❓ Mr. Love questions the Minister about WA's share of the national fuel reserve release and how much will reach regional businesses. The Minister assures that the government is prioritizing regional areas and is ready to distribute fuel once ACCC approval is granted.
AnsweredQoN 167Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Fuel supply—National reserve
167. Mr Shane Love to
the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation:
Thank you, Mr
Speaker. I was not quite ready for the sudden sit down there!
The federal
government announced that it would release 20% of Australia's national fuel
reserve, equivalent to around five days of national supply.
(1) Exactly how much
of that fuel is secured for Western Australia?
(2) How much of it will be directed to regional
businesses and industries through the independent distributors who serve them?
167. Mr Shane Love to
the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation:
Thank you, Mr
Speaker. I was not quite ready for the sudden sit down there!
The federal
government announced that it would release 20% of Australia's national fuel
reserve, equivalent to around five days of national supply.
(1) Exactly how much
of that fuel is secured for Western Australia?
(2) How much of it will be directed to regional
businesses and industries through the independent distributors who serve them?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the
question. It gives me an opportunity to update the house on the work that the
government is doing, led by the Premier, following the fuel resilience round table
last week. As the Leader of the Nationals WA has rightly outlined, the federal
government has indicated a drawdown on the minimum stock obligation. That is a
drawdown on the national stockpile of fuel. The government is working to
prioritise regional areas for the delivery that fuel. We have been working
through the Fuel Industry Operational Group with the resources sector, the
agricultural sector, suppliers, distributors and fuel retailers to prioritise
and triage the areas of most need so that when that stockpile is released, that
fuel will go to the areas that need it the most. The way that the market
currently operates is that 100% of fuel that comes through Western Australian
ports is contracted. Usually, those contractors do not require 100% of their
contract and they release fuel onto the spot market, and that is what is
serving a lot of those agricultural regions such as the Great Southern and the
Wheatbelt and end-of-supply-chain independent operators.
The fuel is coming into the
ports as expected and will continue to, so international supply is coming in.
We have seen a restocking and distribution issue caused by the bringing forward
of demand, largely in agricultural areas. We will use the minimum stock
obligation release to restock those areas that need to be restocked urgently
and we are directing them to those areas via the department. We are waiting on
the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. That is the only delay now.
We are ready. We have got distributors ready to go. Their trucks are ready and
we have got suppliers ready to go. We are waiting on the ACCC to dot its i's
and cross its t's. Ultimately, it requires the suppliers to act in
contravention of competition law by directing supply outside of their
contracts, but they are taking too long and the Premier has been very clear
about that this morning. We need them to get on with that and we are ready to
go. We stood this team up last week. We have done the work that we need to do
and we are prioritising those areas, member.
question. It gives me an opportunity to update the house on the work that the
government is doing, led by the Premier, following the fuel resilience round table
last week. As the Leader of the Nationals WA has rightly outlined, the federal
government has indicated a drawdown on the minimum stock obligation. That is a
drawdown on the national stockpile of fuel. The government is working to
prioritise regional areas for the delivery that fuel. We have been working
through the Fuel Industry Operational Group with the resources sector, the
agricultural sector, suppliers, distributors and fuel retailers to prioritise
and triage the areas of most need so that when that stockpile is released, that
fuel will go to the areas that need it the most. The way that the market
currently operates is that 100% of fuel that comes through Western Australian
ports is contracted. Usually, those contractors do not require 100% of their
contract and they release fuel onto the spot market, and that is what is
serving a lot of those agricultural regions such as the Great Southern and the
Wheatbelt and end-of-supply-chain independent operators.
The fuel is coming into the
ports as expected and will continue to, so international supply is coming in.
We have seen a restocking and distribution issue caused by the bringing forward
of demand, largely in agricultural areas. We will use the minimum stock
obligation release to restock those areas that need to be restocked urgently
and we are directing them to those areas via the department. We are waiting on
the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. That is the only delay now.
We are ready. We have got distributors ready to go. Their trucks are ready and
we have got suppliers ready to go. We are waiting on the ACCC to dot its i's
and cross its t's. Ultimately, it requires the suppliers to act in
contravention of competition law by directing supply outside of their
contracts, but they are taking too long and the Premier has been very clear
about that this morning. We need them to get on with that and we are ready to
go. We stood this team up last week. We have done the work that we need to do
and we are prioritising those areas, member.
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