Senator CONROY (4:24 PM) —You can see why the government are so sensitive on this issue, and I hope, Senator Crane, that you are one of those I am about to talk about. In today's Australian, there is a story entitled `Backbench revolt on fuel prices'. It states:

I hope you were one of those, Senator Crane. I hope you stuck to your guns and were not intimidated by people like Senator Boswell, who will stand up here and talk about rural petrol prices. They will talk and talk, but country voters know that `Roll Over Ron'—

Senator CONROY —is in the pocket of the big retailers, in the pocket of the big oil companies, and in the pocket of the big banks. That is what country voters know about the National Party nowadays: they are in the pockets of the big institutions and the big end of town, just like their Liberal mates. They cannot turn to you guys for representation any more.

Senator Boswell —They won't turn to you, that's for sure.

Senator CONROY —I don't see your name in this article, Senator Boswell, which is a disappointment. I know a lot of country voters rely on you, and they will be disappointed not to see your name on this list—as with you, Senator Crane. The article says:

It then quotes Mr Hockey, the minister for this particular area:

And yes, they are engaged in some intensive monitoring—so intensive that they have already exposed the lie that this government are relying on. That is the lie when the Prime Minister said, in his address to the nation in August 1998, that `the GST will not increase the price of petrol for the ordinary motorist.' He did not use the weasel words he uses today about `need not'—not the `need not' that you have already heard from Senator Kemp and that you will hear from Senator Boswell but `will not increase because of the GST.'

Then they pulled the act of spivviness that Senator Murray has already described. They decided to try to cut corners. They decided they were too cheap to keep this promise. They said, `We will give back only 6.7c instead of the full 8.2c'—1½c a litre. That is what they are taking, extra, from every Australian. How do we know this to be the case, even though the government deny it? You just have to go to the government's own budget papers, which state that Commonwealth government revenue will increase as a result of the change. According to the government budget papers, from July 1, the government will keep the 8.2c a litre they pass to the states, following the High Court decision in 1997. This will earn the government $1.65 billion. So they are getting $1.65 billion from this tax. And what are they giving back to the states? They are giving back 6.7c a litre. That is $1.34 billion. Remember: they are gaining $1.65 billion, but they are giving away only $1.34 billion. That is a profit of $300 million. No arguments; it is their own budget papers. But this mob want to keep pretending.

What did Allan Fels say when he was asked about whether or not the government was justified in saying that it was up to the oil companies to pass on their anticipated cost savings? Even Allan Fels would not swallow that one. Fels is on the public record saying that it could be a number of years before any of the anticipated cost savings from the oil companies would be passed on to consumers. It was exposed in your budget papers—exposed by your puppet, who swallowed every other piece of government propaganda and then repeated it to the public. But even Allan Fels has not swallowed this one.

Let us move to the backbench revolt. Senator Crane and Senator McGauran, I have read this article two or three times, and I have to tell you: your names are not here. I am very disappointed. You are going to meet those people in Benalla for the first time, Senator McGauran. Senator Crane, I think you should know that Senator McGauran has followed your lead. He has finally moved his electorate office to a country area. He has moved from across the road from me in the CBD in Melbourne out to a country area. Funnily enough, it is to Benalla. Senator Boswell, you know Benalla well. Benalla is the 97-year safe National Party seat in Victoria that fell to the Labor Party in a by-election not three months ago—not even two months ago. So, in a state of absolute panic, Senator McGauran—onto his horse and up the highway, up the Hume—went to Benalla.

Senator CONROY —You have gone there in sheer panic to try to save the seat from the Liberals. I would like to say he was going to get it back from me, Senator Boswell, but he knows that it is really a fight with the Liberals up there. Lou Lieberman is going, and Senator McGauran has moved in to try to undermine him and win the seat for the National Party. It is quite transparent really.

The RACV has just released a survey. Of the 108 petrol stations surveyed across Australia between June and July, 102 have increased their petrol prices. What did the Prime Minister say last month? `Nothing is as formidable as field evidence,' said the Prime Minister. `It beats everything. It's like a football match. The result always beats the prediction, doesn't it?' He said that on Channel 10 just a week or two ago. What does the football match say? What does the field test say? It says that this government is helping to rip off every motorist in this country.

I will respond to Senator Crane's question: what is the Labor Party's policy? I have to say this to you: Senator Kemp has been running that line for a while now. You obviously think it is a good one. He said in this chamber, and you can check it in Hansard: `Look, what happens is the Labor Party identify this sort of problem. What are they going to do about it? They've got no policies.' The government minister in charge of this area is identifying that there is a problem. The government are a policy vacuum at the moment. They have put the GST in place, and they have not got a single idea what to do next—not a single idea where to take the country next. Do not stand there and accuse us of being the government—you are the government. We identify the problems, and at the next election we will say what our policies are—at the next election. We are not going to do what you guys are doing. With your hands on the levers over there, you stand there and say, `We haven't got any ideas about how to fix any of these problems. We created the problems. We've got no idea how to fix them. It's the Labor Party's job to fix the problems, to come up with the ideas.' You guys are a policy free zone, and you have been for 12 months. Your entire government has no vision, no ideas and nowhere to go. The voters are going to catch up with you. (Time expired)