Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

that the member for North Sydney thought was a union. I spoke to 600 of them yesterday, and I addressed their dinner last night. It was terrific to spend time with these Australians who do so much to contribute to national productivity. This is what Trevor Martyn, Chairman of the ATA, had to say yesterday:

Of course it has been suggested the Australian government could reduce fuel excise but it would be just a gesture. The price of diesel has already gone up by 48 cents and it is likely to rise by an extra 20 cents. A tax cut of even 10 cents per litre would hardly be noticeable. Instead the best approach the Australian government can take is to focus on the long-term and fix the road transport laws that are stopping us from using the latest and most fuel efficient truck designs.

I say to the opposition: listen to the Treasury, listen to the industry, listen to all those who recognise that this is an important reform. If you cannot listen to any of that, listen to yourselves of fewer than 12 months ago and get out of the way of this important reform.

We heard the Deputy Leader of the Opposition say that she was going to outline in her speech the issues of why the operation of FuelWatch was a problem in Perth, and then she said nothing. This weekend is a long weekend in Perth, and consumers will be watching their TV news tonight to see what the lowest cost petrol in their area will be. It is on every commercial news channel, just before the weather every day. I want the good people of Marrickville, the people of Parramatta, the people of the Central Coast, the people of Launceston, the people of Melbourne and indeed the people of Hurstville to have that opportunity as well.

What FuelWatch does is pretty simple. The oil companies now collect the information and then the information is made available to consumers. It is simple. How could you possibly object? That is why the ACCC found in their econometric modelling that it will put a downward pressure on prices. I listened to the ACCC chairman very carefully this morning reinforcing that advice. But of course the opposition were offered briefings weeks ago but they were not taken up, because they do not want to be informed about this issue.

We have had a lot of talk from those opposite about the importance of advice. They know that governments receive a range of advice and the cabinet processes are there. They have referred to some media reports about the cabinet advice of some departments—one would suggest because it is inappropriate to talk about cabinet advice. There are other departments as well that provided advice that clearly does not suit their particular argument. When you have conflicting advice you make a judgement of what is in the national interest, and that is what the Rudd Labor government has done. The sanctimonious nonsense from those opposite about departmental advice is extraordinary.

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