A Liberal frontbencher has taken a shot at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for keeping quiet when two oil refineries were closed on his watch as transport minister.
Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan appeared on ABC’s 7.30 on Wednesday night to discuss the nation’s petrol crisis with host Sarah Ferguson.
Australia imports the vast majority of its fuel at the tail end of a long supply chain, which has been under strain since the conflict in the Middle East saw Iran block the Strait of Hormuz. About 20 per cent of the world’s oil travels through the strait.
When asked if the Opposition was in support of the US’ continued aggression in the region, Tehan flipped to focus on how the ‘consequences’ of the conflict could be mitigated for Australians at home.
‘What we want to see in Australia is that the consequences of that war are limited as best they can be by the way the government deals with this national crisis, especially when it comes to fuel supply,’ he said.
Referencing the threatened supply of refined oil, Ferguson asked: ‘Four refineries were shut down during the time of the Coalition government – what more could you have done to keep those refineries open?’
Tehan fired back: ‘Well, let’s fact check that because two of those refineries were closed under the previous Labor government’.
‘The funny thing is, the transport minister at the time was Anthony Albanese. He didn’t say a word when it was announced both those refineries were closing.’
Shadow energy minister Dan Tehan (above) mentioned two oil refineries were closed in Australia under Anthony Albanese’s watch as transport minister
When questioned by Sarah Ferguson (above) about Australia’s fuel reserves, Tehan said his party was working with Labor to assist in finding solutions – including keeping Australia’s current refineries running
Sydney’s Clyde Refinery (above) and Kurnell Refinery closed in 2012 and 2014, respectively
The two refineries Tehan referred to as closing under Albanese’s watch were Sydney’s Clyde Refinery and the Kurnell Refinery.
Shell announced the closure of Clyde Refinery in 2011 and closed its operations in September 2012.
Caltex Australia, now Ampol, announced the end of operations at Kurnell Refinery in mid-2012 and the site was closed in late 2014.
Albanese served as the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport from September 2010 to September 2013.
Australia currently only has two working oil refineries at Geelong and Brisbane.
The country’s largest had been the Kwinana refinery near Perth that was built in 1955 by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, which would go on to become BP.
However, this was shut down and made into an import-only terminal in 2021 under the Scott Morrison-led Coalition government.
After throwing the PM under the bus for past incidents, Tehan added that his own party was is ‘focused on the here and now’.
‘One of the things we’ll work with the government on are our existing refineries here in this country – that we put the package in to save them,’ he said.
This graph shows how Australia has shifted to importing the vast majority of its fuel over the last two decades
Albanese (above) is set to hold an emergency meeting to address the ongoing fuel shortage
Australia’s consumption of fuel far outweighs what the country produces
Albanese is set to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the country’s dwindling fuel reserves.
He vowed the government would enact measures before the May budget but stopped short of detailing what actions were being considered.
‘We want to make sure that we do everything we can to shield the Australian economy, households and businesses from the worst of global uncertainty,’ Albanese told an Australian Automotive Dealer Association breakfast on Wednesday.
‘We won’t be waiting until the budget. We will have more to say about the actions we are taking in the days ahead.’
