Mr MORRISON (4:35 PM) —There is a clear contrast when it comes to fuel prices: the government wants to watch fuel prices; we want to cut them. And we have form. The coalition in government cut taxes on petrol and diesel. There was a 6.7c per litre cut in excise in 2000 and a further 1.5c cut in 2001. The coalition also abolished indexation. As a result, petrol is now around 20c less than it would have been without these measures. That is the coalition’s record. And we want to go further, because here in this place, in the response to the budget, we have said that we want to cut the fuel excise by a further 5c. So we want to go further in ensuring that there are lower petrol prices for families and Australians all around the country.

As reported in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, fuel prices have increased by 25.7c per litre since Labor came to power. That is what has happened since November. The government’s answer is Fuelwatch, a plan repudiated by the Labor Premier of Queensland and by the man who is the Minister for Resources and Energy and Minister for Tourism, a very honest and decent man, as working against the interests of working families, especially in Western Sydney, where he was born and raised—so he should know. It has also been repudiated by motoring organisations in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.

This government’s answer when it comes to fuel prices is to sit on the sideline and watch. As with so many measures in the budget, they did not think this thing through. It exposes their lack of judgement and highlights their lack of experience. Yesterday the Prime Minister came into this place and laid out in front of him on the table a forest of spin. We saw it in the papers today. There were papers all over the place.

Dr Southcott —Seventeen piles!

Mr MORRISON —Seventeen piles—a forest of spin. Page after page lay before him, but none had the answer to the substantive merits of Fuelwatch or the basis for his claim—and it has been made in this debate—of an average saving of 1.92c per litre. An Informed Sources press release today reads:

which the Prime Minister referred to—

In their rush to a headline on fuel yesterday and earlier, trying to desperately find some substance to support their focus group driven pre-election rhetoric, they have come up short.

As we learnt in the House yesterday, this plan will fine someone—anyone—who tries to bring the price of petrol down. When it comes to the PM’s Fuelwatch plan, I would like to quote one of those who used to sit opposite, the former Prime Minister Paul Keating: this plan is ‘all tip and no iceberg’. There are some simple facts about Fuelwatch that the government cannot recognise and will not acknowledge, and their failure to acknowledge these was highlighted by the ACCC, who, rather than give the government a pass mark—there was no pass mark from the ACCC—came back to the Assistant Treasurer and said, in red ink, there is a lot more work to be done on this issue.

Here is some of the work that needs to be done. Fuelwatch will make those who can afford to pay more pay less and make those who need to pay less pay more. The Prime Minister seeks to explain it away by averaging out the impact. But you do not get to buy fuel at average prices; you get to buy it at what is available on the day. Fuelwatch will drive independents out of business. It does not place the power in the hands of the consumers but in the hands of the yield managers of big oil companies. Yield managers will be controlling the price in big oil companies because of Fuelwatch. The government need to demonstrate that the scheme will not just establish another costly instalment in the Prime Minister’s bureaucratic fantasy.

The government ran a campaign of deceit. They misled the Australian people. They said they would bring relief. They allowed Australians to believe that this would change petrol prices and that they could do something about it. But, as the ‘Kevin price index’ said in this morning’s Sydney Morning Herald, the Prime Minister lied. He allowed a deceit to be perpetrated on the people and families of Australia. Now they say they have done all they can do. Now it is all the problem of global oil prices—something they have only recently discovered—arguments they vilified prior to the last election. (Time expired)