Australia is weathering the Iran oil crisis so much better than One Nation would have, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insists.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen on Saturday delivered his first weekly fuel update since a 16-cent-per-litre excise discount was added back to bowser prices, with prices remaining below pre-Iran war levels.
Unleaded 91 was 168.8c a litre on average in Sydney, where Mr Bowen spoke to the media, according to FuelCheck.
In February, it was 172.6c a litre.
Mr Bowen says Australia has 41 days’ worth of petrol and 38 of diesel, and there are 6.2 billion litres of all fuel types on hand.
That’s more than the 5.3 billion litres stockpiled when the first bombs were dropped on Iran.
The position was largely due to the supply deals Australia had since struck with trading partners, Mr Albanese told a summit in Western Sydney on Friday.
The government had leveraged multicultural connections with countries such as Malaysia to get arrangements over the line, something which had no doubt helped bring down inflation, he said.
“Can you imagine a Pauline Hanson or the chaotic conglomeration that sits opposite us going into Asia and saying we need support from Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, China for jet fuel, Japan and South Korea?
“I reckon they probably remember what she has said about them.”
One Nation senator Tyron Whitten said on Friday the government was hurting Australians on the cost of living, despite an extra $268 a year in tax cuts from July 1.
“It’s $5 a week, which, yeah, great, but it’s a cup of coffee a week,” he told Sky News.
“I mean, I think people are hurting more than that and inflation is going to eat through that in no time.”
Mr Bowen was keen to talk up Australia’s new record sales figures for electric vehicles on Saturday.
Some 36 per cent of purchases for June were either fully electric or hybrid.
By his calculations, someone across the nation is currently buying an EV every 17 seconds, compared to every 50 minutes when Labor came to office in 2022.
“This is Australians making their choices to protect themselves against rising international uncertainty when it comes to petrol and fuel,” Mr Bowen said.
“But Australians know that what’s good for the planet is also good for their pocket.”
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