Japan \u201ccould\u201d help Australia with the fuel crisis but would need absolute clarity on shortages, Tokyo\u2019s envoy in Canberra says.<\/p>\n
It came after Anthony Albanese stepped up talks on Asian fuel supplies following the cancellation of several fuel tankers bound for Australia next month.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are talking with our partners in Korea, in Japan, in China, in Singapore,\u201d the Prime Minister told parliament earlier this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are engaged, we are reliable partners when it comes to energy security, and we expect that to be a two-way flow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking at a Minerals Council of Australia event in Canberra on Wednesday, Japanese ambassador Kazuhiro Suzuki said his government was willing to help Australia but that 250 days of reserve fuel would be prioritised for its domestic needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really need to see the market situation in Australia first and then we need to deepen our communication between the two countries,\u201d Mr Suzuki said, noting reports of panic buying.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe we could collaborate and then do something together. That\u2019s the only answer that I can give to you now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia imports 90 per cent of its fuel, with most of it coming from refineries in Asia, including some from Japan.<\/p>\n
Those refineries in turn largely rely on oil from the Middle East, which have been blocked by the war in Iran.<\/p>\n
This week, it was revealed eight per cent of service stations in Australia, or as many as 560, were without one or more grades of fuel.<\/p>\n
The Albanese government has insisted Australia\u2019s foreign supply has not been disrupted and that shortages at service stations across the country were sparked by distribution issues.<\/p>\n
The government last week announced a fuel co-ordinator to work with states, territories and the private sector to resolve distribution errors.<\/p>\n
\u2018Making excuses\u2019<\/p>\n
Earlier, the opposition accused Labor of \u201cmaking excuses\u201d about fuel shortages after Housing Minister Clare O\u2019Neil told Seven\u2019s Sunrise more fuel was circulating the Australian market than prior to the war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
She said shortages had been caused by spikes in demand rather than supply shortages.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue that we\u2019re having is that in certain parts of the country, demand has spiked up to threefold \u2026 and I don’t downplay it,\u201d Ms O\u2019Neil said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you’re in a regional town and your local petrol station is out of petrol, this is one of the biggest issues in your life right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I can tell you is that nationally, we have the fuel circulating in the economy that<\/p>\n
we need. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are distributional issues, which we are working through with states and territories.\u201d <\/p>\n
Pressed on when those issues would be worked through, Ms O\u2019Neil again pointed to rising demand creating \u201cinevitable challenges\u201d for the economy, before saying: \u201cThe government is doing exactly what is needed right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after, host Nat Barr tried to move on, before being abruptly interrupted by Senator Cash. <\/p>\n
\u201cWith all due respect, Nat, that is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Senator Cash said Ms O\u2019Neil had \u201cadmitted on national TV that there is so much fuel sloshing around in this country (that) they don’t know what to do with it\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWell, Clare, I can tell you what to do with it. You have the granular detail. You have just<\/p>\n
admitted on national TV, there is not a supply problem, but bowsers are dry,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s 166 in this country that are dry. You can get tankers today to those 166 stations. <\/p>\n
\u201cStop making excuses. Stop treating the Australian people like mugs.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ms O\u2019Neil fire back by accusing Senator Cash of \u201ctwisting\u201d her words.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one is saying that there are not significant issues facing the country with fuel right now,\u201d Ms O\u2019Neil said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we need to do is manage this calmly and methodically, not get personal and hysterical.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way that the government needs to manage this is making sure that we need that we’ve got the fuel in the country that we need. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the case today, and for us to calmly work through issues across the supply chain, that is exactly what the government is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms O\u2019Neil was earlier quizzed on a $40 fuel cap as part of rationing measures in the national fuel emergency response manual, as reported by The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
The measure would see petrol pumps turn off after users hit the $40 limit and can only take effect under a national liquid fuel emergency declared by the governor-general at the advice of Energy Minister Chris Bowen.<\/p>\n
But Ms O\u2019Neil played down the contents of the manual \u2013 obtained through a freedom of information request \u2013 and described it as \u201cnot a current document\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201c \u2026 And it’s not something that’s being actively considered at the moment,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Minns says no fuel cap plans \u2018today\u2019<\/p>\n
NSW Premier Chris Minns said people shouldn\u2019t make \u201cdangerous\u201d decisions by taking \u201cexcess fuel and bringing it home\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe implications of that for your neighbours, for your family, for your co-workers and for your employees could be devastating. We need people to show common sense,\u201d Mr Minns said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be honest with the people of NSW \u2026 there is enough fuel on the island of Australia to keep the economy going.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked whether the government was contemplating the introduction of a $40 fuel cap, Mr Minns said it wasn\u2019t a part of the plan \u201ctoday\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not contemplating that. We\u2019ve got reasonably detailed, graduated plans if the circumstances worsen in the weeks ahead \u2026 that\u2019s not the plan today. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not proposing Covid-style emergency powers. We\u2019re being sensible about this and preparing for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drivers should switch to ethanol-blended fuel<\/p>\n
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said e10, or \u201cethanol blended fuel,\u201d was safe for use in most cars in Australia despite a historical reluctance by Aussie drivers to rely on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt always has been (safe), and unfortunately when you go back to when the mandates were first introduced \u2026 there was a lot of campaigning against it, particularly from the oil companies,\u201d Mr Khoury said.<\/p>\n
The NSW government first introduced fuel mandates in 2007, which forced fuel sellers to ensure that ethanol accounted for at least 2 per cent of their petrol volume.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to think that as we sit here today talking about fuel security and fuel supply that they perhaps reflect on that period of their history, because unfortunately some Australians still think that they can\u2019t use it. Most cars can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s safe to use, it\u2019s used everywhere overseas. It\u2019s also used in higher volumes than we use here \u2026 some parts of the US have E15 \u2026 we know that Japan is moving to E20.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ethanol is produced domestically and also considered more environmentally friendly than standard oil-based fuels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Japan \u201ccould\u201d help Australia with the fuel crisis but would need absolute clarity on shortages, Tokyo\u2019s envoy in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164,180257],"class_list":["post-562603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-newswire-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562603","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=562603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}