Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

That is right; absolutely! Any peer in this House has to be referred to by his ministry or his constituency and not his noble title, however recently acquired. What we have is a plan that has been opposed by every single expert department in this government. Each and every one of them giving fearless, independent advice to the government has said that FuelWatch will reduce competition and it will put prices up. In other words, the entire expertise of the Commonwealth Public Service—independent, expert and informed—supported the criticism of the member for Batman, the Minister for Resources and Energy, when he condemned this plan. So why is it being proceeded with? What is the argument?

The only case—the only justification—for FuelWatch that the government could make, the only argument for this extraordinary exercise in price fixing, this extraordinary exercise in market manipulation, could be that it will reduce petrol prices. But will it reduce petrol prices? We know what the departments say; they say that it will put them up. We know what the member for Batman said; he said that it will put them up. What did the Treasurer say? Karl Stefanovic asked:

A guarantee from you, if you don’t mind this morning, FuelWatch will categorically lead to lower fuel prices?

The Treasurer: I can’t give that guarantee. That’s a silly guarantee.

I am amazed that he did not throw in ‘populist nonsense’ but then he is probably only a baronet; he has not got into the peerage yet. And then, look at the shamelessness that goes right through this government—their preparedness to look the people of Australia in the eye and say that black is white—to say the exact reverse of the truth. On 16 April the Assistant Treasurer wrote a letter to the Leader of the Opposition, and he said:

There is simply no independent analysis that has reached the conclusion that there is any upward pressure on petrol prices through FuelWatch.

No independent analysis other than the Department of Finance and Deregulation, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research and the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. Weren’t they independent? Was the Assistant Treasurer telling the truth when he wrote to the Leader of the Opposition? Clearly not. The Assistant Treasurer has written to the Leader of the Opposition and told a clear falsehood that has now been found out. He said that there is ‘no independent analysis’ and in fact there was a truckload of it and the Leader of the Opposition has been misled.

One of the most remarkable efforts in spin and shamelessness that we have seen here was the claim from the Prime Minister that this measure was designed to take on big oil. Oh, yeah! He is a real champion for the battler is the Prime Minister.

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