PM announces new powers amid fuel security crisis
The government will underwrite the purchase of fuel and other essential items to help Australia’s bolster supply levels.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Saturday morning the government would amend the Export, Finance and Insurance Corportation act to establish extra powers to help get more fuel into the country.
Albanese said it would enable the government to support the private sector and underwrite the purchase of fuel, fertiliser and other essentials.
“We will use Export Finance Australia to underwrite the purchase of shiploads of fuel that will add to supply here in Australia,” he said.
“This support from the government will not be business as usual. It has to be additional supplies that are avaliable on the international market and it literally will be underwriting the purchase of shiploads of fuel to get here to Australia.”
“These powers will be used to help acquire the additonal supply that’s so valuable for Australia’s fuel security where it would be cost prohibitive for private suppliers to source on commerical terms without government support.”
Albanese explained there was a risk for the private purchase of fuel at higher prices because there was so much uncertianty with the war.
These powers were about “risk mitigation” for the private sector, he said.
“I want to assure Australians that we will do whatever is necessary to make sure that their interests are looked after because we understand that this is a really difficult time,” he said.
Albanese reiterated Australia’s fuel suppy outlook remains secure in the “near term”.
Australia has 39 days of petrol with 1.6 billion litres available.
More: Good news for Australians: Anthony Albanese is considering reducing fuel taxes.
Truckies seek cash payments, slash in road user charge amid fuel crisis
Transport companies are seeking emergency financial payments and a cut to the heavy vehicle road user charge as part of a nationwide response to fuel shortages caused by the Iran war.
The National Road Transport Association has called for three “urgent” actions – emergency financial support payments for affected transport businesses, a six-month moratorium on heavy vehicle equipment loan repayments and a suspension of the road user charge.
“A consistent, nationwide approach is critical to ensure operators aren’t facing a patchwork of measures and can access the same level of support regardless of where they operate,” chief executive Warren Clark said.
“These are practical, short-term measures that would deliver immediate cashflow relief and help keep trucks on the road.”
The coalition has called for a reduction in the fuel excise to provide relief to motorists.
But Clark said the reduction alone would not be enough to address the scale of the current crisis.
“The government’s response has fallen well short of what industry urgently needs,” he said.
“Operators are crying out for help, yet the government continues to be largely absent at a time when decisive intervention is critical.”
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Government ‘running around like headless chooks’ in fuel crisis
An energy expert says the government is “running around like headless chooks” trying to deal with the ongoing fuel supply crisis and warns the worst is still yet to come.
Chair of the Institute for Integrated Economic Research John Blackburn AO told Weekend Sunrise the government appeared to just be “reacting to things” and should have started planning for possible fuel supply issues weeks ago.
It comes as the Daily Telegraph reported the government was expected to announce an emergency fuel plan with a focus on provisions for the agriculture and trucking industry, ambulances and garbage trucks.
A cut to the fuel excise is not on the table because it would drive up demand.
“I think they’re running around like headless chooks at the moment,” Blackburn said.
More: Fines for gasoline have doubled to $100 million, sparking outrage among Australians
“On the one hand, if you cut the fuel excise they’re worried that will increase consumption. But there’s another way of doing this, people are suffering out there, listen to truck drivers and farmers.
“You have to consider doing that and then to control the amount of fuel consumed, in other words make sure people don’t buy more than they need or they don’t panic buy.
“You then put measures on consumption, limits on how much they can fill, you can’t use jerry cans. So I think this reluctance is a bit short-sighted.”
Blackburn said Australia was still not seeing the full impacts of the fuel supply shortage and that it could get much worse.
“We are still not seeing the supply impacts in this country yet. They’re coming at us because the fuel and oil coming out of the Middle East affected the refines about a week ago. They are starting to cut off movements, so we’ll start to see that impact on our supply probably in about two weeks,” he said.
“When that shortage actually gets to us in the system then we’re going to have to have measures, working very closely with the states and territories, of how can we restrict how much fuel people can buy.
“But things like farming, trucks particularly our whole logistics system needs to be prioritised and that’s something that the liquid fuel emergency act is supposed to enable.”
Blackburn predicted the government would eventually have to implement the liquid fuel emergency act and introduce rationing.
The 1984 act gives the government powers to control industry-held stocks of crude oil and liquid fuels, production by Australian refineries and fuel sales.
Australia was forced to ration fuel in the 1970s during a fuel crisis that followed the Iranian revolution.
“In the 1970s you had odds and evens, so if you had an even number plate you had one day, (if you had) an odd plate (you had) the next day, a lot of people had two cars with different number plates,” Blackburn said.
For Australians now fuel rationing may mean people are given a dollar limit on how much fuel they can buy or they may not be allowed to have a full tank of fuel unless they have an exemption.
“We should have been preparing for this clearly a couple weeks ago but its going to be complex,” Blackburn said.
“It’s going to be a nightmare to police but we’ll have to do it.”
