Don’t repeat COVID failures in fuel crisis, Labor urged
A national dashboard for fuel prices and cuts, free public transport across the country and a coordinated approach to reducing demand are among the issues leaders want to consider at the crisis meeting.
The national cabinet will meet on Monday to discuss the fuel crisis in the Middle East for the second time.
State and territory leaders and business groups have called for a national approach to address the crisis as oil prices soar and hundreds of service stations dry up.
Australia’s fuel stocks remain at normal levels, but fears of future shortages and price increases caused by the ongoing blockage of the Strait of Hormuz have encouraged users to buy gasoline and diesel in bulk, leading to local shortages.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli accused the federal government of withholding information from the Australian public.
“I can’t stand for Australians not getting the information they need,” he said in a speech on Sunday.
“We are asking Canberra to publish information on prices and cuts for each state and territory at a specific time each day: a national dashboard.”
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said a nationally consistent approach to the crisis was needed.
“We don’t want to go back to the situation we had with COVID a few years ago, where Queensland did one thing, NSW had a different approach, Western Australia was cut off from the rest of the economy, Victoria’s economy was locked down for over a year,” he said.
The chamber called on the government to promote measures to reduce fuel demand, including supporting greater flexibility in working from home and increasing the use of public transport.
Victoria and Tasmania announced temporary fare exemptions for public transport users, leading the Greens to encourage the Commonwealth to help fund other states to make their networks free.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said: “Free public transport should be on the agenda of tomorrow’s national cabinet meeting.”
On Monday, the Greens will seek to increase pressure on the government to increase taxes on gas exporters seeking windfall profits from the conflict in the Middle East, with a motion to launch a parliamentary inquiry into the proposal.
The crossbench has been pushing for a 25 percent tax on gas exports for weeks.
Opposition sector spokesman Andrew Hastie broke ranks with his Liberal colleagues on Sunday and said he was keeping an open mind about a windfall profits tax.
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