Sussan Ley will sound the alarm on Australia’s low fuel reserves in a speech outlining her national security priorities, warning the “situation is dire”.
Australia has fallen short of its international fuel reserve obligations for the best part of a decade.
As a member of the International Energy Agency, it is required to have 90 days worth of key fuels, including petrol, diesel and jet fuel.
Experts have long warned Australia should boost its stockpiles but holdings have only declined, with the latest official figures putting petrol reserves at 28 days, diesel at 25 and jet fuel at 20.
Addressing a think tank in Melbourne on Thursday, the Opposition Leader will caution that without urgent action, the country could collapse in the event of an attack.
Camera IconOpposition Leader Sussan Ley will sound the alarm on Australia’s low fuel reserves. Flavio Brancaleone / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia
“We are well short of our international obligations to sustain a 90-day fuel supply,” Ms Ley will tell the Menzies Institute in Melbourne, according to advanced extracts of her speech.
“What this means is that store shelves will go bare, essential transport will stop, and vital services will grind to a halt – to say nothing of the impact on our ADF.
“Politicians and defence strategists alike need to understand that unless we address this issue, the resolve of the Australian people to endure the hardships that come with conflict will evaporate.
“If people can’t get groceries to feed their families, buy medicine and pharmaceuticals, or reliably access essential services, then what hope do we have?”
Australia sources most of its fuel imports from refining hubs in Asia.
Among the top suppliers are Singapore, Japan and Malaysia.
Shipping lanes often run through waters that could quickly turn adversarial if tensions with China boiled over, such as the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
But Ms Ley will warn that it might not take a crisis of that scale to plunge Australia into danger.
“Alarmingly, our fuel security is so poor that we don’t even need to be directly involved in a regional crisis or conflict to be dangerously impacted,” she will say.
“All that needs to occur is for regular shipping to be disrupted from reliably flowing to Australia, and the normal functioning of our society will grind to a halt.
“Fortunately, as Covid-19 demonstrated, shipping to Australia can be reconfigured in a range of different ways so it’s unlikely we would be cut off indefinitely.
“But what a responsible government needs to do is make sure we have sufficient access to essential fuels to get us through the initial shock to ‘normal’ supply chains so that society continues to function.”
Camera IconAustralia only has 20 days of jet fuel. Sam Ruttyn / Daily Telegraph Credit: News Corp Australia
She will also accuse the Albanese government of not learning from Europe’s dependency on Russian oil and gas.
The EU scrambled to find alternative fuel and energy supplies after Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Consumer fuel and energy prices have soared, along with the broader cost of living.
“Russia has wielded this fuel dependency against Ukraine’s defenders, cutting off access and sabotaging pipelines,” Ms Ley will say.
“Whether through economic statecraft, sabotage, cyber attacks, piracy or terrorism the weaponisation of globalised energy supply-chains is here to stay.
“A combination of diversifying supply and increasing sovereignty over production are the only solutions countries have.
“Bizarrely, despite this, Australia has been decreasing its energy sovereignty not strengthening it.”
