The state government’s daily fuel price cap has failed to prevent fuel price gouging in regional Victoria, with growing concerns about fuel access for independent retailers and farmers.

Major fuel price increases were occurring at the same time independent fuel retailers across regional communities were struggling to access supply.

These independent retailers are the very businesses that deliver fuel directly to farms ahead of sowing and harvest.

Right now the issue isn’t simply price.

We are also facing an access crisis that is directly harming regional Victorians.

Extraordinary demand combined with international supply disruptions had effectively drained the spot market, leaving independent retailers who rely on uncontracted supply struggling to source fuel.

In the days following the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, demand for diesel and petrol surged across regional Australia as farmers, transport operators and businesses rushed to secure supply.

That surge has drained the spare supply that normally circulates through the market.

The situation was already being felt on the ground, with some independent fuel stations in regional Victoria reporting they had run out of fuel.

Suppliers are now moving to allocation systems that prioritise customers with long-term supply contracts.

That means independent retailers and regional communities are finding themselves at the back of the queue, which has serious implications for our agricultural sector.

The impacts were already being felt across regional economies.

Trades, transport businesses and machinery operators all rely on reliable fuel supply to keep working.

When fuel becomes harder to access, it disrupts everything from farming operations to freight, construction and small business.

Australia relied heavily on refined fuel imported from refineries in countries such as Korea, Japan, China and India, many of which depend on crude oil supply from the Middle East.

With shipping routes disrupted and pressure building on refineries overseas, the entire global supply chain is under strain.

This is not a simple retail pricing issue that can be solved with an app or a daily price cap.

The state government must urgently engage with industry to ensure regional Victoria does not face fuel shortages.

When governments fail to act early on supply issues, the pressure flows straight through to families, farmers and small businesses already battling rising costs.

If independent retailers cannot access supply, price caps won’t matter.

The pumps will simply run dry.

I encourage businesses and residents experiencing supply issues to contact my office so the scale of the problem could be raised with government and industry.

MP for Euroa, Annabelle Cleeland

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Now is not the time to scrap the EV discount

Amidst panic buying of petrol at more than $2 a litre and a surge in sales of electric vehicles, the federal government must abandon plans to meddle with a key policy which can help free Australians from the bowser for good.

Battery-powered EVs can run on electricity we make in Australia, including ultra-cheap rooftop solar, while the energy in our fossil-fueled cars is imported from one of the world's least stable regions.

It’s no surprise today we’ve learned this month will be a record for EV sales, and dealership enquiries are at an all time high.

Australians will be spending over $700 more a year at the bowser because of instability on the other side of the world.

The discount on salary packaging EVs gives working families an alternative to expensive and dirty petrol vehicles that is within reach to many families already grappling with the extreme cost of living.

Every new EV sold today on a novated lease is an affordable ex-rental car for an Australian family in five years.

Kill the new market now and you strangle the second-hand pipeline that would have made EVs more accessible to everyone.

Battery EVs hit a record 11.8 per cent of new car sales last month and used EV searches jumped 30 per cent in a single week as war in the Middle East rages on and restricts the supply of oil globally, sending petrol prices through the roof.

The government should view the sudden demand for what it is: everyday community members buckling under the weight of exorbitant energy costs looking for a way to take back control of their cost-of-living.

As the terrible and tragic pictures from the war in Iran pour in and we face the prospect of high petrol prices for many more months, EVs are suddenly passing the pub test in a lot more suburbs in Australia.

Over 400,000 Australians have already made the smart choice in choosing to drive an EV because of the huge savings, and doing that through salary packaging makes it a much easier decision.

The government should not hit the brakes now.

Transport accounts for around 22 per cent of Australia's total emissions and it’s on track to become the nation's largest emitting sector by the end of this decade.

Gutting demand for EVs now will lock in years of higher emissions from cars just as our electricity grid cleans up.

Francis Vierboom, Rewiring Australia CEO