Since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on 28 February, Australians have lived through more than six months of fuel chaos. Petrol and diesel prices surged almost instantly, freight and food costs followed, and households felt it at the pump and the checkout. This was the second global energy shock in just four years.
Our leaders can’t control conflicts on the other side of the world, but they can influence how much they hurt at home. Australia is among the most exposed countries to fuel shocks. We are the world’s largest seaborne diesel importer and rank second in the world for diesel use per person. From March to August, Australia’s extra diesel import bill topped $9 billion: the largest of any country, and two and a half times more than the next highest.
Australians have paid for that exposure. First at the servo: higher fuel prices have cost us an extra $5 billion so far this year. Second, at the checkout: road freight costs rose more than 15% in the June quarter, pushing up the price of everyday items. The government also gave up $3.3 billion in revenue to provide temporary fuel relief. When it ended, fuel prices jumped 14.8% in a single month.
This report reviews six months of fuel chaos. It sets out what the crisis has cost Australians at the servo and at the checkout. It compares Australia’s energy security and vulnerability against other countries: outlining the measures that are helping to shield households versus where we remain highly exposed, with diesel and freight the weakest link. And it explains why drilling for more oil or building new refineries won’t protect us from the next shock, and what needs to be done instead.
The solutions that do work are already here, but need to be scaled up. Electric and hybrid cars on our roads now use about 17 million fewer litres of petrol and diesel every week, collectively saving their owners about $1.7 billion in fuel costs since the war began. Electric trucks are starting to do the same for freight. Meanwhile, in the September quarter, renewables pushed wholesale power prices down 27% from a year earlier and cut gas-fired power to its lowest level for that quarter since 2000.
The faster we power our homes, transport and businesses with Australian sun and wind, the more control we’ll have over our energy costs, and the more we’ll cut climate pollution. The Australian Government must shift public investment away from measures that prop up our costly oil and gas use, to the solutions that actually protect us.
Key Findings
Extracted in full from: https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/crude-awakening-how-australia-ranks-on-fuel-security/
