David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am always pleased to speak on the issue of petrol prices because it is a matter of tremendous significance in my electorate of Lindsay. There has been much discussion today about the impact that petrol prices are having on residents in Western Sydney. I am pleased to be able to contribute to the debate and to bring forward some of the views that I have picked up in my discussions with people throughout my local community. I was interested to see a bit earlier in the debate on the censure motion the member for Wentworth come forward and embark upon a discussion about how petrol prices and Fuelwatch would cripple the working families of Western Sydney. As I saw the member for Wentworth talking about the working families of Western Sydney, it almost sounded like a David Attenborough documentary—talking about some exotic species in a far and distant place that he had encountered once or twice before on his travels to the outer west. Unfortunately though, as brief as those encounters may have been, the member for Wentworth has very little understanding of the issues affecting families and all residents in parts of the world such as Western Sydney.

In the discussions I have had with local residents in my community over many years, when it comes to the issue of petrol prices one of the single biggest issues that they raise is the fluctuations in petrol price. The fact that you can leave home in the morning and the price of petrol is set at one price and on the way home that evening it can be 10c, 15c or 20c more expensive is a real issue for families. I know that those on the other side say, ‘Cheap Tuesday. Cheap Tuesday is what you currently have access to, but if we had Fuelwatch then you would not get cheap Tuesday’. As much as people do flock towards service stations when prices are cheaper, the reality is that people do not only fill up their cars once a week, particularly in parts of the world such as Western Sydney where you are travelling many—and in some cases hundreds of—kilometres each week. The convenience of filling up on Tuesday is something that cannot always be accommodated within the daily lives of working people. If you do happen to need to fill up a little bit later in the week, it is not a matter of saying, ‘We will just not go anywhere till Tuesday. Cancel the swimming lessons on Saturday. We are not going to the footy on Sunday. We are going to wait till Tuesday when we can fill the car up again.’

These are the realities of what is going on out there in the real world. This is a very artificial debate that we are hearing today. A lot has been said by those on the other side, but the one thing that these people have not said is where they stand. Do they support Fuelwatch or are they going to vote against it? They have not said that. They have had 25 minutes in this debate to articulate their position. We are still waiting. I am looking with some anticipation, in the hope that if it is the member for Stirling that is to follow then he may bring forward the pearls of wisdom that will enlighten us as to what the opposition’s thinking is.

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