The Western Australian government will invoke emergency powers to force fuel companies to provide information about their supply chains in an effort to keep fuel flowing through the state.
The government had previously asked companies to voluntarily provide this information, as the war in the Middle East caused disruptions to Australia’s fuel supply, but Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said just three of the six major suppliers complied.
The minister said the government wants information about fuel volumes, distribution points and frequency of distribution.
“It will give us visibility in the future. This is an important part of preparing us for further shocks or further challenges in the supply chain,” she said.
She said the emergency powers allowed the government to act quickly to allocate fuel to where it is needed the most, particularly in regional WA.
“This is a sensible and targeted measure that will provide us with greater visibility over those supply chains,” she said.
Ms Sanderson said supply was most challenging in the agricultural and mining regions.
She said fuel suppliers that failed to comply faced significant penalties.
“Penalties will be determined ultimately by the court, but the maximum is $100,000 per day for corporations and $10,000 per day for individuals,” she said.
Invoking 1972 law
Premier Roger Cook said the emergency powers were being used under the Fuel, Energy and Power Resources Act 1972 — which is different to the ‘state of emergency’ orders issued during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Premier Roger Cook said he wants to ensure transparency over fuel supply chains. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)
While the emergency management act triggered during the pandemic has broad powers to direct individual behaviours, he said this action would target transparency over fuel supply chains.
Last week the premier wrote to major fuel suppliers requesting they provide more information around their stock levels and how they intended to prioritise supplying fuel to regional, agricultural and maritime consumers in WA.
He also asked for details of any changes in their supply of volumes into wholesale spot markets.
Ms Sanderson said while there had been a significant volume of extra fuel into the market, this had not correlated to an uplift in regional WA.
“There is still a question around where a portion of that fuel has gone and it is not clear who has got it, and how we get it to where it needs to go,” she said.
Ms Sanderson said once the state government has better oversight of where the fuel is, it could then be located and directed to areas of greater need.
She said the government had asked wholesalers to take action to stop extreme stockpiling, referencing one case in which a single person had overdrawn 1,600 per cent of their normal supply, draining the Goldfields-Esperance region.
The announcement comes two hours before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to deliver a live broadcast address to the nation at 4pm WST as the local impact stemming from the Iran war continues to intensify.
WA’s Parliament will be recalled on April 14 to table the orders, but they will come into effect on Thursday.