00:02A reason to celebrate at a worrying time.
00:08I need to be frank.
00:10It does worry me about the impact of the war in Iran.
00:15Government welcoming the start of construction for 213 social and affordable housing units
00:20next to Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch.
00:23And also right on the doorstep of a train station.
00:26This is the future of Perth.
00:28We want to see more of this.
00:29But rising fuel prices and interest rates could get in the way given many medium and high
00:35density projects are already struggling to stack up financially.
00:39I'm particularly concerned with the way that the increases in fuel costs will impact Western
00:44Australian households.
00:46That's why we're continuing to make sure firstly that we get the fuel to people who need it.
00:51One small mining business says it's looking at having to stand down 120 workers in coming
00:57days.
00:58We'll be dialing down our production until we can get some surety around what that fuel
01:04supply looks like.
01:05That uncertainty is a result of fuel suppliers and big businesses taking all of the fuel available
01:11under their contracts, leaving little for the spot market which independent operators rely
01:16on.
01:17That's the frustration a lot of regional participants and businesses are facing is that it seems
01:23that they're taking the majority of the pain and some other sectors of the various industries
01:28are not.
01:29Farmers are also struggling with some seeding and others harvesting.
01:33If they can't get that produce to market then there will be food scarcity issues in Perth and
01:40with scarcity we see rocketing prices.
01:42Energy Minister Amber Jade Sanderson says the targeted relief of fuel reserves by the Commonwealth
01:47should help.
01:48We stand ready to get that fuel onto the trucks and get it out to those independent operators,
01:53particularly in the gold fields.
01:55The sooner we get those volumes out into the market that will obviously help to ensure that
02:01those sorts of operations can continue to operate.
02:05It's hoped that extra fuel will hit the road sometime this week.
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