Fuel crisis: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calls national cabinet meeting to address fuel supply crisis

State and territory leaders will discuss the growing fuel crisis tomorrow at a national cabinet meeting called by the Prime Minister, as he warns the war in the Middle East will have long lasting economic consequences for Australia.

Speaking at an Australian Automotive Dealer Association event in Sydney, the PM revealed that regional fuel supply concerns would be the focus of Thursday’s talks which he will convene from Tasmania.

“I will convene the national cabinet of all the premiers and chief ministers to ensure that coordination, that’s occurring right across our country, maximises the benefit for business, for farmers, for our communities, in our cities, and in particular, in our regionals,” Mr Albanese said.

In his speech the PM described the US-led attacks against Iran as the third global shock this decade and warned there will be further aftershocks from the war, even after it’s ended.

“It will have a long economic tail just as COVID followed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine have both had an impact on your industry and on the lives of everyone right around the world,” Mr Albanese says.

Mr Albanese noted Australia was vulnerable to global supply chain shocks because it is often at the end of the supply chain, which wasn’t as big a concern in previous decades when the geopolitical environment was more stable and predictable.

“It’s a different world now. We need to acknowledge that and we need to respond to that,” Mr Albanese said as he flagged the government would detail further steps to shield Australia from the impacts of the war in coming days.

“We want to make sure that we do everything we can to shield the Australian economy, households and businesses from the worst of global uncertainty”.

“That will also be a focus of our budget coming up in May, but we won’t be waiting until the budget. We’ll have more to say through the actions we’re taking in the days ahead.

“This new global challenge demonstrates that we must keep building Australia’s self-reliance and our economic resilience,” Mr Albanese said as he warned the world cannot simply hope for the period of growth and free trade to return.

“In this decade, we have to upgrade to a new economic model. We have to build an economy that is more resilient, more self-reliant and geared to our national strengths.”