Government ‘trying to avoid’ Covid-style mandates, Chalmers says
Working from home “makes a lot of sense” at present, Treasurer Jim Chalmers stated, while affirming that the government will not impose Covid-style mandates on households.
Prior to the national cabinet meeting today, Chalmers told ABC News Breakfast that cooperation between states, territories, and the commonwealth is essential to prevent “harsher” measures as the fuel crisis intensifies.
He advised Australians not to cancel their Easter weekend road trips but to use fuel responsibly.
“The best way to get through this is to get through it together, to work through these issues, in a coordinated and ideally consistent way around the country. And the best way to avoid the kind of harsher Covid style measures is to do that work. And the better we do at the front end of this challenge that we have in our economy, the more likely we are to avoid some of those kind of harsher measures and restrictions down the track.”
“We’re trying to avoid those kind of a heavier-handed Covid [style] interventions. But work from home in a number of instances makes a lot of sense. The prime minister has indicated more of a willingness to go down the voluntary path than the compulsory path.”
Fuel rationing not inevitable, says Bowen
Energy and climate change minister Chris Bowen emphasized that the government has learned from the Covid pandemic and will not conduct daily 9am press conferences dictating restrictions.
Regarding today’s national cabinet meeting, Bowen highlighted the importance of coordination, contrasting it with the pandemic period when governments were “scrambling.”
When asked by Melissa Clark if fuel rationing is “inevitable,” Bowen responded:
“No, I don’t think so, Mel, but of course, governments are meeting, including today on prudent planning.”
How will the government’s legislation to underwrite fuel shipments work?
Bowen explained that the government’s legislation aims to assist fuel importing companies in “hedging their risk” to maintain fuel imports into Australia.
Speaking on ABC’s AM program, Bowen noted that importers have expressed concerns about the increasing expense and volatility of the market, making it riskier and more difficult to purchase cargoes.
Host Melissa Clark inquired whether the issue stems from importers’ inability to borrow sufficient funds to make purchases and concerns about selling fuel at a profit.
“The market’s getting a lot more expensive and a lot more volatile and a lot riskier. And for them, it’s very difficult to buy cargoes, which are maybe $25m or more, more expensive than they were a few weeks ago in such a volatile environment with the price of oil moving around.
Smaller players, independent distributors who do import, they obviously don’t have the same cashflow and balance strength that some of the really big players have. So they just find it impossible in this market to, with confidence, buy very expensive tankers … then you’ve got larger players who say they’re doing it at the moment, but there’ll come a point if the price keeps going up or it gets more volatile where they simply won’t be able to do it.”
Bowen described the legislation as a step “ahead of the curve,” not yet required but expected to be “vital.”
Good morning
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here for the final sitting week of the month and the last sitting week before the budget.
The prime minister will convene the national cabinet again today, marking the second meeting since the US and Israeli strikes on Iran. This morning, the government will introduce legislation related to fuel imports into Australia.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been selected for extensive media engagement today.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faces pressure both in parliament and from the public, with two polls released this morning indicating a slight decline in his popularity, while One Nation’s primary vote once again surpasses the major parties.
I’ve got my coffee, I hope you have yours – let’s get into it!
