Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The question of the extension of Fuelwatch in the form of a national program has shown the government and the opposition in stark contrast. Yesterday the members of the opposition whipped themselves into a frenzy as they attempted to paint an increasingly histrionic picture of the queues and delays that occur on cut-price Tuesdays in states that do not have a Fuelwatch scheme. At one point the Leader of the Opposition referred to a Toyota Tarago with a wheelchair in the back. He then added five children, and he might have added an endangered species or two if it had occurred to him. In a very short time such histrionics have unfortunately become a distinguishing characteristic of the opposition’s approach in this place.

I can say to those opposite that no such scenes of petrol bargain apocalypse occur in the Fremantle electorate, because we are the beneficiaries of FuelWatch in Western Australia. As other members from Western Australia, including Senator Adams, have pointed out, we have moved to a situation where consumers are given the necessary information to allow them to make an informed choice about purchasing petrol. This is about increasing transparency and choice for consumers.

Today, for instance, I know from visiting www.fuelwatch.wa.gov.au that the two petrol stations closest to my electorate office in Fremantle are offering unleaded petrol at quite different prices. Coles Express on Hampton Road is selling unleaded petrol for 153.9c per litre, while BP on Queen Victoria Street is selling unleaded petrol for 159.9c per litre. If I were filling a 60-litre tank, I could save myself $3.60 with that knowledge alone. As the Assistant Treasurer has pointed out:

It is time for the opposition to indicate whether they will stand with motorists against anticompetitive conduct or stand with those with vested interests.

I should point out that I have requested and been granted a non-standard private plated vehicle in the form of a Toyota Prius. The tank in the Prius is a pretty small one and I fill it up very rarely. Indeed, I am getting at least 800 kilometres per tank of fuel. I encourage other members and senators to consider a hybrid fuel vehicle when their lease next comes up.

On this point I note that the Western Australian Sustainable Energy Association estimates that getting struggling families into fuel-efficient vehicles has the potential to save, in effect, 45c a litre—not 5c by way of irresponsible, badly costed and roundly criticised coalition petrol excise populism, but 45c. While purchasing a fuel-efficient vehicle is not an option that all families have at the moment, it nevertheless points the way forward—just as a commitment to getting more freight off the road and onto fuel-efficient modes like rail and sea freight is the way forward.

I am prepared to acknowledge the big issue here. Petrol prices are going up because oil prices are going up. Oil prices are going up because of the concern about oil supply and about the relationship between supply and demand. Yes, they will go down again, but we all know the long-range trend. Oil and other hydrocarbons are finite. We are using more and more and they are disappearing. You can try to lift your approval rating out of single figures with 5c worth of irresponsible excise populism or you can tackle the big policy challenge. I note Alan Wood’s comments in today’s Australian about the Leader of the Opposition’s petrol populism, where he said:

It is an opportunistic exploitation of the rapid rise in oil prices, and Nelson no doubt feels it has paid solid political dividends.

It is a short-sighted view, because it will do longer term damage to the Opposition’s economic credentials ...

This government is about good policy, and good policy has its own rewards. We have announced a $500 million Green Car Innovation Fund to support the design and manufacture of an Australian-made, fuel-efficient vehicle. I look forward to the day when such cars are common on the roads of Australia and perhaps mandatory in the garages of politicians. This government, on the basis of the evidentiary support of the ACCC, is attempting to tackle a problem that we all know has existed for some time in petrol retailing—that is, that the big petrol retailers are in the know and the consumers are in the dark. Fuelwatch will make a modest but significant difference to consumers in Australia. It is economically responsible and it fits with this government’s program of long-term and proactive transport and energy policy.

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