{"id":557401,"date":"2026-03-22T17:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T17:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/557401\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T17:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T17:20:13","slug":"as-labor-faces-pressure-to-respond-boldly-to-oil-shock-it-needs-to-find-more-unconventional-levers-to-pull-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/557401\/","title":{"rendered":"As Labor faces pressure to respond boldly to oil shock, it needs to find more unconventional levers to pull | Energy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The International Energy Agency suggested Australia reduce road speed limits, restrict car use in big cities and encourage more working from home<\/a> in a bid to nullify what it called the \u201cgreatest threat to global energy supply in the history of the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

They won\u2019t be the only interesting or offbeat ideas raised in federal parliament this week, as the Albanese government comes under pressure to find fixes \u2013 short-term and long-term \u2013 to the oil shocks seeing more bowsers run dry across the nation.<\/p>\n

Matt Canavan wants to \u201cdrill baby, drill\u201d for oil in the Great Australian Bight<\/a>; Andrew Hastie has talked of \u201creindustrialisation\u201d, of building up Australia\u2019s oil extraction and refining capabilities.<\/p>\n

The Greens and crossbench have welcomed reporting that the government could consider a gas exports tax on large fossil fuel companies<\/a> making big profits.<\/p>\n

State governments are quietly discussing rationing plans, if it comes to that \u2013 a deeply unpopular move politicians say Australia isn\u2019t contemplating yet.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

The federal government, meanwhile, is quietly considering ways to exert leverage on the countries that buy our resources \u2013 gas, coal and more \u2013 in order to guarantee our oil supplies in future.<\/p>\n

Labor will this week push through legislative changes to give watchdog the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission more powers and penalties to fight petrol price-gouging, with more parliamentary responses likely to surface in the coming fortnight.<\/p>\n

The situation is, of course, moving so quickly it\u2019s hard to predict what responses will be needed. On Friday, the federal energy minister, Chris Bowen, was downplaying reports that oil supplies from Malaysia could be interrupted<\/a>; by Sunday, he conceded six shipments to Australia had been cancelled this month, from \u201ca combination\u201d of countries including Malaysia, but that replacement supplies were being organised.<\/p>\n

At the same time, he said Australia\u2019s onshore supplies of petrol had actually increased, even as demand and prices spike.<\/p>\n

But while government sources conceded supply shocks are likely to continue \u2013 at varying levels \u2013 for at least the next few months, Anthony Albanese\u2019s cabinet is looking to prepare for the next crisis.<\/p>\n

The phrase \u201cnever waste a crisis\u201d is being quietly bandied about by some in the government. They think the current turmoil should give Albanese\u2019s cabinet encouragement \u2013 or at least political cover \u2013 to consider bolder reforms, like gas export tax changes<\/a>, which could raise billions.<\/p>\n

The Coalition opposition hammered the government on fuel security and shortages every day of the last sitting period, with virtually every question in question time going to oil supply, petrol prices and whether Australia would simply run out.<\/p>\n

Some in Labor were frustrated the government hadn\u2019t gotten out on the front foot earlier in the week, announcing proactive actions rather than just reassuring citizens as it became clearer that the US-Israeli war on Iran wouldn\u2019t be over quickly.<\/p>\n

The opposition thought they had a \u201cgotcha\u201d on the last Thursday of the sitting period when they noticed Bowen referred to the fuel situation as a \u201ccrisis\u201d in an answer.<\/p>\n

Bowen and Albanese had been using that term for at least two days beforehand, but some in Labor had hoped the government would have been more forward-leaning as news bulletins filled with images of empty petrol bowsers and electronic price signs soaring above $2 a litre.<\/p>\n

A ream of announcements about task forces, crackdowns, tsars and reviews have followed.<\/p>\n

With a supply squeeze globally, there are few levers the federal government can pull. Legislation is coming this fortnight to double the ACCC\u2019s maximum penalty from $50m to $100m for fuel suppliers engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct.<\/p>\n

Other ideas on the table are tighter collaboration with state governments on distribution, including logistics and ensuring all levels of government know the powers they hold.<\/p>\n

One longer-term play under consideration is how Australia\u2019s major overseas gas exports \u2013 around 70% of our produced natural gas goes offshore \u2013 can be used to help ensure an uninterrupted import supply of oil and other petrochemical supplies, like fertiliser and urea.<\/p>\n

Leveraging Australian gas – vital to some nations overseas \u2013 to make sure we get oil products in return, is an idea we could hear more about.<\/p>\n

The resources minister, Madeleine King, last week said she\u2019d discussed energy \u201cinterdependence\u201d with Japan, South Korea and Singapore \u2013 all countries Australia imports oil or diesel from \u2013 and she believed supplies would continue to flow.<\/p>\n

The IEA\u2019s executive director, Fatih Birol, will address the National Press Club on Monday, days after his agency said Australia could look to cut back on air travel, car trips and attending the office.<\/p>\n

Countries throughout Asia are already announcing four-day work weeks<\/a>, early holidays, and moving schools to online learning; it\u2019s unclear if Australia will pursue similar methods, but with ACCC boss Gina Cass-Gottlieb comparing the oil squeeze to the Covid pandemic<\/a>, some unconventional ideas are now not so unthinkable.<\/p>\n

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, visits Australia this week at an interesting moment in global affairs, but likely bringing some good news: an expected, long-awaited resolution to the free trade agreement<\/a> with Australia, and the likely signing of a defence pact<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Von der Leyen is also slated to address parliament \u2013 in what we\u2019re told will be the first time a visiting female world leader has addressed the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

No doubt she\u2019ll have lots to talk about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The International Energy Agency suggested Australia reduce road speed limits, restrict car use in big cities and encourage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-557401","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557401","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=557401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}