Portfolio — 31 March 2026

Senator Gallagher's most consequential parliamentary work on 31 March was her detailed account in Question Time of the government's multi-instrument response to Middle East conflict-driven fuel market disruption — the clearest articulation yet of the policy architecture assembled since the crisis emerged. She outlined three coordinated pillars: supply-side intervention, demand-side relief, and whole-of-government coordination [TA-260331-senate-32a8f9c5c8fe:s188].

On the supply side, the government released 20 per cent of Australia's fuel reserves to regional markets and critical users, temporarily adjusted petrol and diesel standards, and established a Fuel Supply Taskforce. Export Finance Australia legislation before the Senate that day will empower the agency to underwrite private sector fuel purchases and source additional cargoes where commercial terms are cost prohibitive, specifically targeting regional and independent suppliers [TA-260331-senate-32a8f9c5c8fe:s190].

On demand relief, the government cut the fuel excise by half and reduced the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero for three months on 30 March, alongside legislation enabling rapid response to unforeseen supply challenges. On enforcement, the Treasurer tasked the ACCC with weekly fuel price monitoring focused on unusual spikes, and legislation passed the prior week doubled ACCC penalties for false and misleading conduct and cartel behaviour — the ACCC having previously secured a $16 million fine against Mobil [TA-260331-senate-32a8f9c5c8fe:s189].

National Cabinet has agreed to a four-stage National Fuel Security Plan currently at the 'keeping Australia moving' stage. The ACCC is investigating major fuel companies over market misconduct allegations.

The fuel security response shares a thread with Senator Gallagher's separate notification to the Senate that Australia has informed the United Nations Security Council of defensive actions it is taking under Article 51 of the UN Charter in collective self-defence of countries in the Middle East [TA-260331-senate-32a8f9c5c8fe:s003] — both streams reflecting the downstream domestic and international dimensions of the same regional conflict.

The procedural segment was the day's most document-intensive activity. Senator Gallagher tabled 12 government responses to committee reports spanning Indigenous affairs, treasury, corporate regulation, digital assets, taxation, food security, superannuation, tourism and environmental management [TA-260331-senate-32a8f9c5c8fe:s002]. The most substantive was the government's response to the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs inquiry into First Nations economic empowerment, which identifies First Nations businesses as contributing over $16 billion to Australia's economy and employing 116,000 people across 13,000 businesses.

Concrete commitments include $3.4 million over three years for a place-based business coaching and mentoring program for First Nations businesswomen through Indigenous Business Australia, tightened Indigenous Procurement Policy eligibility requiring 51 per cent or more First Nations ownership from 1 July 2026, and procurement targets rising from 3 per cent to 4 per cent by 2030.

Prescribed Body Corporate capacity funding reaches over $200 million in total Indigenous Advancement Strategy investment across successive commitments. The $70 million First Nations Clean Energy Strategy, released in December 2024, and a $3.6 million international fellowships program round out the economic empowerment package. A new First Nations Economic Partnership with the Coalition of Peaks and the First Nations Economic Empowerment Alliance will develop a First Nations Economic Framework to coordinate action across portfolios.

On online safety and extremism, the government committed to a nationally coordinated evaluation of countering violent extremism programs, a Youth Advisory Council for A Safer Australia, and research into violent extremism across social media and gaming platforms [TA-260331-senate-32a8f9c5c8fe:s002]. The government also committed to amending the Online Safety Act to introduce a statutory duty of care on digital platforms to prevent foreseeable harms including the proliferation of hate, and to updating the Privacy Act to protect children's data and restrict targeting of minors.

Senator Gallagher also tabled documents on algal blooms in South Australia in response to Senator Hanson-Young's 25 March order for the production of documents [TA-260331-senate-32a8f9c5c8fe:s001]. She additionally moved that consideration of the tabled documents be listed on the Notice Paper, agreed to without objection. As Manager of Government Business, Senator Gallagher also moved that the question be put on the motion concerning the Australian Defence Force, consistent with her use of procedural mechanisms to advance the Senate's legislative program.