Canberra, March 19 – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Thursday that the federal government has established a fuel security task force in the face of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Speaking after meeting with state and territory leaders on Thursday morning, Albanese told reporters that the government is doing "everything it can" to secure Australia's fuel supply.
"I want to assure Australians at this time that Australia is well prepared. Our fuel supply is currently secure, however we need to be even more prepared," he said.
"I reiterate today my message to Australians: please do not take more fuel than you need. That is how you can help."
He announced that Anthea Harris, former CEO of the Australian Energy Regulator and the Energy Security Board, has been appointed as the coordinator of a new national fuel supply task force, and that each state and territory will appoint someone in a similar capacity.
Albanese said that the task force will drive coordination between the federal, state and territory governments on fuel security and supply chain resilience.
The announcement was made shortly after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it had launched an investigation into allegations of anti-competitive conduct by the nation's major fuel suppliers.
The ACCC said it commenced the investigation in response to reports concerning diesel availability to independent wholesalers and distributors servicing regional and rural Australia, Xinhua news agency reported.
On Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister had flagged new measures to protect the country's people from the 'worst' of the global economic uncertainty driven by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
In a speech to an automotive industry event on Wednesday morning, Albanese had described the conflict in the Middle East as another "major shock to hit the global economy" in the 2020s following the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.