Prime Minister Chris Minns has confirmed how dire fuel shortages have become in New South Wales.
“We have 105 gas stations that don’t have access to diesel and 35 gas stations that don’t have access to anything,” the New South Wales premier said in a news conference, although he noted the state had 2,500 gas stations in total.
In many regional and rural areas, diesel now costs more than $3 per liter.
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But the prime minister agreed with his federal counterparts and confirmed the problem was less a disruption to the country’s supply and more a problem with distribution, exacerbated by panic buyers.
“As it stands today, due to the release of strategic reserves and the easing of sulfur content restrictions, there is actually more gasoline in the economy today than there was five or four weeks ago,” he said.
“The problems you see in terms of supply to consumers are the distribution of fuel and, in some areas, overconsumption by people who simply take more than they need,” he added, further warning of the danger of storing excess fuel in homes and businesses.
State governments have the power to enforce measures such as fuel rationing, although Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen told the ABC insider on Sunday, “we’re still a long way from that.”
“Of course we will take emergency measures if necessary, but those measures themselves have an impact on the economy and businesses in New South Wales and we want to ensure we only take them when absolutely necessary,” Mr Minns said today.
These comments were echoed by his Victorian counterpart Jacinta Allan.
“If there is a broader supply issue, there needs to be a nationally coordinated approach to this, and if additional measures need to be taken to manage supply in a different way – we are not there yet,” she said at a news conference.
Mr Bowen confirmed on Sunday Australia’s petrol stocks had risen slightly to 38 days, while diesel and jet fuel are both at 30 days, despite six of the 80 tankers expected to arrive in the country in April and May being cancelled.
He ruled out invoking the National Liquid Fuel Emergency Act (1984) to control domestic fuel supplies and enforce measures such as rationing, but said he would exercise those powers if he received “fairly strong advice” from state and territory officials.
Last week, the Albanian government appointed Anthea Harris as the first coordinator of the fuel supply taskforce. Their role, the government said, will be to drive coordination between federal, state and territory governments and keep those governments informed about the fuel supply outlook.
Since the start of the latest Middle East conflict about two weeks ago, the Australian government has released up to 20 percent of national diesel and fuel reserves and also temporarily changed fuel standards to allow higher sulfur fuels.
MORE: There’s no fuel rationing in Australia yet, but consider working from home – Bowen
