Government to strengthen aviation consumer protection, as Trump lashes allies

Go and get your own oil.

That's the warning from US President Donald Trump as he lashes out at US allies for not

helping to reopen the state of Hormuz.

It comes as concerns grow that the Trump administration could attempt to end the conflict without

reopening the state.

This is how US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth outlined his nation's objectives in the

conflict overnight.

Our core objectives from this podium from day one have been clear.

Defence missile production and missile programs.

Defence industrial base and production ability to build and navy and power projection.

And then, of course, wrapping it all is Iran's never going to have a nuclear weapon.

So those have been very clear.

But ultimately, I think the President's truth this morning lays that out very well that

this state of Hormuz issue is not just a United States of America problem set and he's

pointing out, you know, you might want to start learning how to fight for yourself.

And US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, well, Catherine King is the federal minister for

infrastructure, transport, regional development and local government and joins me in our

Minister.

Welcome back to breakfast.

Good to be with you, Sally.

What do you make of these latest comments from Donald Trump urging allies to go and get

their own oil?

Well, I think that, you know, we've said right at the start of all of this, we're sort of

running a running commentary on everything that President Trump has saying around a range

of matters.

And so really, I'd leave that with them.

What we're doing is no doubt that the war in the Middle East is the president of the

US.

This is the party that started the conflict.

Yeah, of course.

We take everything that our allies say very seriously, but we obviously were consulted

about the war in the Middle East, but we are bearing the consequences of what has occurred

and the whole world is.

And so, of course, what we are doing through our efforts here is to try and shield Australians

from the worst of it in the best way that we can.

We, of course, said very clearly our views that this war, the sooner it ends, the better

it is for our economy and the world's economy as well.

We have already at the request of the UAE provided assistance in defence, particularly

because of the number of Australians we have over there.

And we'll continue through diplomatic efforts to talk with the US about when they see they

are going to exit what the consequences of that are going to be.

But certainly, my job as Infrastructure and Transport Minister has been to look at how

domestically do we respond to what has been an increase in prices on fuel over because

of a war in the Middle East?

Is domestic response going to be enough to ensure that we have adequate fuel supplies?

Or would the government reconsider sending further military assets and or naval ships into the conflict area?

Well, I'll leave those for the Minister for Defence, but in essence, we've made it fairly clear

that we have provided assistance for the UAE where we've been asked in terms of defence.

I'm not aware of any specific requests from the US in relation to their requests.

And I'll leave that to the Minister for Defence to comment on any of those.

But obviously, we have been making substantial diplomatic efforts as well as to other countries.

You've seen the Prime Minister with the Prime Minister of Singapore work pretty closely.

He's done that with a number of countries, our foreign affairs Minister, Defence Minister

and our climate and energy Minister are doing the same.

The world is facing because of the war in the Middle East, a significant impact on all of our economies

and those representations will continue to be made.

Minister, how long can fuel supplies remain at a workable level in Australia

if the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed?

Well, you're seeing the world adjust already now.

So many of the suppliers of oil are seeking alternate markets, seeking alternate routes

and that is all working its way through the system.

At this stage, as you're aware from the climate and energy Minister,

our suppliers remain as they were when this conflict started.

We are obviously watching and monitoring that very closely to prepare

for the longer, obviously, the Strait is closed.

The longer the war continues, the longer the impacts are on our economy and our domestic supply.

But at this stage, as of today, we continue to receive the amounts of oil

and then are able to refine that here in this country in the same way we have done previously.

There's been a lot of focus on the price of diesel and also petrol.

What's the situation at the moment for jet fuel in Australia?

Yes, so certainly in terms of jet fuel, again, we continue to receive the amounts

that we have done previously.

We've still got the minimum stock holding.

We didn't draw down on that at all.

We only drew down on the stock holding for diesel and petrol.

So that minimum stock holding obligation for jet fuel remains.

But things remain steady, but there is no doubt that the price of jet fuel,

the price of diesel, the price of petrol is having an impact on businesses right

the way you're seeing various responses to that both internationally and here domestically.

And the longer this goes on, the more those impacts are being felt.

Earlier this week, National Cabinet agreed to a four-stage plan to respond to fuel supply issues,

but some groups, such as the National Farmers Federation,

want more details about how fuel suppliers will be secured for activities such as food production,

is the government doing this work now and do you expect to make those details public?

Well, obviously the out of National Cabinet on Monday came the four levels of action,

the first plan and prepare, which we had been doing, two keeping Australia moving,

which is the sort of current level that we're at at the moment.

So the announcements we've made around the road user charging in the transport space,

the harbing of the fuel excise, the work on the Export Finance Act,

which is really important in trying to secure more supply into Australia and to

underwrite some of the risks that are occurring for some of the companies seeking that supply.

So all of that is being done and then the third level taking targeted action.

We're not there, but of course we are doing preparatory work for all of those phases right

the way across government. Minister, just briefly, we've got about a minute up our sleeve.

After National Cabinet, Treasurer Jim Charmer said the states and territories had committed

to providing GST relief, but leaders have failed to agree on a plan to return windfall GST

revenue raised from higher fuel prices. Is the federal government disappointed by that?

Well, Prime Minister and Chief Ministers agreed in the room on National Cabinet that they

didn't think that it was fair, that they would be receiving a GST windfall because of the spike

in petrol prices. How they intend to return that or provide relief in states and territories

is still being worked through. It is really quite a complex issue to do, but it's not beyond them.

We're helping from our end with petrol prices by harbing the excise, and we of course encourage

states and territories to forego that GST on fuel as well and how they do that is still being

worked through and understand it's a complex thing to do, but that's what they agreed in the room

to do. And just very briefly, you're introducing a package of bills to Parliament today to strengthen

aviation consumer protection. What are those changes? Well, we're actually introducing the framework

for the first time for Australia to have an aviation consumer protection regime, which is

underpinned by an essence, a charter of minimum standards that Australians can expect.

In the event that there is something that goes wrong, they don't get the service that they

expected from their airlines or their airports. Today, I'm introducing the framework for that.

There'll be a lot of other supporting regulation that comes under that, but really the outline of

that. An ombuds person for people to be able to complain to, and this protection's charter of

minimum standards. First time we've actually had that, it's been a voluntary, voluntary scheme,

and really this is about getting improvement of services in aviation across the board.

Catherine King, thank you very much. Really good to be with you.