South Australia Assistant Minister for Copper, Steel, Critical Metals and Minerals, Lawrence Ben MP: Good morning everyone. My name is Lawrence Ben. I'm the local state member here for the electorate of Enfield. I just want to welcome you all to our community, particularly Senator Don Farrell, the Minister for Trade and Tourism and Special Minister of State. We're very grateful to have Don here today, as well as Drew from IOR. And I particularly want to thank them for all of the hard work they're doing around securing Australia's fuel security. And on that note, I'll hand over to Senator Don Farrell, who has an update for us here today, thank you.
Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell: Thank you Lawrence and thank you for inviting us to your new electorate here at Enfield and congratulations on your appointment as a Minister in the new Malinauskas Government. Some of the things I'm going to be talking about are actually very important for your portfolio and the continuation of operations, particularly in the north of this state. This week marks my first 12 months as reappointed Trade Minister, and next week is 4 years since I was appointed to this job. It's been a tough time, I have to say. We started out with $20 billion worth of trade impediments with China. We've solved those issues. Of course, we've had issues on the international stage with tariffs. We've worked through all of those to continue to ensure that Australia exports our goods. Last year was a record year for Australian trade, $1.3 trillion worth of trade. Never in our history have we had so much trade. But of course, we have another challenge right now and that's the war in the Middle East and the effect that that's having on fuel. So much of our export potential for this country relies on our equity to process food, process minerals and process manufactured goods. And so, since the war began on the 28th of February, the Albanese Government, which is an action government, has been dedicated to ensuring that Australian businesses and Australian consumers get access to the fuel that they need. So, I'm very pleased to be here today with Drew and at AMPOL to announce that we have now secured another 150 million litres of diesel. That's 3 ship loads. That brings to 600 million litres total access to diesel since these troubles began. What that means is that things like Roxby Downs, which very much rely on diesel to run their machines and continue to operate, and of course farmers get the access to the diesel. We've also secured a new shipment of fertiliser to ensure that farmers can continue their feeding of their crops. All of this means that our objective to ensure that we don't run out of fuel is being achieved. These shipments are over and above the ordinary contracted shipments that we expect to come into this country. We now have more petrol, more diesel and more airline fuel in this country than before the war began in the Middle East. On Monday, I'm flying to Japan and then on to China to continue the discussions that the Foreign Minister has had with our friends in East Asia, to ensure that we have got those strong relationships in our region that ensure that we can continue to rely on our partners in Asia to continue to get that fuel to keep our country running. And it'll be my objective both in Japan and China to continue discussions with our friends in Asia. It'll be my 14th meeting with my Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao. So, on 14 occasions we've met. And of course, very much the topic of the day will be how do we continue to ensure reliable fuel supplies into this country. And of course, particularly in the area of jet fuel, China is very important in that equation. So, we continue to use all of the levers of government. In the recent budget, we've now committed $14 billion to ensure that we continue to guarantee reliable fuel supplies for Australian businesses and Australian consumers. It's my very great pleasure to have Drew from IOR here today. I caught up with him earlier in the week in Canberra. We talked about all of these issues, talked about the way in which the Australian government could help ensure, but more importantly, talked about how his company can ensure that we continue to get the fuel supplies that we need. So, I'll hand over to Drew to say a few words.
Chief Executive Officer IOR, Drew Moreland: Thank you, Senator. Yes, it's been a very tough time for industry in Australia, but I think I'm really proud to not only partner with the federal government and with EFA about taking real action that's going to secure product in this country and is enabling us to get it to the regions that need it most, the most remote places in this country and keep Australia moving. We're really looking forward to continuing that relationship and working hard with all levels of government to secure more product, more storage and continue to lean into the resilience that's required to keep this country going and keep the economy moving in the most critical areas like mining, like agriculture and also other industries like transport. There's very few things in this country that don't get delivered by transport, and we're really, really proud to ensure that we keep those regions moving, whether it be food, mining, equipment, and general freight around this country. So thank you, and we look forward to continuing to play our part in contributing to fuel security across the country.
Journalist: Senator, what's the split between the four states here and how much fuel each state will get?
Minister Farrell: Look, it'll largely be dependent upon demand, but in particular these most recent shipments, the 150 million litres that we're talking about today, are South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland. Obviously, as Drew just said, diesel is so important in the agriculture industry, in transport and in mining and they're all very significant features of the South Australian economy and we need to make sure that fuel supply continues. As I say, this 150 million litres is over and above all of the contracted obligations that Australian suppliers of fuel have got. 55 ships are currently on the way to Australia so that we can continue that supply chain. And as I said earlier, we've now got more fuel in this country than before the war began.
Journalist: Will this 150 million litres be accessible to general motorists or is it being put aside for storage and for industry?
Minister Farrell: No, this will go into the system. It will go into the tanks that are available and will be distributed as required. Our objective is to ensure that every business and every consumer in this country who leaves access to fuel has got it. That means ensuring that not only do we get it to places like the Northfield Ampol, the petrol station, but also places like Roxbury Downs, to Port Augusta, to all of the places, to Whyalla, all of the places in the bush that need it. We'll make sure that this gets to the exact people that require the fuel.
Journalist: When are we expecting that each of those ships to arrive?
Minister Farrell: So at the moment, as I said, there's 55 ships on the way. This will be additional ships and they'll start arriving from the middle of June. So, this will be a continuous supply and certainly for the foreseeable future, we continue to have access to those ships, bringing fuel to Australia.
Journalist: Is this a sign of an escalation in concern for uncertainty around global conflicts?
Minister Farrell: I wouldn't describe it as an escalation in concern. What the Albanese Government has been intent on doing, right from day one, is ensuring that Australians have enough access to fuel. Yes, the volumes of fuel are going up. The war in the Middle East has not yet been resolved. We hope that it will be resolved soon and we can get back to something approaching normal arrangements with fuel. But until that happens, we're going to guarantee that Australians continue to get the supply of the fuel that they need.
Journalist: Do you expect this to have an impact on the cost at the bowser?
Minister Farrell: Look, the cost has been going up and down ever since this war began. Obviously, the more fuel that you've got access to, that puts downward pressure on fuel. But this is not about price. This is ensuring Australian businesses and insurers to get access to fuel. This is all about the supply side, making sure that if you need fuel for your job, for your industry, for your business, that you're capable of getting it.
Journalist: So, you don't think it will have an impact? In short, because yes we have the security but --
Minister Farrell: It's not about the price, it's about the supply. And the most important thing that a government can do right now is ensure the supply. We have put downward pressure on the price of fuel by the halving of the excise and the removal of the tax on haulage. So, both of those things have put down the pressure on the price of fuel, and you will have seen that at the bowser. The price has been going down. But this particular exercise is all about guaranteed supply.
Journalist: Is it possible to say when, if it's arriving in June, when that guaranteed supply will last until or is that?
Minister Farrell: Look, as I said, we continue to, now, have more fuel than when the troubles began in the Middle East. I'm hopeful that, certainly with my meetings next week with the Japanese and the Chinese, that we can continue to get the guarantee of supply into the future.
Journalist: Is that coinciding with the ending of the excise relief?
Minister Farrell: They're two separate things. My job in Japan and China will be to ensure the good relations that we have with our Asian partners continues. The Foreign Minister and I were in Singapore three weeks ago. We had good meetings with our Singaporean colleagues. Singapore provides 26per cent of all of our fuel and the relationships that we've built up, both myself and the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister, have ensured that Singapore will continue to honour its obligations to provide that 26per cent of fuel. So we're all about supply here at the moment. What the Treasurer does with future issues regarding the excise, well, he'll be making announcements about that. My job is to get the fuel and keep the country running.
Journalist: How much is coming from the Middle East?
Minister Farrell: Well –
Journalist:
-- And is there a quality difference?
Minister Farrell: Quality?
Journalist: Yeah.
Minister Farrell: No, no, no. Crude oil is fungible, so you can mix it with fuel from other parts of the world and it mixes. I'm not an expert on these sorts of things, but that's how I understand it. Look, I think the way to look at this is before this war began, 20 per cent of all fuel in the world came out of Straits of Hormuz. That's why it's so important and so crucial. That means that 80 per cent comes from somewhere else. Now, since the war began, that 80 per cent has increased. I can't tell you exactly what it's increased to, but other countries have come to the party and have started increasing the volume of oil that they previously produced. So, the Straits are still very important, but other countries who have got access to oil have started increasing their volume. So, for instance, that 26 per cent of oil that I talked about from Singapore previously, none of it came from the United States. Well now 11 per cent of the fuel going into Singapore comes from the United States. Canada is now producing oil, greater volumes of oil. And some of that is going into Singapore and Venezuela. So, 3 countries where we had never previously got access to fuel is now coming into Singapore and that will be turning up in Australia.
Journalist: I'm sorry, just back on that question. So obviously the Treasurer will do what the Treasurer does, but is this foreshadowing that the excise will be put back on?
Minister Farrell: No, no, don't draw any conclusions from what I'm saying here. We're --
Journalist:
-- Were you asked to do this in preparation for it? *inaudible*
Minister Farrell: We're all about ensuring that for as long as this war lasts, Australians can be assured that if they need access to fuel, whether it's petrol, whether it's diesel, whether it's airline fuel, this Government is going to provide it for them.
Journalist: Just on another issue. Tammy Tyrrell has joined both Labor and the right faction as a leader of the faction. Who should be pre-selected higher on the Tasmanian ticket, in your view, Helen Polley or Tammy Tyrrell?
Minister Farrell: Well, I'm delighted that Tammy Tyrrell has joined the Labor Party. I think it's an indication that certainly from senators across the country that they see the good work that the Albanese Government is doing in the conduct of running around this country. So, I'm very pleased to have Tammy on board. I've worked very well with her over the last four years and I'm looking forward to continuing to work with her into the future. The issue of pre-selections, of course, is not a matter for me in South Australia. It's a matter for my colleagues in Tasmania. I'd be very pleased if both Tammy and Helen Polley would continue to represent Tasmania in the Federal Parliament in the Senate.