Topics: Australia Post fuel surcharge, fuel campaign
Kieran Gilbert: Let’s go live to the Shadow Communications Minister, Sarah Henderson, joins us now. Sarah Henderson, thanks for your time. You’ve just written a letter to Anika Wells, your counterpart, the government Minister for Communications, and urging her to revoke what is an increase in a surcharge for small business from Australia Post. Can you explain to our viewers what this is all about?
Senator Henderson: Well, Kieran, good afternoon, I’ve called on the minister to reverse Australia Post’s callous and opportunistic fuel surcharge, which has gone from 4.8 per cent to 12 per cent, a 150 per cent increase. This is a real hit job on principally, small businesses. The minister has been missing in action and that’s why I have called on her to reverse this charge.
Kieran Gilbert: How many businesses are we talking about, small businesses that would have been hit by this surcharge, a freight surcharge by Australia Post?
Senator Henderson: Kieran, roughly 30,000 businesses, many of them small businesses, many of them e-commerce businesses. These are businesses with domestic parcel sending contracts with Australia Post, so it doesn’t affect everyone. But how can Australia Post gouge their customers at a time of a national fuel crisis, when more Australians are relying on parcel deliveries? And that’s bound to happen like it did in the pandemic when parcel deliveries increased quite dramatically. And for this minister and for the Prime Minister to sit on their hands and watch this gouge on small businesses is unacceptable.
The minister must stand up. She’s been missing in action on many issues since her travel rorts scandal unfolded. But it is time that this government stood up for small businesses and said to Australia Post, this is not on, we will not accept this fee increase.
Kieran Gilbert: We will wait to see what the response is from Anika Wells. On the government’s advertising campaign, $20 million, the Prime Minister says this is a time that people need some practical tips, a bit of reassurance. Does that make sense?
Senator Henderson: No, it doesn’t. This is appalling that the Prime Minister is now spending $20 million telling Australians to pump up their tyres. The only tyres which are being pumped up are the Prime Minister’s tyres. He’s spruiking his so-called achievements when we know that this Prime Minister is always the last to lead in a national crisis. It was, of course, the Coalition’s call for a halving of the fuel tax which led the charge, the Prime Minister has now followed on that.
And I’ve just heard Chris Bowen in his press conference. What a joke. This is an energy minister, Kieran, who wants to shut down coal and gas and oil in this country. It’s a complete and utter disaster what this government is doing to our energy security. We need to open up our resources. We need to drill for oil. And of course, we need to abolish net zero which is driving so many of these horrific policies which are causing such environmental and economic harm to our country. So it is about time this government started to act in the interests of all Australians, and it’s certainly not doing that at the moment.
Kieran Gilbert: The Prime Minister is heading to Malaysia and Brunei tomorrow to ensure the free flow of fuel and to remind those nations like he did in Singapore last week, Australia remains a reliable supplier of LNG. They’re not shutting it down, Sarah Henderson?
Senator Henderson: Well, Kieran, Australians deserve full transparency, which is why we’ve been calling for a national dashboard, a daily update on where there are fuel shortages, where there are stocks, where there are cancelled or delayed shipments. And again, this Prime Minister has not been transparent about the deal that’s been struck with Singapore. And it is about time, as I say, that Australians are put first. He must tell all Australians the deal that has been struck with Singapore and also what is proposed for Brunei and Malaysia.
Kieran Gilbert: Okay, Sarah Henderson, thanks. We appreciate it, we’ll talk to you soon.