely technical regulatory one.

Only one source record underpins this segment; the parliamentary record is limited to this single exchange and no cross-bench or opposition positions on these specific instruments are captured in the available material.