Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

The Labor Party will be supporting the Fuel Security Bill 2021, and I've indicated to the government that we will facilitate appropriate passage through both houses of parliament to ensure that it can start on time. The reason it needs to start on time is that the government have failed on the matter of fuel security. They've been all announcement and no delivery when it comes to fuel security. They promised, with great fanfare, to protect 1,000 new jobs and secure fuel supply, but they've overseen 950 job losses, and fuel supply has been threatened, not enhanced. On this government's watch, half of Australia's fuel refineries have closed.

A secure fuel supply is vital for a number of reasons. Most Australians would understand why. We live in uncertain times. This is important for our economy and it's important for our national security. It's important for production. It's important for our economy that our production lines aren't threatened by a lack of fuel security. We've seen over the last 18 months just how insecure some supply lines are. We talked about this before the last election. The member for Maribyrnong talked about fuel security. He was mocked by members opposite for even raising the matter of fuel security in Australia. But these clouds have been brewing for a number of years, and we've seen announcement after announcement, and broken promise after broken promise, from this government.

A Senate inquiry in 2015, some six years ago, recommended that the government undertake a comprehensive review of Australia's fuel security. It took the government three years, until 2018, to even announce they would do this review, with a due date of late 2019. Fuel security and the job security of thousands of refinery workers, like everything else with this government, get a call-up only when there's a bad front page afoot. The interim report on liquid fuel security was delivered to the government over two years ago, in April 2019, and the government still hasn't released the final report, which was due in late 2019. This is a government that has delayed and neglected the basics we need to keep this country running. The government chose not to act then, not even to deliver the final report. Thanks to its failure to act then, we've been left almost completely reliant on global supply chains for one of our most critical economic inputs.

The interim report identified a number of things that could have been acted on over two years ago. It identified serious noncompliance with international energy obligations for domestic fuel stocks. Our requirement is to have 90 days of fuel stocks domestically available, to help protect against global and domestic oil shocks. We weren't compliant then and we're not compliant now. In not one year of the last eight long years of this government have we been compliant, leaving us open to fuel shocks and leaving our national security vulnerable. We're currently at 58 days, still a huge 32 days short of the 90-day requirement.

This is very significant for the Australian economy and for our national security. On average, the Australian household spends the same amount of money on fuel as it does on electricity and gas combined, so it's critical that we have secure supplies, to prevent against price shocks. You can just begin to imagine how much the price of fuel would rise in an uncertain international geopolitical environment where our international supply was threatened. As I've said, it's also critical to our national security. We need fuel stocks for industry, defence and aviation in an increasingly volatile world.

We have a government that likes to talk big about national security—and the Prime Minister was out there last week misleading Australians about the role of this House and the role of the opposition on national security. Apparently this was going to be 'national security week'—when they were going to put through all this national security legislation—and 'a big test to Labor'. It has now been postponed until further notice because the government doesn't have its ducks in line; it doesn't even have one of the pieces of legislation out of the security committee of the parliament, the PJCIS. The Prime Minister was out there misleading Australians about national security last week, but his government is asleep at the wheel when it comes to national security and fuel supply.

In among the government's view on fuel security is their view on electric vehicles. The penetration of electric vehicles in the Australian market will very much change Australia's fuel market. I hope that happens sooner rather than later. The rest of the world is leaving Australia behind when it comes to electric vehicles. We lead the world in rooftop solar, which is being driven by Australian households. But because of this government's complete lack of framework and understanding and knowledge of electric vehicles we are being left behind when it comes to electric vehicles, with just 0.7 per cent of vehicle sales last year being electric vehicles. It was 60 per cent in Norway, and four or five per cent is quite common around the world, but it is less than one per cent in Australia—because this government doesn't get it.

More and more, we see states catching up, Labor and Liberal, with incentives for people to buy electric vehicles. But without a national framework we will continue to fall behind. Recently, the Leader of the Opposition and I announced our policy when it comes to the cost of electric vehicles: abolishing the tariff on electric vehicles below the luxury car tax threshold; and providing an FBT concession for employers who provide their employees with electric vehicles. These are necessary steps to incentivise the take-up of electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are good for the environment, coupled with the transition to a more renewable economy and renewable electricity generation. With the right policy framework, electric vehicles are potentially good for jobs in Australia.

But we are being left behind—and not because of the views of the Australian people. It is not that the Australian people don't want electric vehicles; a majority of Australians say they would consider one for their next car. But in Australia no electric vehicles under $40,000 are available and just five under $60,000 are available. That's not the case around the world. The government says electric vehicles are more expensive. It is partly, at least, because they are making them so. There are eight models in the United Kingdom cheaper than the cheapest model available in Australia. The inaction and scaremongering by those opposite—never forget the Prime Minister saying electric vehicles will ruin the weekend and won't tow your boat. He always goes for the scare campaign, not the policy solution. And he recently denied ever criticising electric vehicles. In one of his 'triumphs of honesty', he said he would never criticise the technology of electric vehicles—which was patently untrue.

Labor will cut the cost of electric vehicles with our electric car discount. We will abolish the tariff and we will provide a fringe benefit tax concession for affordable electric vehicles. The fact that this government still has no electric vehicle strategy in 2021 is an embarrassment—an embarrassment which costs Australians money, because electric vehicles are cheaper to run, and exacerbates the inaction under this government when it comes to climate change.

Even with a greater take-up of electric vehicles, we are still going to need a fuel supply for the foreseeable future—for industry—and it will take a long time for the flow of electric vehicles to replace the stock of internal combustion vehicles in Australia. So we are going to need fuel supply and fuel security for some time. And that is why we support this legislation. It is necessary legislation which is now long overdue. I will give you a reminder of the time line. A Senate inquiry reported in 2015, a full five years before COVID. They can't blame COVID for their lack of action, they can't say they've been distracted by the pandemic, because this hasn't been going for one year or two years, it has been going for multiple years. It took the government three years, until 2018, to announce that they would even do this review. We finally got an interim report four years after it was recommended by a Senate inquiry in 2019 and we still hear crickets when it comes to action.

Then we saw, of course, the photo op from the minister and the government last September that delivered nothing in terms of fuel security and nothing in terms of job security for fuel sector workers. Since then we've seen two refineries shut on this government's watch. Only two remain, and it is vital that those two remain in Australia. It's vital that the refineries in Geelong and Brisbane remain operating in Australia, because we need fuel security. It's vital for the workers in those establishments that they remain, of course. Let me briefly welcome the preselection on behalf of the Australian Labor Party of one of those workers in the Brisbane refinery for the seat of Petrie. We look forward to him joining us in due course in this chamber.

This government has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to fuel security. They are finally catching up. This legislation is good legislation in terms of design. It is appropriate that we have payments not when the refineries are making large profits but only when they are making a loss, to ensure their continued operation. We have no quibbles with the design of the legislation, but this legislation could go a lot further. We could be talking about improving our fuel security by increasing reliance on electric vehicles and therefore reducing our fuel needs. That is something we could be doing. If less fuel is needed for the domestic car fleet then fuel security is stronger in those regions where we will continue to need fuel production and supply, such as defence.

After eight years of consistently not doing enough for our onshore fuel, after mocking the Labor Party at the last election both for the member for Maribyrnong's fuel security policy and for our electric vehicle policy, they finally come to the party with this legislation. This legislation is supported by this side of the House, but I do move the second reading amendment which has been circulated in my name:

That all words after 'That' be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House criticises the Government for its failures on fuel security, including the closures of half of Australia’s refineries since October".

I commend both the second reading amendment and the bill to the House.

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