A Transparency Crisis, that’s what we have in Australia under the Labor government as they continue to run the parallel narratives that we have ‘more fuel than normal’ and a ‘major fuel security crisis’.
Both cannot be true, and the announcement today that the Prime Minister will hold his first National Address suggests that this is indeed a very serious situation for which the government is not prepared.
Anthony Albanese will address the nation tonight at 7pm.
The previous National Addresses were given for the Global Financial Crisis and the Covid Pandemic. Unsurprisingly, the move has sunk consumer and public confidence.
This morning, Donald Trump declared America’s intention to exit the Iran war sometime in the next two-to-three weeks. However, the damage to Australia’s majority Asian-import model, and subsequent restrictions imposed by those countries, has left us in a very serious situation as the April 20 date draws closer.
As for our dearest friend China, whom many say we should place all of our security hopes on, they have stopped all shipments including of aviation fuel. There are no shipments scheduled for next month, crushing our aviation industry.
Sourcing our aviation fuel from the Pacific’s most dangerous communist power is a shocking revelation in and of itself that must be corrected as soon as possible. If the government doesn’t take this as a warning for a future Taiwan-based conflict, there is not helping them.
The Prime Minister is being asked to withhold LNP exports to use as leverage to secure fuel shipments. They should, but only to offer it to the more reliable US instead.
Nationals Leader Matt Canavan appears to disagree, saying, ‘There’s a fine line between threats and negotiation. We need to be grown-up about this, because it is a very serious situation. But no doubt Labor should be hugging our coal and gas, because it is the best hope we have to maintain liquid fuel supplies.’
Other nations are being grown-up. China immediately circled the wagons and protected its domestic reserves without a care in the world for the welfare of its allies.
Experts are begging the Prime Minister to seek out US or Venezuelan oil to stabilise the country and guarantee critical infrastructure.
It should be an easy deal considering Trump has offered US oil to the world and Australia, one of America’s strongest allies, is fresh from signing extremely valuable critical mineral deals key to US defence. If we don’t have oil, we can’t mine.
This logistical situation facing Australia should be easy enough to fix, if we had a negotiator in Washington capable of cutting a deal.
Instead, we have a government and flock of state premiers doing what can only be described as policy busywork to create the illusion of activity instead of the product of security.
Emergency plans, excise cuts, rationing, regular oversight, public transport demands, and work from home requests … it is all padding around the wound. The solution is supply, it is the government’s job to fix this rather than complain.
At 7pm, this National Address will be broadcast across all TV and radio stations. Which means that no one under 40 will hear it.
We can expect zero solutions and a whole lot of Covid-style ‘voluntary’ guidelines and future restrictions that will almost certainly be in place by the end of April.
When you hear phrases such as, ‘All in this together!’ and ‘Play your part!’ you know the government has no idea what to do except apply the iron fist of government control.
Albanese should be in Washington right now.
Why isn’t he?
