JOURNALIST: ... been keen to give us fuel?  

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: The role Australia plays in energy security in the region is of vital importance. They know it, we know it, we have built these relationships over many years, whether that be in the export of coal as energy into Asia, or LNG, but also other commodities, of course iron ore and gold, and so forth. So, you know, to get those exports out of this country we need the liquid fuels as well, as well as the protein we provide into the region. So we've had many discussions with counterparts across Asia. Indeed the Prime Minister has spoken with the Prime Minister of Singapore, as that is a really important fuel supply for Australia. And the consensus is that we're going to work together in this moment to make sure we're all well supplied, and we maintain that really important regional energy security.

JOURNALIST: So it's in their interests to provide us with the transport fuel as much as ours?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, absolutely, absolutely. But of course, you know, the difficulty comes because of the part of the supply chain which is crude oil out of the Middle East, so you know, you refiners of the fuel still have to get access to the crude oil as well. So we are all working really hard to make sure we maintain that fuel security, whether it be liquid fuel or energy type fuel like gas, but if it's difficult to get hold of crude oil, it does become problematic. But at the moment Australia is very well supplied, and we continue to be so. We've taken a lot of action to make sure that remains the case through the great work of Minister Bowen and his team, working really very hard to make sure that happens.

JOURNALIST: Are any of our trading partners raising concerns about the Gas Reservation Scheme as part of this discussion?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: We have been very open about the reservation scheme as an announcement during an election, but also we have consulted very widely and deeply with our partners. I speak to their teams frequently and have again just last weekend in Tokyo spoken about it again.

JOURNALIST: Are they saying they feel this makes Australian gas more unreliable    

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Not at all, not at all.

JOURNALIST:    are they raising concerns about it?  

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: No, not at all, and that's because we've been clear and consistent. And not just me as the Resources Minister, but the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and all the Ministers assuring our regional partners that we will remain a reliable supplier of gas, and we can do that.

JOURNALIST: The fuel crisis is clearly affecting lots of sectors including the mining sector. There's reports of the smaller players in the exploration space, for instance, that are having to lay off workers or scale back. How concerned are you about the implications of this on the mining sector, and also if it gets to the point where we have to have rationing, where should mining be placed in the order of priorities and essential services?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Look, as to the first question around the current needs of the industry, this is an industry that has   logistics is its expertise, it's decades of work making sure it has what it needs to, you know, keep the wheels turning, so to speak. So I meet with the industry frequently. It is Minerals Week, I've had a number of discussions. We know the larger companies have, as a matter of course they have a lot of fuel on hand anyway, and there's no evidence of any disruption at the moment. I have heard the remarks from AMEC and that some of the smaller miners are having difficulties. We are working alongside the State Governments through the coordination process that Minister Bowen has announced and the coordinator that was announced by the Prime Minister to make sure that the fuel is getting to where it needs to go, and I think that that's exactly what is happening, and will continue to -    

JOURNALIST: And the second part of that question?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Sorry, what was it again?

JOURNALIST: Just in terms of, if we get to the point of having rationing, and it needs to go to essential services, where would mining be?  

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Australia's very well supplied right now with fuel, I think going to that hypothetical is not particularly useful at the moment. We are well supplied, and I think - well, the Prime Minister and Minister Bowen have been very clear on that.

JOURNALIST: Last one guys, last one.

JOURNALIST: You said just then that the mining sector's very good at getting what it needs. Are there fears from the Government that miners might go directly to suppliers and that they might take fuel that's come into Australia and can't get it elsewhere?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Sorry, I don't want to be misunderstood in what I said about the industry. They just plan really well for all sorts of eventualities. And when I think of operations in the Pilbara, that includes like our weather events, so they have supplies to, you know, make sure that's dealt with. So I don't want to be misunderstood that they jump a queue or anything like that. The mining industry works very hard to make sure it can continue, because it knows its importance to our regional customers, but equally to the Australian people and the jobs that it creates around this country, but also, you know, its contribution to the budget of this country.

JOURNALIST: Minister, have you been advised by our trading partners, those countries with refineries as to when they will expect to see supply chain shocks from the Strait of Hormuz, so to those imports of that crude oil?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: My discussions have been very much around how we build on the trust we already have as mutual suppliers of energy and keeping up those close relationships so that there are no unexpected surprises. Last question, Phil, I've got to go, sorry.

JOURNALIST: Do you see a case for a windfall tax on gas, especially if the price spikes as a result of the crisis?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Our gas policies haven't changed, and I've seen that there's a lot of stuff circling around, a lot of popular kind of TikTok videos that - that's no way to design tax policy. So you know, I'm not going to pronounce anything -   

JOURNALIST: Have you told Treasury that then?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I'm answering Phil's question. So, you know, we will work through any process. What I'm really focused on now is the work on the gas reservation scheme, that was the question that was asked earlier, to make sure that works for the Australian people, for Australian industry, but also really importantly to maintain our position as that reliable exporter.

JOURNALIST: Will the gas reservation negate the need for  [indistinct]    

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: There's two different discussions - but the reservation scheme, you know, does work in a way as cross subsidy across the industry as the exports help us maintain lower domestic prices. But that is a work in progress that we're undertaking. I'm really sorry, I do have to go, to prepare for a very late Question Time. So thank you very much.