Murdoch press Aus

Australia’s alarming fuel levels could see nation ‘shut down’ in less than one month

There are fears supermarket shelves could be stripped bare and hospitals shut down within days as a critical supply runs low.

Australia’s supply of diesel, petrol and jet fuel is running critically low and puts the nation and residents at serious security threat, an independent senator has warned.

Figures from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) revealed the country has less than one month’s worth of domestic supplies, including 28 days of petrol, 24 days of diesel and 20 days of jet fuel.

Australia only has two refineries - and relies on imports of petroleum from the likes of Singapore, South Korea and Japan - putting the nation in a vulnerable position.

“It’s really the neglect of successive governments to deal with what is a national security issue,” he said on Sky News.

“If there’s a conflict, and it doesn’t have to be a conflict with Australia, but something that disrupts our fuel supplies coming from the Strait of Hormuz (a shipping route supplying 20 per cent of global oil consumption) or Singapore, we’re in real trouble.”

Despite the warning, a spokesman for Chris Bowen, the minister for Climate Change and Energy, said Australia was “fuel secure”.