Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

No, Senator Joyce, that is not correct. The definition of diesel goes back to the Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000. To claim that there might have been some particular arrangements or lobbying to deal with this is not reasonable and fair seeing as that act is nearly six years old. It is an Australian standard for diesel that is described as part of that act. If you look at, for example, B20 as a blended fuel, there is not a standard to describe that anywhere in the world. We are talking about a recognised legislated standard. It is not in fact the fuel companies that are double dipping, because they are not producing the biodiesel; I think there is an opportunity, again, for the biofuels industry to take advantage of that margin that might exist under the standard.