Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Leader of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

It is a direct quote. Do the voluntary organisations agree with the Prime Minister that the scheme is worthy of implementation? No, they do not indeed. Do the ACCC agree with the Prime Minister that the scheme is worthy of implementation? I do not believe they do. I think at best they are saying there are some very considerable reservations.

Let us look at one more quote that really has resonated today. It is from the Australian about the Minister for Resources and Energy. The good old minister for resources. You can always depend on the minister for resources. The Australian today said:

Mr Ferguson attacked the Fuel Watch scheme as an anti-competitive waste of money and predicted it would leave battlers out of pocket, despite Government claims it would lead to lower fuel prices. “The biggest losers—

I repeat, the biggest losers—

...would again be working families in places like Western Sydney,” Mr Ferguson wrote in a letter to Consumer Affairs Minister Chris Bowen. So, do his Ministers agree with the Prime Minister that the scheme is “worthy of implementation?” Well no, not all of them.

So it seems. The Prime Minister led voters to believe he would bring down fuel prices, he led motorists to believe he was going to bring down fuel prices, but on his watch we have seen prices rise by an average of 17½c a litre since he was elected, the highest on record. He says he cannot do any more. In his infamous Adelaide declaration he said he had done all he physically could to help Australian families. On a local angle, it was interesting to note how my local newspaper, the Coffs Coast Advocate, reacted to that. They wrote:

Believing Kevin Rudd when he says he has done all he can to control rising household prices is akin to believing there are pixies at the bottom of the garden. Mr Rudd is either totally oblivious to the pain being felt by Australians ... right now or he is a liar.

It is clear that the Prime Minister reached for Fuelwatch like a drowning man clutching at straws—determined to be seen to be doing something about fuel prices when in fact his intention was to do nothing. There are only a few phrases I think you can use to describe Fuelwatch. One is ‘a cruel hoax’; another is ‘a fraud’; another is ‘a confidence trick.’ It is about the Prime Minister attempting to give false hope to battlers who are being hit hard by rising prices. He just needs to consult with his resources minister.

The latest research that has come out shows quite clearly that motorists in Sydney and Melbourne are able to purchase petrol at a cheaper price than motorists in Perth. So what price is Fuelwatch? It is going to cost motorists right round the country extra money every time they fill their tank. When they drive their Commodore onto the service station driveway, the cost in tax that they pay when they fill their Commodore is around $35. I think this House should, as a matter of principle, believe that the pain of increasing prices should not be borne solely by motorists, by struggling families, by pensioners, by self-funded retirees; it should be borne by the entire community, and that includes corporate Australia and government.

Government has a role to play in bearing its share of the pain of increasing fuel prices. That is why the opposition’s proposal—the only proposal to provide real relief to motorists of some 5c a litre—is so important to Australian families and Australian pensioners. It is giving real relief, not waiting for a committee to report in 18 months time; not another inquiry; and not, potentially, years of negotiation with the states trying to come up with a solution. This proposal is a real reduction for motorists—5c a litre every time they fill their car. It is a proposal that should be taken up by this government as a matter of urgency.

They were elected to office on the basis of putting downward pressure on fuel prices and on the basis of putting downward pressure on grocery prices. Whatever spin the Assistant Treasurer wants to put on this, whatever spin the Prime Minister wants to put on this, and whatever spin the Treasurer wants to put on this, at the end of the day the people of Australia are looking to this government for relief. They are looking to this government to assist them in balancing the family budget. It was they who put the issues of the kitchen table so firmly on the agenda during last year’s election campaign. It is they who are so disappointing the Australian people. I was at a meeting in my electorate just on the weekend and there were quite a number of people who said clearly and unequivocally, ‘We want our votes back.’

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