The Australian government will take on the financial risk of importing essential products affected by the war in the Middle East to get additional supplies of petrol, diesel, and fertiliser into the country.<\/p>\n
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced the new fuel security powers on Saturday after a month of soaring diesel and petrol prices<\/a> and widespread shortages at service stations, particularly in regional Australia.<\/p>\n The government will introduce amendments to Australia\u2019s export finance laws on Monday that will allow the government to use public funds to underwrite the purchase of additional shiploads of fuel, fertiliser, and \u201cother essentials\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cPut simply, we will use Export Finance Australia to underwrite the purchase of shiploads of fuel that will add to supply here in Australia,\u201d Albanese said at a press conference in Sydney.<\/p>\n \u201cThis support from the government will not be business as usual: it has to be additional supplies that are available on the international market.\u201d<\/p>\n The new measures would give importers the confidence to secure extra supply including from \u201cadditional and discretionary cargoes\u201d, by mitigating the financial risk in cases where it would be cost-prohibitive for a private company.<\/p>\n Albanese said the nation\u2019s fuel supply outlook remained secure in the near-term but the government wanted to be \u201cover-prepared\u201d in case the conflict was protracted.<\/p>\n He did not rule out enforcing working from home and fuel rationing if supply issues worsened but said his strong preference was for \u201cvoluntary arrangements\u201d instead of \u201cmandating from the top\u201d.<\/p>\n The prime minister did however urge Australians not to engage in panic buying<\/a>, saying photos he had seen published in the media of \u201cmultiple jerry cans being filled up\u201d at a service station did not reflect \u201cthe Australian way\u201d and that people should only take what they need.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve said we need to learn the lessons of [the pandemic] now. I don\u2019t want things to be mandated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t toilet paper that\u2019s been piled up in some garages. It\u2019s actually fuel, and that\u2019s not sensible on a range of levels.\u201d<\/p>\n