Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Transport) Share this | Hansard source

I cannot let Senator Joyce misrepresent reality, let alone our position, in relation to his amendment. I really think that Senator Joyce should sit down and read the proposition that he has put before the chamber and attempt to understand it:

… not less than 25 per cent of the volumetric supply of petroleum products in the market—

which I take it means the whole national market—

within each calendar month is available only to prescribed independent fuel retailers.

Is there a crystal ball to tell the suppliers that this is the cap and that they can supply no more to the so-called non-independents? Or do we take the liberty of saying that, if the major companies lease their stations and enter into a contract to supply their oil to an independent operator, they are then an independent? This has so many holes in it that it makes swiss cheese look like a very solid object. It is, as I said before, a prescription which is probably incapable of enforcement. I do not know what the enforcement is intended to be, looking at the amendment, but I just cannot see how this can be enforced. I say again: if Senator Joyce wants us to seriously consider this proposition, he is going to have to do more work on it rather than putting up the sort of proposition that he has put up. Frankly, the corporate world, if they wanted to, living under this proposition, could shoot holes in it.

Senator Joyce is apparently making an honest effort to do something, but he should not castigate people for not being prepared to vote for something which is demonstrably unenforceable, which demonstrably cannot lead to the outcome that he is talking about and which demonstrably, if it were interpreted as strictly as he would like us to believe it could be interpreted, would lead to some petrol stations and possibly some towns being denied fuel. It would lead to shortages in the country. As I said earlier, it would be like the Soviet command economy in some parts of the country, where the supply of fuel, depending on the predictions that the suppliers made, would be cut off because there would be a fear that they would exceed the 75 per cent limit on those companies set out in subclauses (4) and (5) of the proposed clause.

We notice sometimes that these statements are made when we are on broadcast, and if Senator Joyce needs to make those statements while we are on broadcast so be it, but please do not misrepresent our position and make things up to make your argument. If you have some facts we are happy to hear them, but I have not heard many so far.