The Page Research Centre’s new fuel security report, “All at Sea: Fuel, War, and Australia’s Achilles Heel,” was featured in The Daily Telegraph.
Exclusive: Australia can achieve fuel self-sufficiency by backing diesel refineries and plants that turn coal into oil – plus storing crude in caves, according to a new policy blueprint.
The plan from the influential Page Research Centre has emerged as National Party leader Matt Canavan argues the Iran conflict has shown that “fuel insecurity is probably our greatest defence vulnerability.” In its new research, Page claims that drilling bans and a reliance on imports have left the country “all at sea” during the Middle East mayhem, leading to price spikes and service-station outages.
“Circumstances like these should make us fundamentally re-evaluate the gifts that we have been given,” Page CEO and report author Gerard Holland told this masthead.
Page is linked to the Nationals. After the think tank called for an end to the pursuit of net zero by 2050, the Nats abandoned the goal and the Liberal Party followed.
Mr Holland said Australia must prepare for a confrontation over Taiwan or rogue action by North Korea, suggesting either scenario would likely cut off Australia’s supply of imported fuel.
“What’s happening in the Middle East is not even the worst-case scenario,” Mr Holland said.
“We need to prepare for a conflict in the Asia-Pacific.
“Things would be 100 times worse than what we are experiencing.
“But we have all the solutions. We can have fuel security and we can make money out of it. It’s such a no-brainer,” Mr Holland said…
