Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

It is my pleasure to second the motion of the member for Kennedy and I will speak ever so briefly, if you do not mind. These matters should be debated in this place and it is unfortunate that the member for Kennedy has got so little traction in this parliament with the issue of the mandatory inclusion of ethanol in fuel for road transport. It escapes me why, in Australia, this issue has been so hard and why we have not made more progress by now. It is self-evident that, if we had mandatory ethanol content in fuel for road vehicles, it would help our farmers. It would give them an opportunity to produce other crops and process what would be otherwise be waste and possibly burnt. It would help our farmers including in my home state of Tasmania. Also, it would certainly reduce the cost of fuel for consumers.

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