Mr LATHAM(3.54 p.m.) —The coalition had no bigger promise, no bolder promise, for the people of regional Australia than their promise to bring down petrol prices. We all know that it has not taken them 12 months to stop listening to the bush. They have stopped listening to regional Australia and, in particular, they have stopped listening to the complaints around regional Australia about the government's failure to deliver on that core promise.

For a government that has stopped listening, perhaps I could give them one little reminder—one little reminder that I noticed in a town in regional Australia. It was a letter that appeared in the Daily Advertiser in Leeton on 3 January. This is what one of the citizens of Leeton had to say to the coalition:

Remember before the federal election seeing our local member Noel Hicks standing beside a petrol bowser promising to reduce petrol prices by 5 cents per litre as soon as his government came to power? These statements were endorsed by his leader, Tim Fischer. Since these commitments, petrol prices have increased by at least 8 cents per litre in our area.

They promised to bring the prices down by 5c a litre and they have gone up by eight. So the coalition is out by 13c a litre. That adds up to tens of thousands of dollars for businesses in the bush, it adds up to tens of thousands of dollars for tourism operators, it adds up to tens of thousands of dollars for farmers and it adds up to thousands of dollars in the working family budget around regional Australia—all because of the betrayal of the coalition on this core election promise.

You hear some interesting stories throughout the month of January. One of the most amusing items to come out of the coalition ranks was the concept of truth in election advertising legislation. They were actually advancing the proposition of fining people who did not tell the truth at election time. I do not know if they were talking about core and non-core fines for core and non-core promises, but there is no doubt that government MPs would be paying their fines hand over fist as Australians pay more for their petrol.

What is the record of the coalition on petrol prices? What is the record on the key promise that they gave to the people of regional Australia? There was a 2.7 per cent increase in the December quarter CPI in petrol prices—a low inflation quarter except for petrol and the people in regional Australia paying the higher petrol prices. And just yesterday we were told that that CPI increase flows through into the Commonwealth excise. So here they are collecting another $20 million when they promised to bring prices down.

Mr McGauran —How much is it?

Mr LATHAM —So the Minister for Science and Technology, the member for Gippsland, shamed by the result in the state by-election, worried by the state by-election, can say that the prices are going up by a small amount, but he promised—just like the mem ber for Riverina (Mr Hicks)—to bring the prices down by 5c and they have gone up by eight. So what you said was supposed to come down has in fact gone up. No wonder the people in regional Australia are exceptionally outraged and disappointed.

They are putting the $20 million revenue from the petrol excise into their coffers. We know they need revenue to fill their Costello crater, but it should not be revenue at the expense of election promises; it should not be revenue at the expense of regional Australia. The record was particularly damning throughout the holiday period. The prices went up just before Christmas. The petrol companies knew that Australians would be travelling more, so they decided to take advantage of the holiday habits of Australian families and put their prices up by between 2c and 5c per litre.

The price differential is another core promise of the coalition for regional Australia. They alone were going to lower the differential between city and country prices. We had the member for Gippsland tramping around Australia saying that he alone would narrow the differential.

Mr McGauran —And we have.

Mr LATHAM —He is claiming that he has. Is this narrowing Gippsland style? On 2 January, Brisbane had a price for unleaded petrol of 65.9c. In Cairns it was 8c more expensive, in Townsville it was 6c more expensive and in the mining town of Middlemount near Rockhampton it was a massive 13c more expensive. So that is narrowing Peter McGauran style—a 13c differential between the petrol prices in Brisbane and Central Queensland. Now the Minister for Science and Technology is actually starting to say that the prices did not go up that much over the Christmas period. That is not what he was saying on 7 January. Let me just read from the AAP wire:

Federal Science and Technology Minister, Peter McGauran yesterday also criticised petrol price rises during the holiday break saying that in some cases it was blatant exploitation.

It was blatant exploitation that he could not stop. He promised the price narrowing. He promised the price reductions for regional Australia and all he could do during the holiday period was agree with ALP price watch on petrol by saying that prices have gone up and that there is blatant exploitation. He was putting up the white flag. The Jaffa was putting up the white flag of defeat. He could not do anything about the exploitation, so up went the white flag.

Of course, this large differential was repeated later in the month. Let us have a look at the figures for New South Wales. In Western Sydney on 23 January, unleaded petrol was as low as 73.9c. If you write the figures down, Minister, you will calculate that there was a 7c differential for Bathurst and Orange, and for Broken Hill it was as high as 10c per litre. If that is narrowing coalition style, no wonder the people in regional Australia are complaining about it.

Mr McGauran —What is your source?

Mr LATHAM —Here is someone saying the figures are made up. The minister is claiming the figures are made up. Obviously he has not read the press release from the New South Wales Farmers Association. Remember them? Farmers? People who work the land? Do you remember the farmers?

The New South Wales Farmers Association said that petrol prices around New South Wales had risen by 2c a litre just before Christmas. Here he is condemning the New South Wales Farmers Association. Let me read it to you. I know you do not have a lot of contact with the farmers now that you have got a ministerial office in Canberra, but the press release said:

Petrol prices around New South Wales rose by up to 2c a litre immediately before Christmas despite wholesale fuel prices remaining static, the New South Wales Farmers Association said.

That was on 20 January. Minister, you cannot deny these things. You said it and the Farmers Association said it. People all over the country have been complaining about the price exploitation that you owned up to, waving the white flag, and have done absolutely nothing to stop. Not only that, I see that the member for Indi (Mr Lieberman), the self-styled head of the backbench committee on petrol prices, the hardest job in the government, was complaining about the price hikes on 6 January. He said that if the petrol companies did not come into line the government would be passing special amendments to the Trade Practices Act—maybe the sort of thing I have got before the House by way of a private member's bill. Of course, he could not get too far with it because Mr McGauran refused to support Mr Lieberman's warning on the Trade Practices Act, saying that it was a long way from that. So poor old Jaffa, waving the white flag, saw the reinforcements coming over the hill and he waved them back because he thought the prices were narrowing. The Farmers Association, the member for Indi, government backbenchers, consumers and farmers all over Australia were saying those things.

A funny thing happened to the National Party on the way to the forum, on the way to their ministerial offices: they stopped listening to regional Australia. We all know, particularly in the Gippsland region, what it means when you stop listening. You do not need to take the word of ALP price watch on these things; the figures are very clear. The minister was saying it—until he was caught out badly and under pressure from the media—the member for Indi, the New South Wales Farmers Association, and on it went. What happened to the member for Gippsland—the minister—is that he went from being the gamekeeper to being the poacher. A few weeks later he actually joined the petrol companies; he actually became their hand puppet. Peter the Puppet McGauran is what the big petrol companies called him in Collins Street circles in Melbourne. They have got him dancing there like the Howdy Doody doll, dancing their tune. He is now saying in his press releases that he wants the big petrol companies to work with the coalition.

This is what he had to say about BP: that he `confirmed BP's support of the government's move to deregulation of the industry and its willingness to work with the coalition'. It is a funny thing that happened to the minister on the way to the forum—not listening to regional Australia and then cuddling up to the big petrol companies when it suited him. It is no good being a hand puppet for those companies, Minister, because the Na tional Party needs to make a decision on petrol. The National Party needs to make a very important choice on petrol: do you take on the petrol companies and break up the integrated control of this industry? Do you try to get vertical separation and an active wholesale market to give farmers and people in the bush their chance to access cheaper wholesale petrol or do you cave in to the interests of the big petrol companies in Collins Street and do nothing about it? The National Party needs to work out pretty quickly on this matter whether they are simply Liberals in sheep's clothing or fair dinkum representatives of people in regional Australia.

The minister was saying that he wants to work with the petrol companies, but the truth is that they have absolutely sold him the dump. They have said to the government in correspondence last year—the correspondence I quoted in question time—that the government will not be able to keep its promise of lower petrol prices. This is what the head of BP Australia had to say, talking about the government's program:

This will not lead to lower prices. There is a strong expectation in the public's mind that there will be reductions in the price of petrol. We do not share this expectation and believe it raises false hopes.

Beyond that, the minister will undoubtedly say that he leant on BP Australia and they are now singing a different tune. Still, he cannot deny how the correspondence I have obtained from BP Australia says this: `Minister McGauran has said that the number of retail sites in Australia needs to decrease over time from around 9,000 today to about 6,000.' Have you been saying that to BP Australia, that you support wiping out 3,000—

Mr McGauran —Where?

Mr LATHAM —You have been saying it. You are on the record as saying that you are willing to wipe out 3,000 service station small businesses in regional Australia.

Mr McGauran —So does Michael Delaney.

Mr LATHAM —What Michael Delaney says is that you should be supporting a private member's bill that I have put before the House to open up an access regime on wholesale prices. You are setting up those service stations for very unfair competition. Woolworths can get in for cheaper wholesale petrol and retail that around, undercutting the existing service station retailers in country Australia, but you are not willing to give the same access to the 9,000 service station small businesses that you claim to represent. Those 9,000 service stations should have the same opportunity as Woolworths to shop around for cheaper wholesale petrol.

So why don't you do what the member for Indi was supporting: changes to the Trade Practices Act to declare an access regime, more regulation on the petrol industry, not less, and break up the vertical integration so that you have an active wholesale market? You can actually do something constructive to bring down the prices. That is the measure that I have brought before the House in a private member's bill. The service station association has estimated that it has the potential to lower the price of petrol by 6c a litre. That estimate is supported by APADA—the Australian Petroleum Agents and Distributors Association. The industry is supporting the private member's bill that I have got before the House as the only feasible way in which petrol prices can come down.

Minister, for all your coalition supporters, dwindling as they may be, there is only one way to produce lower petrol prices: extra regulation, not the deregulation path that you are following, to actually break up the sort of control that the big petrol companies have been exercising in this industry for more than a century. You need to do a lot more than just write letters away to the petrol companies saying, `Can you do the right thing on access?' knowing full well that the petrol companies regard access as physical access only. They do not want to see any access that means competitive wholesale pricing. They are willing to adopt the status quo, all to placate a government that made a big promise and cannot do anything about it.

It is time for the National Party to deliver. It is time for the member for Riverina, who promised a price reduction of 5c a litre, to actually stand up in the House and deliver the goods—not an 8c a litre increase or the sorts of increases that you have identified over the holiday season. It is time also for the National Party to introduce fair competition in this industry. You should be supporting changes to the Trade Practices Act to have an access regime, to make sure that there is an active wholesale market.

How unfair is it that someone can go to a Shell franchise service station today and actually be buying BP petrol—petrol that started out in a BP terminal—because the big companies are allowed to share their terminal product horizontally—that is, amongst themselves—but will not share the petrol with the retail sector, with the 9,000 service stations that want to shop around for cheaper wholesale prices? Unless there is an access regime, unless we have more regulation—not less—there is no opportunity for those 9,000 service stations to compete fairly.

The minister can talk about closing down 3,000 service station small businesses, but for the thousands of Australians who lose their jobs, for the hundreds of country towns that are much diminished in terms of investment and employment, it is an absolute tragedy. It is an absolute tragedy that the National Party has failed so comprehensively to deliver, in tandem with their coalition partners, on this core election promise.

I hope you do introduce the truth in advertising legislation because on this matter you will be paying plenty of fines, as Australians are paying more for their petrol. It is time for the National Party to decide. Are you just Liberals, dry and callous in sheep's clothing, or are you fair dinkum representatives of the bush who can actually deliver on the things you promise? (Time expired)