Leah Blyth (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence Infrastructure) Share this | Hansard source

Australia is facing the most uncertain strategic environment since the end of the Second World War, and, in times like these, the first duty of government is simple: protect the nation and ensure it can defend itself. And that requires fuel. Modern defence runs on fuel—our ships, our aircraft, our armoured vehicles and our logistics networks all depend on petrol, diesel and aviation fuel. If supply fails, capability fails. Yet, while this vulnerability grows, Labor has spent years focused on its ideological net zero transition, with even the Department of Defence declaring climate change as one of our greatest threats. Australia imports around 90 per cent of its fuel, and, according to the energy minister, we hold just 36 days of petrol and 34 days of diesel in reserve. The International Energy Agency expects advanced economies to maintain at least 90 days of emergency fuel stocks, and Australia is not even close to that standard. While Labor lectures Australia about net zero targets, our strategic fuel resilience has been allowed to fall to dangerous levels, and pressure is already emerging in the real economy.

Farmers report only receiving portions of the diesel that they have ordered, with no certainty around when the next delivery will arrive. Diesel shortages do not remain on farms. Freight, mining, agriculture and food distribution all depend on it, and, when supply is disrupted, the effects move rapidly throughout the entire economy. When systems fail, people do not run out to buy solar panels or batteries, because the trucks that move food and the machinery that produces it are all vehicles that rely on petrol and diesel. Energy policy cannot be built on ideology; it must be built on reliability, affordability and sovereign capability. Labor must start treating it that way. Australia must abandon net zero and expand— (Time expired)