Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell: All right, well, thank you for coming along here. This is the first time I've ever used this room, so welcome and good to be here with you today. Since the beginning of the conflict in the Middle East, the Albanese Labor government has been laser focused on ensuring that we have the fuel and essential supplies needed to keep Australia moving. In recent weeks, the Prime Minister and other ministers have travelled across Southeast Asia to work with our friends in the region to shore up our supply. Just last week, I travelled to Singapore with Minister Wong where we finalised the protocol announced the previous week by the Prime Minister that will see Australia and Singapore cooperate on the flow of fuel and essential supplies between our two countries.
In response to the supply chain pressures, our legislation to allow Export Finance Australia to work with industry in securing additional fuel for Australia is already delivering. To date, we've secured approximately 300 million litres of additional diesel through agreements with the private sector. Thanks to these efforts and Australian families and businesses doing their bit, Australia now has 46 days of fuel available to us up from where we began on February 28th when the conflict began. We've also partnered with CSBP, a subsidiary of Wesfarmers and Incitec Pivot, to quickly secure and deliver essential fertiliser into the Australian market on top of the 250,000 tonnes of additional urea from Indonesia that was announced by the Prime Minister.
But today I'm pleased to announce that we have secured another two shipments of diesel, bringing an additional 100 million litres to Australia through agreements with BP and Ampol. This shipment includes 500 million litres that will be delivered to regional Queensland, including Townsville and Gladstone, helping get more fuel into the region, which relies heavily on diesel to keep their local economy moving. This now brings the total litres of additional diesel secured by the Albanese government to approximately 400 million litres in just the last week. I want to thank Export Finance Australia for their quick and efficient work on working with industry to deliver these important transactions. Our government is taking the action needed to keep Australia moving and working every day to support industries which are being impacted by this war.
Happy to take any questions.
Journalist: Some questions from Canberra just starting on fuel. Is the Government open to the idea of building more refineries here to shore up our supply of fuel in the future instead of having to rely on international partners?
Minister Farrell: There are issues which obviously the Government will consider into the future and in particular my good friend Minister Bowen. I suppose the obvious point to make about these refineries, if you were to build a new one, then it's going to take quite some years to build them. We've got an immediate problem with this war in the Middle East that requires immediate action. So, our priorities right at the moment are about securing fuel, whether it be petrol, whether it be diesel, whether it be airline fuel, to ensure that for the weeks and the months ahead, we've got the supply that Australian businesses, farmers and consumers need.
Journalist: Have you seen the comments made by the Indonesian Finance Minister on Wednesday, where he mused about putting a toll on the Malacca Strait?
Minister Farrell: We don't support tolls. We don't support them whether they're in the Straits of Hormuz or in our own region. So, we don't support the introduction of tolls. There are laws, laws of the sea which apply, which means countries should not be applying these tolls. And we certainly don't support what might be happening there.
Journalist: Were you surprised by that statement and I guess, are you worried that this could ever become a reality?
Minister Farrell: I don't - we've got a very, very good relationship with Indonesia. The Prime Minister is in very regular contact with the President of Indonesia. I'm confident that we could sort out any issues regarding this. And as I say, we comply with the law of the sea and we expect other countries in the region to do the same.
Journalist: Can I also ask, how proactive do we have to be in this space? Do you or Prime Minister have any future trips planned already?
Minister Farrell: We've been very busy. As I said, I was with the Foreign Minister last week in Singapore. The Prime Minister has visited many of the countries in the region. We all continue to interact with our friends. One of the things that we've done over the last four years is rebuild our relationship with our friends in East Asia and Southeast Asia. And certainly, the welcome that the Foreign Minister and I got last week in Singapore is an indication of how Australia is now regarded in the region. We'll make sure that we're talking on a regular basis to all of our counterparts. I expect to be going into the region again in a few weeks’ time. This will give me another opportunity to keep the discussion going about how we can ensure fuel supplies into the future.
Journalist: But nothing set yet.
Minister Farrell: I expect very soon to be going into the region, and I'll be talking with all of my colleagues to make sure that we continue to get the fuel that we need to keep industry moving and consumers moving in this country.
Journalist: On the gas tax, would a 25 per cent tax on gas exports be off the table in the upcoming budget?
Minister Farrell: I think the Treasurer and the Prime Minister remain pretty clear. We're not changing our policies in respect to gas. But all of those things will be revealed in a couple of weeks’ time when the Treasurer, a very good Treasurer, Treasurer Chalmers, announces what's in our budget.
Journalist: As well, our former Treasury Secretary, Ken Henry, sought a parliamentary inquiry into the gas tax this week. And this is a quote, "Revenue raised from a windfall gains tax could be invested in a sovereign wealth fund for the benefit of future generations". Do you think that introducing this levy in line with the Government's aim of achieving intergenerational equity?
Minister Farrell: I think the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is very focused on intergenerational equity. Mr Henry is certainly entitled to express his view and he frequently does and he expresses it forthrightly. But, you know, the Government has the job of making these decisions and will make the decisions in the best interest of Australia.
Journalist: Gas companies in the current crisis are making a killing here. Shouldn't Australians benefit from now?
Minister Farrell: We are working closely with the gas industry to ensure that – I mean, the most important thing that Australia can do and the Australian Government can do is to ensure the conditions are there for the continued export of our gas. One of the discussions that we had in Singapore last week was very much on this point. It's interesting that the petrol that we purchase from Singapore is produced by Australian gas that we supply into the Singaporean facilities. Australia has an obligation, an agreement, to supply this gas. And in the time that this government has been running Australia, we have not failed to deliver on one kilojoule of gas into the region. So, I think the most important issue and the most important thing that Australia can do, the Australian Government can do, is to ensure that we continue to honour all of our obligations to our friends in Southeast Asia and East Asia.
Journalist: Well, we need - we have gas, but we need fertiliser. There's reports that some vegetables might go up 50 per cent. Are we now seeing the tail of the Iran war hit our economy?
Minister Farrell: There's no doubt that there will be a long tail to this war in the Middle East. I don't think anybody's pretending anything different from that. And the Treasurer on now a number of occasions has indicated the sorts of issues that we are likely to face the longer this war continues. Our job as a Federal Government is to try and put downward pressure on all of the things that might push up the prices, for instance, for vegetables. And that's what we've been focused on. And of course, we've dropped recently the excise. We continue to ensure that we get supplies of fuel. I think they're the important things that this government can do right now for ordinary Australians.
Journalist: What are you doing in the budget to help families?
Minister Farrell: You'll have to wait until Mr Chalmers, an excellent Treasurer, will be announcing in the course of the next two weeks.
Journalist: Just one last one on tourism. Minister, are you surprised that Qantas and Virgin have got mega sales on right now, given that they've raised concerns about jet fuel?
Minister Farrell: I think the most important thing that we can do in terms of Qantas and Virgin is to ensure that they continue to be able to transport people around this country. I'm meeting next week with all of my tourism counterparts to make sure that we continue to support the tourism industry through this very, very difficult time. The industry has proved to be very resilient. They came out of COVID stronger than before. We want them to come out of this particular issue even stronger than before.