Senior shadow minister Andrew Hastie has warned the credibility of the United States is being damaged and says Australians may be losing faith in the alliance as the war in Iran enters its second month. 

The Shadow Minister for Industry and Sovereign Capability said the war in Iran was a “huge miscalculation”, and criticised US President Donald Trump’s failure to consult its allies including Australia, noting many are dependent on the export of fuel in and out of the Middle East.

Iran war live updates: For all the latest news on the Middle East war, read our blog.

“Iran has been able to pretty much hold the whole world economy to ransom,” he told Insiders. 

“The economic pain is going to be more acute, and [the Australian public] are going to question the judgement of the president.

“Had we had a bit more lee time, we would not be in the current crisis we are now.”

Mr Hastie said as a “close friend” of the United States, Australia had a right to “be honest” and ask “hard questions”. 

Earlier this week, Mr Hastie said Iran had Australia “by the balls” in the Strait of Hormuz. 

He described Mr Trump’s criticism of Australia’s refusal to heed calls to send war ships to the strait as “petulant”.  

LoadingChanging world order opens door to tax changes

Mr Hastie said the American president was testing the boundaries of the world order and would not rule out supporting a new tax on gas exports to shield Australians from the economic fallout. 

“It’s not just Iran, China and Russia testing this world order. Donald Trump and his team have said it’s dead, and we need to take that seriously,” he said. 

The government has sought modelling from Treasury for new levy options on gas exporters profiting from the global energy crisis. 

Unions, the Greens, crossbenchers and One Nation are among those who want gas profits levied, with pressure mounting on Labor to respond to growing calls to reform the current tax system.

Some members of the Coalition have joined the gas industry to argue the current energy crisis is the worst time to act.

But Mr Hastie signalled he may be open to the levy, and said the Iran war had changed Australia’s position. 

“Before February 28, we were in a different situation to what we are now,” he said. 

“This is a new era. The world order has collapsed.”

He said the “whole system” needed an overhaul, but cautioned reform would need to be made in the context of a potential recession.

“We’re about to potentially slide into a recession, and one of the things we have going for us is our abundance of gas.

“Is introducing a new tax right at this time going to help our situation?”

Expected push against work from home

On Saturday, the government announced it would underwrite the delivery of additional cargoes of fuel to Australia to ease supply shortages. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government was in discussions with suppliers to source additional fuel on the international market. 

State and territory leaders will meet on Sunday afternoon ahead of Monday’s meeting of national cabinet. 

They are expected to push against the possibility of a COVID-style mandate to work from home, and focus on working in unison on any future steps like fuel rationing. 

Last week, Mr Albanese said it would “make sense” for people to work from home if they could do so. 

But Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth said the supply pinch was not at the point where work from home measures were being considered.

“We are not at the stage yet where we are suggesting people should work from home because of the fuel shortages,” she said.

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