{"id":529759,"date":"2026-03-09T23:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T23:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/529759\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T23:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T23:04:14","slug":"queensland-calls-on-energy-minister-chris-bowen-for-update-on-governments-fuel-security-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/529759\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland calls on Energy Minister Chris Bowen for update on government’s fuel security plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queensland Energy Minister David Janetzki says the state is potentially on the “precipice” of fuel security issues having a major impact on the daily lives of Queenslanders.<\/p>\n

He has written a letter to his federal counterpart, Chris Bowen, calling for an immediate update on the Commonwealth’s plans for fuel security.<\/p>\n

Mr Janetzki said Australians expected a strategy that protected the economy, industry, productivity and national security.<\/p>\n

“It is critical we get this plan from you, as with every passing day I fear we are on the precipice of major impact on daily life in our state,” he wrote in his letter.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

David Janetzki says he fears Queensland is “on the precipice” of a major impact on daily life amid a spike in demand for fuel. (ABC News: Luke Bowden\/File)<\/p>\n

Mr Janetzki noted Queensland was experiencing retail “stockouts” of some types of fuel, particularly for diesel.<\/p>\n

But he said this was due to price volatility and major wholesalers imposing limits to contracted volumes, rather than a physical shortage of supply.<\/p>\n

“There are reports in parts of regional Queensland, where fuel distribution relies heavily on independent contractors, of wholesale fuel supplies being denied as importers and major wholesalers prioritise their company-owned networks and large contracted bulk customers,” he wrote.<\/p>\n

Rising fuel prices put pressure on truckers<\/a><\/p>\n

Transport companies are at risk of shutting due to the cost of fuel, as global oil prices spike.<\/p>\n

“I have also received concerning information that many small family-run fuel distributors supplying primary producers and transport are unable to secure diesel from major wholesalers.<\/p>\n

“Based on recent discussions with producers and transport operators, there is a high risk of significant disruption within days if these refusals persist, threatening harvesting activities, agricultural production and transport, stock feed deliveries, water security reliant on diesel-powered pumping, and regional employment.”<\/p>\n

Concerns over fuel supply have begun to affect businesses in areas of regional Regional Queensland.<\/p>\n

Transport operator Debbie Costello said her business was weighing up whether to accept long-haul jobs because of concerns about fuel access.<\/p>\n

“We’re really concerned if we take these jobs, does it mean we get 1,000 kilometres from home and are not able to fill up again?” she said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had truck drivers reporting \u2026 that some servos have stopped filling trucks, they can’t fill them to the brim.”<\/p>\n

‘Not a supply problem’<\/p>\n

On Monday, Mr Bowen met with the petroleum and diesel industry and is expected to hold further talks on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

He said Australia had good stock levels of petrol, diesel, and jet fuel \u2014 but acknowledged the country was facing a surge in demand.<\/p>\n

“Every contract for demand that has previously been ordered, for diesel, petrol or anything else, is being honoured,” the minister said on Monday.<\/p>\n

“There has been a big spike in extra orders over and above contracts \u2014 spot orders if you like, the spot market.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Chris Bowen says Australia has a “good supply” of petrol, diesel and jet fuel. (ABC News: Matt Roberts\/File)<\/p>\n

“And inevitably, when you’re seeing a huge increase in demand, they’re [industry] having trouble keeping up with that.”<\/p>\n

Mr Bowen said the government was in talks with the industry to determine the best way to manage the uptick in demand.<\/p>\n

“The fundamentals are good in that Australia has a good supply,” he said.<\/p>\n

“This is not a supply problem, but we’re seeing a huge spike in demand.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queensland Energy Minister David Janetzki says the state is potentially on the “precipice” of fuel security issues having…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,28486,125908,5517,263218,182537,5575,44,94,701,2177],"class_list":["post-529759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-chris-bowen","tag-david-janetzki","tag-diesel","tag-energy-minister","tag-fuel-security","tag-iran","tag-news","tag-qld","tag-queensland","tag-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}