Zoe McKenzie MP
Shadow Cabinet Secretary
Shadow Assistant Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations
Member for Flinders
TRANSCRIPT – DOORSTOP AT AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT HOUSE
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Topics: Fuel affordability; tourism on the Mornington Peninsula; supply chain costs.
ZOE MCKENZIE: I’m Zoe McKenzie, member for Flinders. Obviously, this week we have been focused on the affordability of Australian fuel. An electorate like mine, the Mornington Peninsula, is utterly dependent for its prosperity on the cost and availability of fuel. You’ve got tradies, you’ve got trucks filled with diesel, you’ve got farmers who have got tractors filled with diesel. But more importantly as well, we have 8 million visitors a year and Easter is one of the best times to come down. So, our restaurants, our cafes, our experiences, our ferries and our beautiful wineries all depend on people having the confidence to get into their car and come down to the Mornington Peninsula.
We already know that bookings are down more than 10% in this period, but the forecast for the next three months is for it to be about 18% down. This is having a real impact in terms of our prosperity, particularly at the small to medium business level, that we already understand is experiencing record insolvencies.
So, we’ve had a decision this week, the Government’s finally come on board and followed what the Coalition’s been asking them to do, to halve excise, which is a start. Now we need to build back confidence so people can go to places like mine on the Mornington Peninsula and enjoy a weekend with their family. They might be spending less, they might be going to the Red Hill Show rather than out for a slapdash dinner somewhere. But nevertheless, to come down and have confidence that they can have a good family holiday this Easter.
JOURNALIST: Do you think that the government’s done enough when it comes to cutting the fuel tax?
ZOE MCKENZIE: I think it’s a start to give people confidence. What will happen next is if they have confidence to fill their tanks at the end of Easter holidays. I think we’ve dealt with the immediate price crush that people are feeling in their pocket. We’ll need to see that actually go down to the bowser, and then the question after that is going to be, do they have certainty going forward? And importantly, do they have certainty that there’s going to be food on their table in a month when the country starts running low on fertiliser supplies.
JOURNALIST: Excellent.
ZOE MCKENZIE: I’ve got the Grandfather of the House next to me.
JOURNALIST: Bob, do you want to say something?
ZOE MCKENZIE: Jump on in, Bob.
BOB KATTER, MEMBER FOR KENNEDY: No, no, no I’m sorry.
ZOE MCKENZIE: You’re just providing a beautiful background.
BOB KATTER: You finish, please.
JOURNALIST: So does that come down to wholesalers then if the supplies are coming in, excise has been halved. Is that on suppliers and retailers to lower the prices? What can the government do there?
ZOE MCKENZIE: Well, the problem we’ve got is that the supply chain is actually getting incumbent with more costs rather than less. So, whilst the actual price may have been coming down at 26 cents per litre, you’ve got enormous costs that are actually going into to the system in terms of the price of fertiliser, the availability of fertiliser. So, we will see vast increases in food costs in coming weeks as well.
JOURNALIST: Excellent. Thank you.
ZOE MCKENZIE: Jump on in, Bob.
ENDS.
