A fleet of oil tankers and bulk carriers under Australian domain will help reduce exposure to global fuel supply shocks, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) says.
“As everyone now understands, fuel security is national security but there is no security of supply without security of transport, and there is no security of transport without ships,” says MUA national secretary Jake Field.
“The first and most meaningful step towards securing fuel transport is to ensure Australian-controlled vessels, operating with Australian crews, are deployed to move these essential cargoes.
“We cannot afford to see tankers turned around,” he says.
“We must not put ourselves in a position of begging other countries for access to their supply chains.
“We have the resources, skills and wealth to provide our own security of access to oil, fuel and fertiliser,” Field says of their fleet proposal.
“This fleet, strategic in nature, should be the immediate and urgent priority of the Federal Government.”
FLEET MAY CUSHION SHOCKS
He says after three months of the US/Israeli war on Iran and constant closures of the Strait of Hormuz, questions remain about the resilience of supply chains.
This has, Field adds, been compounded by having two oil refineries in the country: one was just damaged by fire and both are completely dependent on imported Middle Eastern crude oil.
He says multiple supply shocks over the last six years such as the COVID pandemic, bushfires, flooding and now war have compounded each other without a ‘meaningful’ response from either major political party.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in Perth recently that the next Federal Budget will build fuel supply resilience.
He says an extra 400 million litres of diesel have been secured from regional trading partners like Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei.
“We know the global outlook is inherently unpredictable and we have to be prepared for the situation to remain unstable. That’s why our priority remains fuel supply — making more fuel here and keeping it onshore,” Albanese says.
But the MUA believes regional deals are a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
The union calls it unforgivable that Australia cannot refine its own crude oil but must export it then buy it back as refined petrol and diesel.
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