Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased this morning to support the Fuel Quality Standards Amendment Bill 2009 and to raise several related issues within the bill. In an area like the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales, petrol generally is a contentious issue at the best of times, particularly the pricing of retail fuel. On a more general basis, fuel quality is also a contentious area of public policy in regard to issues such as ethanol blends and various mandates that are or are not being implemented throughout states such as New South Wales.

The purpose of the bill is to amend the Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000 in order to implement the recommendations of the first statutory review of the act, conducted in 2004-05, and I note that that process was undertaken by the previous government. In particular, the bill will improve the process for granting approvals to vary fuel standards by providing for a wider range of conditions that the minister can apply to approvals, including the power to require that companies take certain action to minimise the effects of supplying substandard fuel, and will simplify the procedures when approval is required urgently to avoid a fuel supply shortage. As well, it provides for more effective and efficient monitoring and enforcement powers—and I will come back to that—including the introduction of a civil penalty regime and the establishment of an infringement notice system. Thirdly, it addresses a number of issues that have arisen from the practical application of the act and its subordinate legislation.

Going back to the issue of monitoring, in the short time that I have been in this place, I have had the opportunity to meet with the ACCC Petrol Commissioner, Joe Dimasi. He has confirmed that on the Mid-North Coast there are regional towns that are included in the daily monitoring that is done. There are 110 regional centres throughout Australia which are monitored daily by the ACCC. My response to him—and I hope that the ACCC consider it—is that on their website it is only prices in the capital cities that are posted on a daily basis, so for anyone who wants to follow what is happening in regional Australia the ACCC website at this stage is not relevant, despite the work being done on a daily basis by the ACCC’s monitoring. So there is great contention in our area as to why petrol prices fluctuate so much and why there are large differentials between petrol prices in metropolitan areas and non-metropolitan areas such as the Mid-North Coast, and that debate will continue.

I seek from the ACCC that they be incredibly active in monitoring and from government that they resource the ACCC appropriately so that that monitoring can be as vigorous as possible. If discrepancies are picked up through that monitoring process then proper enforcement can be done by the regulatory authorities. There was a good example a couple of months ago. All the retail outlets in the Taree area received a letter from the ACCC. Either by design or by coincidence there was a reduction in the prices within that community at pretty well exactly the same time as those letters hit the letterboxes. If anyone is in any doubt as to whether monitoring and subsequent enforcement by government regulatory authorities—in this case the petrol commissioner—make a difference, there is a living and breathing example from the Taree community and the Manning Valley.

The second point I want to make on the bill is on fuel blends. That is an issue of contention. I think it is folly that the government is encouraging various mandates with regard to ethanol blends. I do think the science is not in. I have said previously in this House that for any West Wing fans there is a fantastic episode called ‘The Pledge’. All the various candidates have to stand up and talk about how they love ethanol, when in the back rooms they are sitting with their advisers and their staff talking about why on earth they are being forced in the public arena to stick up for the ethanol industry and ethanol blend in fuel. I would encourage everyone in this place to watch that episode when they are considering this topic.

The parliament of New South Wales recently debated the issue and following that will mandate a 10 per cent ethanol blend by 1 July 2011. I think there were four people in the parliament who opposed that, and they were four of my Independent colleagues. I think that says something about the claws of the vested interests digging deeply into the political process. I know there are many members of both political parties who question privately the issue of ethanol blends in fuels. Neither the environmental outcomes nor the impacts on farmers are necessarily good. Many farmers argue they are bad. In fact, the Australian Lot Feeders Association is on record saying that it is concerned about feed grain prices. The Australian dairy committee has expressed concerns about impacts on prices and the ultimate impact on consumers when you go down the food-for-fuel path. I hope all of us as members of parliament feel a moral obligation to our neighbouring countries. The general issue of turning food to fuel when we have a world food crisis emerging should prick the consciousness of everyone within the public policy arena in Australia.

One aspect of the Fuel Quality Standards Amendment Bill 2009 is proper labelling of various blends, including ethanol blends. I throw it to the minister to put a label on those E10 blended fuels that says, ‘Don’t buy,’ or, ‘It’s furphy fuel.’ It is a questionable product being pushed by public policy makers to the detriment ultimately of consumers. I would ask this government to consider the actions that the various states are taking with regard to this and where within the authority and the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth action can be taken. I would hope that, whether through this or similar legislation, it can be considered. I do not oppose this bill, but I flag that fuel is a contentious and continuously contentious issue in my community. It is contentious because of the pricing at the retail bowser, because of the emerging issue of fuel quality and because public policy makers are prioritising vested interests at the expense of consumers. I hope both of those issues are considered by this place in future policy.

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