David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

The Fuel Quality Standards Amendment Bill 2009 addresses four issues. The first of those issues is fuel security and independence. This is a carry-on of legislative work undertaken by the coalition whilst it was in government. It lay down the original legislation on fuel quality standards in its act of 2000. The second important thing that this bill does is reference local air quality. Local air quality is about the quality of fuel, the particular emissions and their impact on people who have heavy transport or a lot of transport near where they live. The third issue is about energy efficiency and the quality of our fuels in delivering more efficient vehicles. Finally, it is about broader emissions and the contribution of that to Australia’s overall emissions profile.

The Fuel Quality Standards Act, as I have said, was an act of the Howard government. In 2005, we completed an independent inquiry that raised a number of recommendations. This legislation seeks to enact many of those. Essentially, the background to this bill is that it standardises the quality improvements of fuels being distributed in Australia in order to regulate fuel quality for environmental improvement and the adoption of better engine emissions control, technologies and more effective engine operation. In particular, the bill puts in place a furtherance of those measures established in 2000 which allow for energy fuel supplies to be expedited where there is a blockage or a flow or a breakdown in Australia’s fuel and energy security. This is a good thing. We support the bill. We propose it, we endorse it and we commend it to the Senate.