Tim Wilson

We're very happy to see that this legislation, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026, is being debated, though we're very disappointed that the government has gone through a shambled process, to introduce the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026 this morning. They have tried to force it through the parliament before anyone in the entire country has read it. The Leader of the House understands full well the scale of the legislation he is trying to introduce, and he is now trying to ram it through the parliament on the basis that he has no interest in the opposition or anyone outside this parliament scrutinising it. It's a very dangerous precedent.

This is in comparison to the schedules that are being updated in the context of the Competition and Consumer Act which are focused very squarely on making sure penalties are imposed on those who seek to price gouge or harm Australians. It's a straightforward exercise that they have dawdled on every step of the way. The response from the minister has been to not bring the legislation to the House, to bring it to a vote to resolve the matter and to up the penalties, but instead he has allowed time to drift. We are simply asking that that matter, which is simple, straightforward and clear, be resolved. Instead, what the government is now doing is a shambolic process to try and shut down parliamentary scrutiny and parliamentary accountability. I'll remind the House this Fair Work legislation was introduced this morning. A copy has not even, as far as I am aware, been made available to the opposition—or, if it has, we certainly haven't had the chance to read it yet. When you're making such substantial changes to industrial relations legislation—and I know the Labor Party works for the trade union movement; it doesn't work for Australians—at some point you actually have to factor Australians into the conversation.

We hope and pray sanity prevails and that the government is proportionate and reasonable. They announced the changes in the ACCC bill well over a week ago. There was a lot of fanfare from the Treasurer. I understand why there was a lot of fanfare from the Treasurer, because they need to be seen to be taking action given the context and time. We have been waiting patiently for the legislation. It finally arrived, it is straightforward and simple, and that's why we have no issue debating it. We do have a problem when the government announces legislation and essentially gives no real insight into its detail—and its detail matters. They have stapled it on to the motion for another bill and forced the debate on it, and the consequence is that it's not just that the opposition who will not have the chance to scrutinise it; the Australian people won't have the chance to scrutinise it. Of course, there will be no chance for those people who understand this legislation to step through it one by one.

But let's deal with the legislation now at hand, particularly the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026. There is a simple reality out there in Australia: Australians are desperately trying to find a pathway forward to be able to afford fuel. In this House we have gone through multiple stages of crisis, from complete denial, by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy on Monday, that there is a problem to on Thursday declaring a national crisis in this nation's parliament. As a consequence, Australians are now living the full consequences of a fuel crisis that stems from government denial. If they had taken it more seriously with a sense of urgency and prudence, we wouldn't be in a situation where residents in the electorate are now paying somewhere around $2.50 for unleaded and up to $3.50 for diesel. This is a huge problem that Australians are living with now, in the lead-up to Easter and over Saturday with sport, in being able to drive around the electorates of the country. The challenge for Australian households right now is they do not want to see price gouging impacting them.

In the lead-up to the bill being presented before the parliament, I understand that we unintentionally misled the House, because I understand that the Treasurer did offer a briefing to the office, but it was not relayed to me. This is a simple error, and so I want to correct the record.

Jo Briskey

What we have just heard from those opposite is not a genuine attempt to help struggling Australians. It is a blatant political tactic dressed up as concern. The coalition comes into this place claiming to stand for households under pressure and to speak for families doing it tough, but, when it has mattered, where have they been over the last three years? They have consistently voted against every single cost-of-living relief measure that we have put through this parliament. When there is real opportunity to act in the national interest, they always abandon responsibility and reach straight for fear, distortion and political gain.

They want Australians to believe that they're on their side, but Australians can see right through it. Instead, what we see is that the opposition are more interested in the headlines than in outcomes—more interested in exploiting a global crisis than in responding to it responsibly. We see that plainly in the way that they have approached this very debate. There is a well-established convention in this place: government legislation is introduced and then time is provided—typically around a week—before the second reading debate proceeds. That time exists for a reason. It allows the opposition to properly scrutinise legislation, to consult stakeholders and to engage in good-faith consideration of the detail. That is how this parliament is supposed to work. They have rushed into this debate to manufacture outrage and urgency rather than to do the work responsibly. This is just a stunt. It is not about helping Australians; it is about politics, plain and simple.

At a time when there is conflict unfolding in the Middle East, when global energy markets are under pressure and when Australians are, understandably, watching closely, leadership matters. Australians deserve calm, clear, factual information. They do not deserve an opposition trying to manufacture fear for their own political gain.

The Albanese government has introduced this legislation—to up penalties at the petrol pump, as well as making it better, easier and fairer for our trucking industry—for a very clear reason: to help consumers get a fair go and to support our trucking industry. The conflict overseas should never be used as an excuse to profit from Australians. That is why we are putting petrol companies on notice. We will not let big corporations treat Australian consumers like mugs. We are calling on the opposition to support this bill because this is about holding companies to account when they do the wrong thing.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 doubles the maximum penalties for serious breaches of competition and consumer law from $50 million to $100 million per offence for false or misleading conduct or cartel behaviour across the country. We have already acted in this space. We increased penalties fivefold to up to $50 million and strengthened the powers of the ACCC, including extending petrol price monitoring enabling on-the-spot fines. But this legislation goes further. It ensures even bigger penalties for servos and suppliers who are ripping off Australian motorists.

It sits alongside a broader package of action we are taking to address fuel affordability and security. We are boosting fuel supply by releasing 20 per cent of the baseline minimum stockholding obligation for petrol and diesel. We are getting more fuel into the market by temporarily amending fuel standards. We are working with the ACCC to ensure fuel gets to where it is needed, particularly in regional communities, and ramping up fuel price monitoring. And we are engaging with our international partners to strengthen supply chains and fuel security. This is a comprehensive, practical response to a challenging global environment.

The recent conflict in the Middle East has increased uncertainty. Australians are not immune to it. Our job, though, is to respond responsibly, to protect consumers, to ensure that volatility is not used as a cover for misconduct. That's what this legislation does. The government's priorities are clear. We are focused on addressing inflation, lifting productivity and navigating global uncertainty. Ensuring fairer petrol prices, stronger fuel supply chains and fairer deals for our trucking industry is a key part of this work.

These bills are about fairness. They are about accountability and making sure Australians get a fair go. Those opposite can continue their political games, but this government will continue doing what Australians expect: acting in the national interest, protecting consumers and delivering real practical outcomes. I commend the bills to the House.

Dan Tehan

Well, we've seen this morning what this government is all about when it comes to dealing with the national fuel crisis. It is all about politics; it's not about real solutions for the Australian people. We put forward a motion this morning about bringing forward the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026. The government has been saying, for over two weeks, that they wanted that bill passed and passed quickly. So we offered true bipartisanship to get that bill on the papers, get it debated and passed through this House today. What did the government do in response? It attached another bill to this motion, a bill which was only introduced into the parliament this morning—that is, they do not want any scrutiny of it whatsoever. It's pure political game scoring, pure political game playing. This is the problem with this government in a national fuel crisis. It's all about the politics. It's not about what's happening out in the community at the moment.

Why did we want to bring on the ACCC bill? It is because we saw the bill introduced—the shadow Treasurer spent all of last night looking at it. It is a very simple bill. It increases fines. We checked it, we double-checked it, and we thought: 'Okay, there's nothing complex about this bill. It's a very simple bill—'

Phillip Thompson

Nothing sneaky in it.

Dan Tehan

'There's nothing sneaky in it. Let's just get it through the parliament.' But the government just cannot operate in a bipartisan way. It always has to play politics. So what does it do? You get the Leader of the House coming in and saying, 'I'm going to attach this very complex bill to it as well.' It was introduced this morning—no briefings, no nothing. Why is it that you want to play politics during a national fuel crisis?

I say this, and I'm sure the people in the gallery will understand this: people in the community at the moment are deeply, deeply concerned with what is happening with this national fuel crisis. They're seeing bombs being dropped. They're seeing energy infrastructure being damaged. They've seen the price of diesel in this country hit $3.20. They've seen the price of petrol hit $2.60. They've seen the government say there's more fuel in the Australian economy than there was before the start of the war, and they just want to know: why, then, isn't the fuel getting to where it needs to get to, and why has the fuel price gone through the roof?

One of the things that's a really important part of this process is that, if people are price gouging, if people are hoarding fuel, then we need the ACCC to be able to look at it. If there are increased penalties to stop those things from happening, that's critically important, because mums and dads then won't be facing choices like, 'Okay, how many Easter eggs do I get?' versus, 'Can I afford that roast lamb to have for Easter Sunday?' This is what we're talking about here.

We made an offer of bipartisanship to say: 'The ACCC bill is very simple. Let's get it through the House into the Senate.' Yet what do we get? Once again, all you want to do is play politics. I ask you to please remember what is happening out there in the community. People are hurting. People are concerned. People are worried. They're worried about the secondary impacts of this fuel crisis. They're wondering about what it's going to mean for when they go into the supermarket—what it's going to mean for vegetable prices and what it's going to mean for meat prices. They worry every time they go and fill the car up: 'That $100 note or that $50 note—how many litres is it now going to get me? It won't get me enough.'

You have the Leader of the House come in here and say: 'Aren't I clever! I'll attach this bill I've introduced today to yours, and we won't let anyone be able to scrutinise it. That's clever, politically, isn't it! Ha-ha! Aren't I great!' Well, I say this to the government: that's not what the Australian people want to see at this time. There's a simple bill which will make a difference. Let's pass that, then let's look at the other bill. Let's have briefings. Let's look at that one properly. This game playing is treating the Australian people with contempt, and you should be ashamed.

Long debate text truncated.

Summary

Date and time: 1:05 PM on 2026-03-26
Allegra Spender's vote: Aye
Total number of "aye" votes: 43
Total number of "no" votes: 93
Total number of abstentions: 14
Related bill: Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026

Adapted from information made available by theyvoteforyou.org.au