{"id":567256,"date":"2026-03-27T06:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T06:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/567256\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T06:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T06:37:15","slug":"angus-taylor-calls-for-fuel-excise-cut-as-albanese-rejects-reduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/567256\/","title":{"rendered":"Angus Taylor calls for fuel excise cut as Albanese rejects reduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated March 27, 2026 \u2014 3:02pm,first published 12:11pm<\/p>\n

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has left the door open to cutting fuel taxes while ramping up efforts to calm public panic<\/a> over shortages at service stations, as Opposition Leader Angus Taylor demands the government takes 26 cents per litre off the cost of fuel.<\/p>\n

Taylor on Friday released a plan to halve the 52 cents per litre fuel excise<\/a> for three months, which would save motorists a combined $1.5 billion over three months.<\/p>\n

\"NationalsNationals leader Senator Matt Canavan, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Senator Bridget McKenzie and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor fill up. Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n

The average national price for regular unleaded reached a record high<\/a> of $2.38 last week.<\/p>\n

Taylor said the excise cut was needed to help Australians cope with the rising cost of living and should be paid for by cutting the government\u2019s tax breaks on electric vehicles and pausing the popular scheme of discounts for home batteries.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Prime<\/a><\/p>\n

Calling a snap press conference alongside Energy Minister Chris Bowen, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would only act within the constraints of the budget, which is under intense pressure from rising inflation, and said programs to make EVs and batteries cheaper<\/a> are helping reduce cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>\n

He criticised Taylor\u2019s political approach, but crucially did not talk down the policy move of cutting excise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there is anyone out there today who has bought an electric vehicle who\u2019s regretting the decision at this point in time,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n

The Coalition believes its excise cut, which it has costed at $1.5 billion for three months, would only push up demand a small amount, as pump prices would fall by just 10 per cent.<\/p>\n

In economic terms, demand for petrol is usually \u201cprice inelastic\u201d. That means a change in price traditionally has a muted impact on demand from motorists.<\/p>\n

But during the past four weeks, demand has soared even as prices have climbed to record levels.<\/p>\n

\"PrimePrime Minister Anthony Albanese and Energy Minister Chris Bowen address the nation from Canberra on Friday.Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n

But independent economist Saul Eslake said cutting petrol excise would simply increase the chance of the Reserve Bank lifting interest rates even higher<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Reserve Bank is on high alert for anything that may add to the economy\u2019s inflation pressures,\u201d Eslake said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the Coalition might giveth, the Reserve Bank is more likely to taketh away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Energy<\/a><\/p>\n

Eslake said if the government was considering any cost-of-living relief in the coming budget, it had to be aware that the RBA \u2013 which has lifted interest rates at its last two meetings \u2013 may hike rates.<\/p>\n

After a week of pressure from states, the Coalition, and some within Labor to front up to a press conference and address the fuel crisis, Albanese confirmed six tankers of jet fuel would arrive between now and April 8, mostly from China as the government says it is bringing in more supply than normal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis war is having an impact on Australians, like it\u2019s having an impact around the world. You can\u2019t wish that away. What you can do is respond in an appropriate, orderly, adult way,\u201d Albanese said alongside Bowen in the blue room of Parliament House, which is reserved for significant announcements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand this creates [pressures] for small businesses, for farmers, for the Australian public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of a national cabinet meeting on Monday<\/a> at which state and federal leaders are expected to discuss fuel conservation measures, Albanese said: \u201cOne of the lessons of the COVID pandemic is that we made a number of decisions as a nation that could have been made better if there was proper consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowen said Australia\u2019s fuel supply remained secure for the next month or so, and that he had held many positive discussions with Asian nations that supply a significant volume of Australia\u2019s petrol and diesel, including Malaysia.<\/p>\n

Malaysia announced overnight that Iran had allowed passage of its oil tankers through the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world\u2019s fuel is exported.<\/p>\n

Middle Eastern gas supplies to Asia are also being choked by the Iran war.<\/p>\n

When asked if he would seek a deal to guarantee Australia\u2019s gas supply to Malaysia, in exchange for the Asian nation\u2019s fuel exports, Albanese said the nation\u2019s gas exports were \u201cvery important\u201d to Asia.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia is a reliable supplier. We expect reciprocation in our economic relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowen said he was \u201cvery, very pleased\u201d with his regular conversations with Malaysia.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201c[The] Malaysian government has indicated to me they regard their role as a reliable supplier of liquid fuel to Australia extremely importantly, and that they see Australia as a key ally and friend, and that they will continue to work with us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Panic buying has driven a doubling of demand from motorists, farmers and other fuel users as the Iran war stretches into its fourth week.<\/p>\n

Asian refineries that supply about 80 per cent of Australia\u2019s fuel may exhaust their stocks of crude oil within a month, and it remains unclear how the potential shortfalls could be filled.<\/p>\n

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CLARIFICATION<\/p>\n

An earlier version of this story said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had rejected a cut to the fuel excise. It has since been updated to clarify that while he disagreed with Angus Taylor\u2019s proposal and how to fund it, he did not reject a fuel excise cut altogether.<\/p>\n

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\"MikeMike Foley<\/a> is the climate and energy correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.\"PaulPaul Sakkal<\/a> is Chief Political Correspondent. He previously covered Victorian politics and won a Walkley award and the 2025 Press Gallery Journalist of the Year. Contact him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.\"BrittanyBrittany Busch<\/a> is a federal politics reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.\"ShaneShane Wright<\/a> is a senior economics correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated March 27, 2026 \u2014 3:02pm,first published 12:11pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-567256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}