TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW WITH STEPHEN CENATIEMPO, 2CC BREAKFAST
27 March 2026
Topics: Fuel crisis, impact on the aged care sector, fuel excise
E&OE…………………………………
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Now, we're obviously concerned about this fuel crisis, and it's affecting all of us. Petrol prices have gone through the roof. I mean, you cannot get diesel in Canberra for under $3.9 a litre at the moment. Regular unleaded is around the 2.50 mark. Premium unleaded is higher than that. But one of the things that I don't think we've thought about is how is this going to affect essential services for older Australians and other vulnerable Australians who might need, you know, house calls or Meals on Wheels or any of these kind of things. Is the Government doing anything here? Senator Anne Ruston is the Shadow Minister of Health and Aged Care and joins us now. Anne, good morning.
ANNE RUSTON: Good morning, Stephen.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: What is the Government doing to make sure that our most vulnerable Australians, elderly Australians, are getting the essential services they need?
ANNE RUSTON: Well, nothing, Stephen, from what we can gather. We've been asking questions all week of the Government about what they're doing, because we've been speaking to the sector and we found out directly from providers that they are really struggling to make ends meet to be able to get to older Australians. Now, so far, I think a lot of these service providers have continued, regardless of the additional cost of making sure that their services are available to older Australians. But as this crisis deepens and it continues, there's some really serious concerns, and where's the Minister? Where's the Government? I mean, they're not even speaking to the sector about what these problems are, let alone trying to put solutions in place to address it.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Because it's not just the cost of fuel – obviously, that's going to be an issue for care workers who need to drive to their clients, et cetera – but availability, because there will be rationing. We know it's coming. I mean, certain peak bodies have been given the tip-off that we're about nine or ten days away from rationing, and there will be essential fuel users that are designated under the Liquid Fuel Emergency Act, but you can't seem to ascertain whether aged care workers and essential workers in the aged care field are going to be deemed essential.
ANNE RUSTON: Well, we asked the Government that question directly this week and they would give us no answer. So, my greatest fear is when they won't answer the question, it usually means that the answer is no. So, yeah, we are very, very concerned because, as you rightly point out, there are more options available when it's the price that's causing the problem, but when actual supply and access to that supply is being compromised, then things start becoming much more serious. I mean, we found out this week that a poll showed that on average an aged care worker in regional areas travels 260 kilometres. That means that every week they're losing $160 out of their pay. But some workers in more remote areas are doing 1,000 kilometres per week, and I mean that just becomes very quickly unsustainable. And the big question is, what happens to those older Australians that are relying on those people? It's very, very scary and I think the Government has got to stop putting their head in the sand and actually do something. These are some of our most vulnerable Australians.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: I think, you know, we think about the Capital region and people who have got to come into Canberra for these services or travel from Canberra out to regional areas, or in our old stomping ground where you might have to go to say Mildura or Adelaide. I mean, that's going to be an absolute fortune in fuel.
ANNE RUSTON: Absolutely, and we're already hearing people making comments about how they're not going away for their Easter holidays, which is a time when families get together, but when you hear of a situation where older vulnerable Australians – often where their only point of contact is coming from these people that are providing their care – that they may be missing out on the care and the contact, this is when it starts getting really, really serious. I just can't understand why the Government is not taking any notice of all of the warning signs that are being put in front of them. I mean, they just seem to have their fingers in their ears and hoping like all get-out that this issue is going to go away. Well, this crisis is not going to go away and they're the Government and they should be addressing it.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Are they still pushing the line that they were earlier in the week? Every spokesperson for the Government was out saying, 'we've got more fuel in Australia now than we had before the Iran war started,' which I don't think anybody believes, but even if it is true, it's certainly not getting to where it needs to be.
ANNE RUSTON: Look, absolutely, but you know, we heard Wayne Swan come out and say, you know, one of their own, 'this is the most significant petrol shock in our history.' If that's the case, why is the Government continuing to pretend like this is all going to go away? And the reality is, if we have got the kind of stocks on shore that the Government keeps telling us that there's no problem with supply, why is it that we've got hundreds and hundreds of fuel stations around the country with no fuel? What's the Government doing to get the fuel out of the depots and into the tanks of Australians, into the tanks of our tractors that need to be out there harvesting or planting? It just seems to me that the Government's saying there's no problem because there's plenty of fuel. Well, there is a problem because if there is plenty of fuel it's not getting where it needs to go.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: No, that's right, it's not in the tanks where it's supposed to be, but I guess the immediate thing that the Government could do here to alleviate some of this pressure is either halve or scrap the fuel excise. I mean, I would think it should be scrapped permanently anyway, but no government's going to do that because of the revenue, but there's not even been any consideration of that by the looks of it.
ANNE RUSTON: Well, there doesn't seem to be any consideration of anything to be frank, Stephen. And, you know, this is where national leadership is needed in a crisis and this government is completely missing in action on this crisis. But they should be looking at every single option that they have available to them to provide relief to Australians who are already doing it tough. I mean, this a crisis on a crisis. We already had a crisis with the inflation and the cost of living that Australians were already facing before this came on top of it. They should be looking at every single lever that they have that they can pull, targeted and temporary, to get Australians through this fuel crisis. And yet, all we've seen them talk about so far are statements of intent, meetings, you know, monitoring situations, appointing a tsar. I mean, one thing you can say about this government, the first thing they look for when they've got a crisis is somebody else to blame. So, they put their fuel tsar in there and now you can be guaranteed that whatever goes wrong from here on in, it will be somebody else's fault and the fuel tsar will be the one – or the fuel coordinator I think they call them – will be one that gets blamed for this.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: As I said a couple of times this morning, the flip side of that is you've got the New South Wales Government that have said, well, we're going to put a crisis centre together, it'll be up and running in 24 hours. No mucking around.
ANNE RUSTON: Yeah, and I think we're seeing this around the country. Because of this federal government and Anthony Albanese's refusal to lead, the States and Territories are actually taking action into their own hands, which then probably means that the response around the nation will not be consistent. So if you're in one state, you'll have a different response than to another state. This is a time with a national crisis when we need national leadership, and we have a Prime Minister that is refusing to step up to the plate and show national leadership. And I think Australians will see the Prime Minister for the very weak leader that he is through this crisis.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO: Frightening situation, Anne. I appreciate your time this morning.
ANNE RUSTON: My pleasure, thanks Stephen.
ENDS
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