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

The 25 per cent concept is something that we have obviously heard about from a lot of quarters, but the government does not support it. As Senator O’Brien notes, the government sees this amendment providing all sorts of problems in relation to its practical application, and I think that has been indicated in the comments of others this afternoon. The concern is that it would in fact lead to increased price pressures—I am certainly aware of Senator Fielding’s concerns about the price of fuel and his entreaties in relation to that and certain elements of the price of fuel—so the government has concerns in relation to that and also in relation to potential investment in the sector. I think this could have a negative impact. More importantly, I think some of the pressures that could be imposed, certainly from some of the issues that Senator O’Brien raised, could see a negative impact on availability in regional areas.

In respect of the comments that have been made regarding the review, I note that the government has reaffirmed its commitment to a review of the Oilcode 12 months after its implementation. Senator O’Brien mentioned five years, but the government have also indicated that we would review within that time frame as appropriate, not necessarily in the standard time frame of five years.