Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will fly to Asia again this week in a bid to shore up Australia’s fuel supply, visiting Brunei and Malaysia after stopping in Singapore last week.
Albanese defended his fuel crisis strategies on Sunrise as host Nat Barr took aim with questions about the nation’s self-sustainability, and the new “every little bit helps” public information advertising campaign that cost $20 million.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Albanese discusses fuel stocks and new ad campaign on Sunrise
Australia has secured fuel supply until late May, but Albanese said on Sunrise on Monday that Australia is also first in line for more fuel from Asia.
However, the prime minister has conceded that major exporters may soon prioritise their own domestic markets if the war drags on.
“Singapore was able to show us, by going to the refinery there, the work that they’ve been able to achieve, which is to replace that Middle East fuel with the stocks from Africa and from the Americas,” he said.
“So they’re very confident that they won’t be imposing any export controls.
“Australia, of course, is at the front of the queue because of the strong relationship that we’ve built up with Singapore.”
The PM acknowledged the uncertainty of the current global situation, particularly after peace negotiations in the Middle East broke down yesterday.
“We want to see those talks resume. We want to see an end to the conflict in the Middle East. And we want to see the Strait of Hormuz opened with freedom of navigation,” Albanese said.
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek defended the government’s approach, saying Australia currently has a month’s worth of diesel, jet fuel and petrol, with 57 ships on the way.
“It’s a very wise precaution for the prime minister to be on these diplomatic missions to Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, just to remind our neighbours that we have a strong reliance on fuel from them, just as they rely on us for natural gas,” Plibersek said.
She emphasised the need for the ceasefire in the Middle East to hold, noting the conflict has had a significant effect on fuel security and other goods like fertiliser around the world.
Barr takes aim at Albanese over fuel supply
Sunrise host Nat Barr pressed the Albanese over the nation’s level of self-sustainability when it comes to fuel.
“Why does Australia rely so heavily on imported fuel when we have all these natural resources?” Barr said.
“We’re not self-sufficient. And you have to keep flying over everywhere and we have to keep doing these deals. Should we start focusing on our own production. Invest in areas like the Taroom trough … or the Great Australian Bight?”
Albanese said onshore projects are being explored to offset Australia’s reliance on external suppliers, under the government’s Future Made in Australia agenda.
He said projects to extract within the Great Australian Bight “didn’t stack up commercially” despite being licensed under the previous government.
“Barnaby [Joyce] said it was the Greenies who shut that down,” Barr said, referencing campaigning against the project and its potential for a catastrophic oil spill that could destroy both south coast tourism and the marine environment.
But Albanese dismissed the suggestions that environmental concerns blocked development of the Great Australian Bight.
“It wasn’t blocked environmentally, that’s the fact of what happened there,” Albanese said.
“Four out of six of Australia’s fuel refineries closed under the former government and we kept our reserves in Texas.
“Thank God that we brought those reserves back onshore.”
He said that when the recent conflict began, fuel reserves were at their highest levels in 15 years.
Albanese also acknowledged his government’s fuel excise cuts of 32 cents, but admitted Australia wasn’t immune from what he described as “the biggest global spike that has ever happened in history”.
Albanese defends ad campaign branded ‘stupid’
The government has come under fire for spending $20 million on an advertising campaign launching today, which encourages Australians to reduce driving and conserve fuel.
Appearing on Sunrise earlier on Monday, One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce questioned the government’s confidence in fuel supplies, saying: “We wouldn’t be having a stupid ad telling people not to use fuel if we were completely confident we had enough of it here.”
Joyce sarcastically said, “There’s nothing to worry about, but if you just remove your roof racks and pump up your tyres a little and drive a little bit slower, everything will be fine. But don’t worry. There’s nothing to worry about. It’s ridiculous.”
Albanese defended the campaign and said it is needed to counter misinformation online, maintain public confidence, and reduce panic buying.
“We need to give people that information,” he said. “We have a four-point plan. We’re at level two now, which is keep the economy moving.”
Barr also took aim at the advertising campaign and its huge price tag, telling Albanese: “We would have had you on Sunrise for free and you could have told everyone to pump up your tyres and use less fuel.”
Albanese told Sunrise that a public information campaign that extends to all media networks was important when trying to avoid “heavy-handed” COVID-style measures.
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek also defended the advertising expenditure, and compared the $20 million spend favourably to the $340 million the Liberal government spent on tax reform campaign, including TV ads set to the Joe Cocker song Unchain My Heart.
Plibersek said the government has implemented at least 16 measures to address fuel security, including cutting the fuel excise in half, removing the heavy vehicle user charge, releasing reserve fuel stocks, and giving the ACCC more powers to crack down on price gouging.
