Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Industry and Sovereign Capability) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Defence. The Strait of Hormuz has been closed to shipping since the start of the war in the Middle East. Given that 20 per cent of the world's oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, alongside LNG and alumina, can the minister advise how long he expects military efforts will take until this critical choke point is reopened?

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question, although I'd point out that he's probably directing the question at the wrong person. He's effectively asking me to predict when the conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel will end. I would submit that's a question best directed to President Trump, the rulers of Iran and the Prime Minister of Israel.

In terms of what the broader question went to, which was the potential interruption to our supplies, I can report to the House that, as a response to a recommendation of the Defence Strategic Review, we doubled the fuel holdings for the Australian Defence Force. That's something that should have happened under your watch, which you failed to do. The latest advice from the Chief of the Defence Force is that our fuel supplies to the ADF, including from the Middle East, are uninterrupted. So instead of scaremongering, they should ask constructive questions to the people who have responsibility for these interruptions.