I am pleased to speak in support of the Energy and Utilities Administration Amendment Bill 2026, which arose from the Government's efforts to respond to the global fuel crisis that has had local impacts here in New South Wales. The Government has worked hard with the Commonwealth, States and Territories to respond to fuel supply pressures in a nationally coordinated way. That has helped stabilise fuel prices and alleviate bottlenecks in regional and other vulnerable locations. From 1 April the Commonwealth Government halved the fuel excise for three months. That was complemented by our Government's decision to forgo increased GST revenue on fuel transactions. The combined action resulted in a total reduction in excise on petrol and diesel of 32¢ per litre.

Although fuel prices have come down, they remain elevated, and families and businesses across the State are struggling with the cost of living. This week the Commonwealth announced an extension of excise relief for July, which will maintain a 16¢ per litre reduction until 2 August. The Government supports that very sensible tapering of the fuel excise reduction. It recognises that the recovery of global fuel supply chains will take time, even as the Strait of Hormuz reopens following the ceasefire between the United States and Iran. The Commonwealth has also taken steps to ensure domestic supplies of fuel across Australia, which have helped put downward pressure on prices. That was achieved through a temporary easing of Australia's fuel standards, increasing the available diesel supply options.

The Commonwealth Government also released 20 per cent of Australia's strategic stockpile of petrol and diesel, which was targeted to particularly support regional areas. Through Export Finance Australia, the Commonwealth has been underwriting fuel importers to secure additional cargoes of petrol, diesel and jet fuel. The New South Wales Government is working with the Commonwealth, States, Territories and industry to improve readiness to respond if further fuel supply shortages emerge in future. While the recent ceasefire and ongoing peace talks give us cause to be cautiously optimistic, we continue to monitor fuel supply and distribution very closely. It is important that we have access to timely, accurate information to inform decision-making if the fuel situation deteriorates again.

The Minister for Energy recently issued information notices to a number of fuel companies to support the Government's response. That assists the Government to form a more complete view of how it can work with the fuel industry, as well as to prepare for the potential exercise of emergency powers if needed. However, the Government's information-gathering powers need to be further strengthened to respond to potential energy supply disruptions. We need to be able to obtain timely and detailed information from industry in the event of a declared emergency to support affected and targeted directions. Under the amendments in the bill, information notices can now be varied or revoked to support the effective administration of those notices, including extending time frames or correcting errors where appropriate.

Importantly, the amendments introduce an express power to require periodic reporting, which will support ongoing monitoring of fuel supply conditions and enable timely responses, whether through voluntary industry arrangements or the exercise of emergency powers, if required. Furthermore, the Minister will have the power to require people to answer questions, where relevant, about energy supply disruption. This will strengthen information-gathering powers, including for assessing fuel availability and investigating potential noncompliance with the Act. That will make sure that New South Wales is in the best position possible to protect essential services and vulnerable communities, and to take coordinated action with other jurisdictions under the National Fuel Security Plan. I commend the bill to the House.