Afternoon Briefing with Patricia Karvelas - 19 March 2026

Melissa McIntosh MP  

Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services  

Shadow Minister for NDIS  

Shadow Minister for Women  

Federal Member for Lindsay  

18 March 2026  

Transcript  

Afternoon Briefing with Patricia Karvelas 

Topics: Australia’s fuel security crisis; war in Iran and cost of living 

E&EO …  

Patricia Karvelas 

The Shadow Social Services Minister, Melissa McIntosh joins me now. Welcome to the program. 

Melissa McIntosh 

Thanks, PK. 

Patricia Karvelas 

Now, the government is coming up with an idea which is a fuel czar which would look over the kind of country's fuel supplies and coordinate where fuel goes. Is that a good idea? 

Melissa McIntosh 

Is this because Chris Bowen is a part time energy minister with another gig? I don't know, I thought that would be his job and it's a job that he should have been 100% focused on over the last couple of weeks. It took the Coalition prodding and asking questions in question time for him to transform from a nothing to see here Minister to a national crisis minister and still no action. Now we're talking about a national energy czar to do a job that he should be doing. People are hurting on the ground. They're paying over a dollar more out here in Western Sydney for both petrol and for diesel. Tradies are having to take their vehicles off the road so they're not able to fulfil their commitments to their consumers, which are everyday Australians. A tradie said to me, a woman was crying because she can't put a hot water heater in her house, and he said - well, what do I do? I can't give things away for free. But this is how much people are struggling right now. A Roy Morgan research report has just come out to say around 1.4 million Australians are likely to be under mortgage stress in April. 

Patricia Karvelas 

Well, it's funny you mentioned it. It's absolutely huge, and the interest rate increase yesterday will have huge implications for lots of households. I just had Ed Husic on and he was very critical that the Reserve Bank took this decision right now during such uncertainty. Do you think the Reserve Bank has made the wrong decision? 

Melissa McIntosh 

I found Ed's comments quite curious. He knows, he's a smart guy, that that's the only lever they have and it's in response to inflation. And we know that inflation was caused before the war between the US and Iran. So, it is a curious comment from him. Well, how about his government stop spending so much, get inflation under control, get the budget under control and despite what the Treasurer said earlier in your program when he laid out what they were doing for Australians, well, they're not addressing the cost of living crisis, they're not addressing the fuel crisis and they don't have the budget under control. They should be prioritising these things. 

Patricia Karvelas 

Do you agree with your colleague Andrew Hastie who called Donald Trump's intervention in that very long social post on social media, he called him petulant. Is he right? 

Melissa McIntosh 

I have so much respect for Andrew. He's probably the only Member of Parliament who has had real life experience in such a war and he carries that with him. From my own personal perspective, I think I'm probably more in the Dave Sharma camp where we can't react to every single emotive comment that the President does have. I'm the co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of the United States, and I know our relationship goes very deep and we've endured so much together as two nations and we always work well together in times of need, but also across our cultural ties. So, I think it's always good to remember that there is strength in our relationship over decades and decades and reacting to every comment the President makes is probably not something in all of our best interests, but I do understand why Andrew has, he's got a depth of personal experience too. 

Patricia Karvelas 

He does. And I suppose it goes to the way perhaps Australians are increasingly feeling. There is the sense of, you know, being a bit more straight talking may be also useful for Australians to know what people really think about these sorts of things. Andrew Hastie has been able to cut through with that. Do you kind of have some sympathy for Australians who are sort of sick of being dictated to by the President and are questioning the relationship and whether it's very good for us? 

Melissa McIntosh 

It's always good to question our place in the world. And I think right now more than ever, and I think this is from COVID times, and this is where I'm critical of the government. We had the warnings around our own sovereignty, and sovereignty isn't just about fuel supply or defence. It appears in many other ways, and when we're losing our manufacturing in Australia - we can't produce the steel we need to build things here or to maintain our defence systems, then people are questioning where our place is in the world and ensuring that we do have our own sovereignty here, and Andrew has been charged as the Shadow Minister pretty much for this particular area, so I think he's right to say what he does say and I think Australians do have an appeal for people being a bit more straight talking and saying how it is, because right now there's one thing that is happening out there and it's that people are struggling and they want politicians like us to be focused on that. 

Patricia Karvelas 

Yeah, they certainly do. And people are being increasingly frustrated. Melissa McIntosh. It's always good to have you as a regular in our show. Thank you so much for coming on. 

Melissa McIntosh 

Thank you.