Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Labor supports the Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting Bill 2017, as it creates a reporting regime for petroleum and other fuels and fuel related products to improve Australia's fuel statistics. Some people may feel that statistics is a very dry subject, but I think this week and last week, more than ever, we have gained a very keen understanding of just how important statistical collection is to our country, and this bill goes further towards supporting statistical collection in the area of petroleum and other fuels. It will be key to have those statistics to be able to review and identify problems with fuel security levels in Australia.

The information collected under the mandatory reporting will be used to monitor energy security, to facilitate compliance with international reporting and stockholding obligations and to enable the publication of aggregate fuel statistics for use by business, investors, academics and government. The Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2017 also enables the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the ATO to share information with the department which will assist in reducing the reporting burden associated with the mandatory reporting obligations created under this bill.

The Australian government has produced statistics on the production, refining, import, export, consumption and end-of-month stocks of petroleum and fuels, such as ethanol, for over 40 years. The statistics derived from this information and reported by business are released in a range of government publications. The most notable of those is Australian petroleum statistics. APS contains detailed monthly stats on the production, refining, wholesaling and end-of-month stock levels of—wait for it; it's a very important list—crude oil, condensate, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, fuel oil, heating oil, naphtha, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, oil lubricants and grease, paraffin wax, petroleum based solvents, petroleum coke, bitumen, biofuel, hydrogen, and other fuel related projects that may be prescribed under the rules. That point is quite important, and I will come back to it at the end of my remarks.

In recent years the proportion of the fuel market that participated in the voluntary survey that existed has been declining. That has reduced the reliability of the statistics that have been collated. Mandatory reporting will enable the development of more accurate, reliable and informative statistics on petroleum and other fuel products. These stats are vital to the government in the monitoring of our markets and energy security for our nation. Also, it's very useful for business to be able to monitor supply-and-demand trends and priorities for future investment; and for international organisations, to help compile global statistics that not only increase market transparency but also help us understand energy consumption at a global level. Mandatory reporting also forms part of the government's plan to return to compliance with their obligation to the International Energy Agency to hold oil stocks equivalent to 90 days of the previous year's average daily net oil imports. The capturing of all IEA-relevant stock under mandatory reporting will ensure an accurate picture of Australia's stockholding position, which is very important. The introduction of this reporting also implements a major recommendation of the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee from 2015. It's good when the government gets around to doing things so quickly. But what these statistics will show is that Australia now imports some 91 per cent—

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