Albanese has been on an extended begging tour of Asia, promising who-knows-what in exchange for the odd shipment of fuel. It’s an exercise that has all the dignity of an addict pawning off the family silver to feed a dependency without end.

Australia put itself in this position voluntarily.

We closed the refineries. We stopped drilling. We put our faith in a Net Zero fantasy.

And to those who say, ‘Oh, so you want the government to use taxpayer money to prop-up unviable fuel refineries…? How socialist of you!!!’

No. The socialism came when climate change fearmongering and Net Zero policy fatally interfered with the energy market, adding fabricated carbon complications for the express purpose of giving renewable energy an economic leg-up on the budget spreadsheet.

Fossil fuel did not die a natural death – it was poisoned and if we’re not careful, our prosperity will die along with it.

The correction would be to strip Net Zero policy from the energy market. The whole lot. All the public money, carbon credits, legal witchcraft, and special privilege in the environmental landscape. Toss renewable energy out into the wilderness and see if it survives on an even footing.

Unfortunately, despite these wild fantasies, so much damage has been done to the merit-based energy market that fixing it will require further government interference, if only to keep the lights on long enough to correct the mistakes of past regimes.

Is this a conservative position? Not strictly. But neither are the government activities in a time of war. Politics is a balance between ideology and reality. When it comes to intervention, a true conservative government differs from socialism with its end goal: the termination of that support.

Left-wing governments consider the establishment of government-dependent structures useful and desirable as everyone attached to said industry becomes reliant on the generosity of the ruling party. It is an attachment that can be leaned upon during an election.

This is why Western nations have previously been careful to limit the number of government-dependent industries. Defence is unavoidable. Health is debateable. Water is essential. Energy is … interesting. While also an essential service, it was one area where the history of its birth allowed for market competition which had, until recently, given Australia a massive global advantage with cheap energy.

This setup was deliberately ruined in favour of an ideological pursuit that handed the light switch of the nation to China. It is a mistake so grievous one wonders how both major parties, who are meant to be in opposition, managed to cheer the transition on as a type of moral purity. Politicians stitched their credibility to Net Zero and replaced morality with virtue-signalling.

Climate Change became a nasty rash that spread through the wealthy seats while the rest of Australia started to scratch.

The necessary conversations about national security, end-of-life recycling, and the overall health of the grid moving centuries into the future were never held in public or presented soberly to the people. The ruin of our energy infrastructure was done on a vibe while rivers of gold flowed out of the Treasury to everywhere except the Australian people.

This situation existed before Labor took power under Albanese, although it must be said that plenty of politicians on both sides of the fence were in power during the road to ruin and did little, if anything, to protest.

None of this changes what happen when Iran tested the patience of the world one too many times and found itself smacked in the face by America.

War in Iran is only one of the many ways the global oil system can be interrupted meaning the resolution of the war and return of its oil to global supply chains does not mean the situation has been solved for Australia.

An escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war to a full European conflict would have had a similar effect. If China makes good on its threat to invade Taiwan and the waters to our North are cut off or those Asian nations loyal to China tear up their contracts, Australia will be in very serious trouble. Funny as it may have sounded a year ago, the safest oil supply for Australia comes from the US and Venezuela and yet that is the one place Labor seems reluctant to go begging even if they accept their ships to fill the gaps.

These negotiations are band-aids.

The solution to fuel insecurity and the economic disruption it causes is a measure of self-sufficiency, even if it is only intended for emergency supply.

On this, Liberal Premier David Crisafulli has stepped forward as a leader. Whether it is his support of pursuing the Taroom Trough or the new port-side locations for potential refineries and storage facilities, Crisafulli has sniffed out an election-winning direction. Good luck to him. He is, without question, the most impressive Liberal on the stage.

As for Albanese and Bowen…

Digging and fracking for oil represents a nightmare scenario for the look how green we are! Labor Party which is trying to fend off election threats from the Greens and their radicalised, ever-growing, student vote.

Can you imagine the policy conversations that must have taken place? Did they flip a coin between begging for oil and digging for fossil fuels?

Unfortunately, the severity of our situation has not led Bowen all the way to fuel security. Last week he rubbished speculation about rebuilding closed refineries.

‘When a refinery closes, it’s effectively dismantled. You can’t just rustle them back, magic them back. Rebuilding is not that easy or cheat undertaking: the time to save a refinery is when it’s existing,’ said Bowen.

‘I’ve increased the ability for (existing refineries) to access payments to maintain their viability in a very competitive refining environment internationally.’

And yet at no point did he indicate government would be reviewing world-best refineries to see if any are compatible with Australia or asking for commercial interest. Whether intended or not, the Energy Minister’s response felt like a deflection rather than a minister searching for a solution.

His assurance that no refineries would close during their time in office is a confirmation of the status quo. Meaningless. It would be like the NSW Premier, Chris Minns, wandering in front of the camera to confirm Warragamba Dam will not be closing during a discussion about insufficient water resources for a growing population.

Not only does the government have to see if it can find some loose change in the budget to expand the two existing refineries, one of those will have to be repaired after a fire.

Raise taxes for fossil fuel?

Jim Chalmer’s budget is going to have a lot of nasty surprises, but will it provide the means for Australia to guarantee the salvage of its fuel and energy sectors?

Flat White is written by Alexandra Marshall. If you would like to support her work, shout her a coffee over at donor-box.