Portfolio — 1 April 2026

The Assistant Minister for Immigration and Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Matt Thistlethwaite, made two substantive contributions to the House on 1 April 2026 laying out the government's response to the Middle East oil crisis — a package that spans immediate consumer relief, enforcement action, reserve deployment, and multilateral diplomacy.

The centrepiece fiscal measure is an immediate halving of the fuel excise to 26.5 cents per litre for three months, cutting pump prices by 26.3 cents per litre for petrol and diesel [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s075]. Alongside this, the heavy vehicle road user charge has been reduced to zero for the same period, directly targeting trucking operations and the supply chains that underpin regional and agricultural communities [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s075].

The government has also released 20 per cent of Australia's national strategic fuel reserves — approximately 760 million litres, predominantly diesel — with distribution targeted at regional areas [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s075].

On enforcement, the Treasurer directed the ACCC to monitor fuel suppliers, issue on-the-spot fines, and open enforcement investigations to ensure excise savings flow to consumers rather than being absorbed by suppliers [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s114]. Price-gouging penalties have been doubled to $100 million, and ACCC enforcement investigations into anticompetitive behaviour by fuel suppliers are under way [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s075].

The government is also legislating new fuel security processes and powers to allow governments to underwrite fuel purchases on international markets — a structural instrument that goes beyond the immediate crisis measures.

At the operational level, Anthea Harris has been appointed Fuel Supply Taskforce Coordinator, and National Cabinet has activated a National Fuel Security Plan at level 2 — designated 'Keeping Australia moving' — coordinating response across the Commonwealth, states and territories [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s114]. Temporary changes to petrol and diesel fuel standards have been implemented to increase fuel flow.

The government is engaging international partners — Singapore, Korea, Malaysia and Japan — to keep supply lines open [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s114].

The Assistant Minister framed the government's response as broadly supported across business and agriculture, citing the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the National Farmers' Federation [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s075]. He also cited crossbench support from within the Opposition's own ranks — Senator Jane Hume as deputy leader of the Liberal Party, and Mr Darren Chester as the Nationals leader in the House — to reinforce the government's position that its package commands wide acceptance [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s075].

The government drew a direct contrast with the Opposition Leader's previous policy of storing fuel reserves offshore in the United States, framing Australia's onshore reserve as the more resilient approach given current global disruption.

Across both contributions, the Assistant Minister's messaging converged on a single organising argument: the fuel crisis requires coordinated action across all levels of government, the supply chain, and international partners, and the government has acted on each of those fronts simultaneously [TA-260401-house-6ae0f5f9fd41:s114]. The Opposition was characterised as having offered no alternative plan.

The cross-portfolio reach of the package is notable — touching the Treasurer's direction of the ACCC, National Cabinet processes, infrastructure and transport charges, trade and diplomatic engagement, and new legislative powers — though the Assistant Minister spoke to the package as a unified government response rather than disaggregating it by portfolio.