Mallee residents are right to be furious about the fuel supply shortages occurring in the region.  The Albanese Labor Government are untrustworthy, and this has yet again become crystal clear in this latest marathon sitting of Parliament in Canberra.

In Question Time, the Nationals in Coalition Opposition have been asking the government consistently why we have a fuel supply problem, particularly in regional Australia.  Energy Minister Chris Bowen kept insisting there is no supply issue, but now we know 6 shipments due in a few weeks’ time have been cancelled or delayed. The Minister refused to tell Parliament when he first knew a shipment had been cancelled.

Mallee petrol stations have been running out of diesel and unleaded.  In question time on Monday, Minister Bowen admitted 109 Victorian petrol stations had run out of fuel, far more than in other states.  

Gaslighting is synonymous with Labor and here, again, Labor tried to blame Australians for buying too much fuel.  People are buying fuel because they do not trust untrustworthy Labor governments.  Australians have been burnt before – we remember the pandemic.   You cannot blame Victorians ‘panic buying’, but Labor is trying to say it’s you - not them - that are the problem.

As we see time and time again, whether it’s the collapse in real wages, rising interest rates or Labor’s home-grown cost of living crisis, the Albanese Labor Government says they are not responsible.  Labor is quick to jump in for a ‘selfie’ when there’s good news that they likely had little to do with, but when fuel supply and pricing fails, that’s not the PM’s fault.

The Government is responsible to ensure big oil companies are not price gouging Australians – but they are doing nothing.

We would be in even worse shape had The Nationals not secured our fuel supplies when we were in Coalition Government.  We spent $260 million to increase diesel storages by 40 per cent. We created the Minimum Stockholding Obligation, but Labor tried to claim it was their policy.

Not content with doing nothing, Labor pretends Coalition fuel security action was their own.