MEDIA STATEMENT 26 March 2026
The Albanese Government’s lack of preparation for the current fuel crisis is nothing short of a catastrophic failure, but it cannot claim it didn’t see this coming. For years, national security experts, committees and the Coalition have been sounding the alarm about vulnerabilities to Australia’s fuel security, yet this Government has ignored those warnings.
This isn’t just incompetence; it is a reckless disregard for national security. The Government cannot claim they weren’t warned; they were.
Australia is now highly vulnerable due to over-reliance on imported fuel and a complete lack of sovereign contingency planning. Despite repeated warnings over many years about geopolitical risks and supply chain vulnerabilities, the Government failed to act, leaving Australia exposed amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
In November 2021, the Defence Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, which I chaired, conducted an Inquiry into the Department of Defence Annual Report 2019-20. The Committee raised alarm about Australia’s fuel storage and expressed concerns about whether Australia could manage fuel disruptions without difficulty, including the ability to secure fuel from international sources during a crisis. This lack of realistic planning is now glaring as Australia faces disruptions in global fuel supply chains.
Crucially, the Committee recommended the urgent appointment of a task force – including Defence, industry, and independent experts to critically assess Australia’s fuel security in light of the Strategic Update 2020, considering both immediate and longer-term geopolitical challenges. Even back then, it was clear that we were not prepared.
Despite these grave concerns, the Albanese Government failed to act on these recommendations. Instead of accepting them, the Government merely “noted” them, completely failing to take the necessary steps to address the growing vulnerability of Australia’s fuel security.
For years, including in my previous capacity as Chair and Deputy Chair of the Defence Sub-Committee and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I have consistently urged the Government to produce a new national security strategy, as the Coalition has done on multiple occasions. I specifically emphasised the need for a whole-of-nation approach, building on the work of the late Major General and former Senator, Jim Molan, AO, DSC. This strategy would have addressed critical issues such as securing supply chains and fuel reserves.
For years, I have echoed the calls of national security experts, urging the Government to issue a new strategy, both in Parliament and through multiple op-eds and media engagements. It is unconscionable that the Government has failed to act, despite evolving geopolitical circumstances and the reshaping of the international rules-based order.
The call for a new national security strategy was also echoed by Alan Dupont in The Australian yesterday. He said that the Albanese Government’s “reactive and piecemeal response” exposed its lack of preparedness for a crisis that many had warned about and should have anticipated. He also criticised the Government for doing “policy on the run”.
The Government must answer for its failure to act on clear warnings and recommendations over many years. The risks to Australia’s fuel security have been exposed not as hypothetical; they are real and present, as demonstrated by the disruptions currently impacting our country.
The Coalition has been warning for years about these risks, but the Labor Government ignored those warnings and did nothing to prepare. Now, Australians are bearing the consequences of that inaction.
The Government must, at a minimum, urgently develop and release a new National Security Strategy and immediately disclose its contingency plans to address the ongoing fuel crisis. It is high time this Government started taking national security seriously.
Only a Coalition Government will back our police, strengthen our laws, and restore safety and security for Australian families.
[ENDS]
Media Contact: Brendan West – 0402 556 646 – Brendan.west@aph.gov.au