00:01A $10 billion plan to guard against the unpredictable.
00:06We live in very volatile times.
00:09The Prime Minister's laid out his fuel security plans ahead of Tuesday's budget,
00:14a buffer against supply constraints which have pushed up petrol prices.
00:18We are throwing everything at this.
00:20We have clearly not done enough up until this point in time.
00:24It includes $7.5 billion for loans for fuel companies
00:28to help them boost fuel and fertiliser supply,
00:31and $3.2 billion to establish a government-owned diesel and jet fuel reserve
00:36to tap into during a crisis.
00:39If we had a government-owned reserve, which at the direction of the government
00:43could be sent to those areas of shortage, that would have been very handy.
00:46Australia's emergency fuel stockpiles, currently sitting at 40 days reserve,
00:50will be increased to 50.
00:52This is a big change in our approach as a country and a good one.
00:57But it's not the 90 days the International Energy Agency recommends.
01:02But as always with this government, it's too little too late.
01:05Another measure, likely too late for this crisis,
01:08a set of feasibility studies into building new domestic fuel refineries,
01:13if the states agree.
01:15The short answer is yes, provided it meets all the appropriate standards,
01:18including it makes economic sense.
01:20Still not silver bullets, but we are heading in the right direction
01:23and onshore and sovereign capability is really, really important.
01:27Two months on from the start of the Iran war,
01:30unleaded petrol prices are almost back to where they started
01:33and fuel ships continue to arrive.
01:35But the government wants Australians to keep conserving fuel,
01:39with the knowledge the only thing it can be sure about is more uncertainty.
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01:4500 o'clock
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