The Hon. Anne Webster, Member for Mallee, Media Release, 27 March 2026
The Nationals are calling on the Albanese Government to immediately halve the fuel tax for three months to provide urgent cost of living relief to Australian households and small businesses facing a deepening national fuel crisis.
Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster MP said the move is a practical, immediate step the Government can take today to ease pressure on families already stretched by the Government’s cost of living crisis who are now being hit by surging fuel prices.
“This tax cut would reduce fuel prices by around 25 cents per litre for three months,” Dr Webster said.
The Nationals in Coalition Opposition are also calling for a corresponding reduction in the Heavy Vehicle Road User Charge.
“Mallee residents are being hit by a perfect storm of Labor’s home-grown inflation crisis and escalating global fuel pressures driven by conflict in the Middle East,” Dr Webster said.
“Australians are hurting. Anthony Albanese is asleep at the wheel and out of gas. He needs to stop watching and start acting.
“Right now, Mallee residents need an immediate tax cut at the bowser and a government that gets fuel to where it is needed.”
“Mallee family budgets are already stretched before the Iran conflict. Labor’s war on fossil fuels has put families, farmers and small businesses at breaking point.
“The Coalition’s proposal to halve the fuel excise is an affordable response to provide Australian families with some ‘breathing space’.
“Around 500 petrol stations are dry or without at least one type of fuel. The Government claims there is enough fuel in the system, but if that is true, then this is a failure to get fuel where it is needed.”
Despite the Government likely being gifted windfall gains in the budget because of the crisis in the Middle East, the Coalition is also putting forward sensible options to fund this relief, ensuring it is delivered without adding to inflationary pressure, including:
- Ending the Electric Car Discount.
- Reversing the Government’s green hydrogen subsidies and tax credits.
- Pausing and strengthening integrity controls around the Home Battery Scheme.
These measures will fully fund the approximate $1.5 billion temporary tax cut for Australian motorists while also easing the broader demand pressures that are driving inflation.
The Coalition is ready to work constructively with the Government to deliver targeted, fully funded relief – driven by sensible savings, not new, higher taxes.
The Coalition’s fuel price relief plan will ensure Mallee residents aren’t forced to pay the price of a global fuel shock on top of the Albanese Labor Government’s home-grown cost-of-living crisis.
