Interview on Sky News First Edition with Peter Stefanovic.

Wednesday, 4 March 2026

Topics: Middle East Conflict, Fuel Prices, Jim Chalmers' Debt

E&OE

Peter Stefanovic: It's about a cent so we're looking at maybe another 40, 50 cents. So my calculations and I wasn't very good at maths if things are about $2.20 at the moment well that could well be heading to $2.70. Things can change though. Bring in the Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson for his thoughts on this. I mean service stations are going to do what they do Tim. Is there anything more that the Treasurer could be doing?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, what he can stop doing is trying to distract from his responsibility around the inflation pressure, the economy is experiencing right now. You know, the government, of course, can take temporary measures, like addressing things around tax, which is a significant part of the cost of petrol. And, but so long as he keeps pouring debt petrol on the inflation fire, Australians are going to live with the consequences of it.

Peter Stefanovic: So, I mean, what temporary measures do you think it could be looking at if this war goes on for weeks, if not months?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, as I said, one of the biggest components around the cost of petrol is tax. And, of course, excise means that when the price of petrol goes up, Jim Chambers collects more money. So that's a matter for him to decide whether he wants to stop his tax addiction, or not. But we know he's built an economy on a house of credit cards. And he is always looking for more money as a way to address his spending addiction and his credit card addiction.

Peter Stefanovic: So are you saying there should be a drop to the fuel excise? Or a pause? Or a cut?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, what we know full well is that every time the price of petrol goes up, Jim Chambers collects more tax revenue, and he's going to continue to try and collect as much of that revenue to address his credit card problem because he has built an Australian economy on a house of credit cards.

Peter Stefanovic: But just for clarification, do you think the fuel excise should be cut or paused at the moment given the price of fuel is going to skyrocket?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, I'm going to watch the situation very carefully, but it's very clear to me that when there's an increase in petrol prices. Jim Chambers collects more excise revenue and he's got to think seriously about the consequences because Australians are already doing it tough under this government because they keep pouring debt petrol on the inflation fire. Australian households are going backwards and real wages are going backward while prices continue to rise and we need the Government to actually start to take the inflation problem it's created seriously.

Peter Stefanovic: But is that something that you're calling for?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, we're having a conversation because we're focused on how we're going to restore the Australian way of, or protect the Australian way of life and restore our standard of living. But these are things that the Treasurer can choose to do if he chooses to do them. The problem is he probably isn't going to do it because he needs the revenue to cover his credit card bills.

Peter Stefanovic: Well, if you want, would you be calling for, I'm just trying to clarify here, are you calling for a cut or a pause to the fuel excise?

Tim Wilson MP: As I said, we're going through our processes to address how we're gonna confront these realities, but it seems pretty clear to me that the Treasurer could take that action if he chose to take that action. At this point, he's quite happy to take extra money from tax revenue from Australians because he's got a credit card addiction, that he needs to pay off.

Peter Stefanovic: Does that not paper over cracks though? Have we not seen that in the past, when the fuel excise is reinstated?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, that's ultimately one of the questions that the Treasurer, he's in government, Pete. He's the one who's made a judgement call about what he's going to do. And a t this point, he's gonna get a massive windfall from an increase in this price, and it's gonna be paid for by the Australian taxpayer. I understand the temptation for him to collect that extra revenue because he needs that to pay off the credit cards that he's used to build the house of credit cards of the Australian economy.

Peter Stefanovic: How much should it be wound back? Just humour me.

Tim Wilson MP: Well, that's the conversation you'll need to have with the Treasurer. He needs to go through and look at the consequences of what does it look like, what does a model when you increase the price of petrol significantly because of temporary global factors and how much revenue is he going to collect extra because, of these factors.

Peter Stefanovic: But as you mentioned there the word temporary, would there be a point in doing that if it's only temporary?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, no-one knows how long this is going to go on for, but the question for Jim Chambers is how much extra tax revenue is he going to collect? I know he wants to collect it. He's got a massive credit card problem. The question is, is he gonna force more pain on Australian households as a consequence of extra tax on petrol?

Peter Stefanovic: How much of this is out of his hands though, to be fair? I mean, this has happened in another part of the world that we didn't have anything to do with, so you're going to have increased fuel costs, which now will drive inflation because everything else is going to become more expensive off the back of that, transport, energy, etc. But I mean, how much of this is out of the Treasurer's hands?

Tim Wilson MP: Well, tax is totally within his hands. He gets to make a choice about whether he collects extra tax revenue because of a change in petrol prices globally. And the choice is his. Does he want to continue to punish Australian households so he can pay off the credit cards that he's built the Australian economy on, or does he actually want to give Australians household relief? That's a decision for him.

Peter Stefanovic: Ok, we'll leave it there. Tim Wilson, thank you so much. We'll chat to you again soon.

ENDS