Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We all dread the moment when the little orange light comes on in the car—the fuel tank is empty again. The cost of filling it up climbs higher every single time you head to the bowser. The average price of petrol in Lonnie at the moment is $2.15 for unleaded, and that's the same price it was on 30 March 2022, when the coalition government cut the fuel excise in half. We recognised people couldn't afford these prices back then, so why aren't we halving the excise now?

The cost of living is hitting people harder than ever, and the fuel excise hits low-income and working families the hardest. Think about it: the mum and dad with two cars and three kids to run around pay the same price for fuel as a billionaire does. The billionaire isn't going to notice an extra 5c a litre on their petrol bill, but the family sure will. It costs $3 billion to cut the fuel excise for six months. That's $3 billion more than the government wants you to pay in taxes and $3 billion they want in their back pocket instead of yours.

Halving the excise would be a win-win for Labor. It would give Australians some relief while they struggle to pay power bills and grocery bills, but it would also be a way to help reduce inflation at the same time. We know that to bring inflation down we need people to spend less money. If we're spending more money on petrol, it's more money into the economy and it pushes inflation up. If we spend less money on petrol, it can help get inflation under control.

Christmas is just around the corner and, with conflicts happening overseas, petrol prices are expected to keep going up. Come on Labor, give Australians an early Christmas present and half the fuel excise again—please.