Carpentry apprentice Jordan Mulvaney, who earns just under $1,000 a week after tax, says the government's advice to work from home to combat fuel shortages has missed the mark entirely. He must bring all his tools to site and visit multiple locations each day, making public transport impossible. Without a friend's offer to live rent-free, he estimates that rent, fuel and living costs could swallow up to 80 per cent of his wage.
For thousands like Jordan, the fuel crisis is not abstract economic data. It is an immediate assault on household finances with no apparent relief. While the International Energy Agency recommends people work from home, reduce speeds and use public transport to curb fuel shortages, for millions of workers the option simply doesn't exist. Regional towns including Robinvale in Victoria are reporting severe shortages affecting farmers and workers who rely on long car trips and machinery. Agriculture, construction, emergency services and freight cannot pause for a global energy shock.
The underlying vulnerability is structural and longstanding. Around 85-90 per cent of petrol, diesel and jet fuel consumed domestically is sourced from overseas refineries, primarily in Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Malaysia. Australia once operated eight oil refineries but today only two remain operational: the Geelong refinery in Victoria and the Lytton refinery in Queensland. When Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passageway that carries 20 per cent of the world's oil supply, six oil shipments bound for Australia in April were turned back or deferred, and key Asian suppliers like Malaysia and South Korea signalled they may prioritise domestic needs over exports.
The Maritime Union of Australia warned that "the closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the recent attacks on Iran is a stark warning of the volatility of Australia's access to global fuel supply chains" and stated "we mustn't gamble our economic stability on uninterrupted access to foreign fuel markets" and "we cannot assume that geopolitical tensions will always resolve before our reserves run dry." The union points out that under the former Coalition government, Australia's strategic fuel reserves were effectively offshored, with public money spent storing fuel overseas rather than building sovereign stockpiles at home, while refinery after refinery closed.
The government has responded with emergency measures. Up to 762 million litres of petrol and diesel have been released from Australia's domestic reserves to target localised market disruption. The government temporarily lowered fuel quality standards for 60 days to allow higher-sulphur fuel to be sold, which will add roughly 100 million litres to the market each month. However, 100 million litres is roughly equivalent to less than a day's worth of national fuel consumption, excluding jet fuel, as Australia gets through approximately 44 million litres of petrol and 92 million litres of diesel every 24 hours.
A Robinvale service station owner said his business faces the worst fuel shortages in more than 25 years, after running completely dry and rationing fuel deliveries, with the shortage spreading to the town's two other stations which introduced a $50 sales limit. NSW Farmers' president said farmers across the country have run out or are running out of fuel while others are only a week or two away from empty, with smaller independent distributors in rural areas reporting they are dry as well with no more fuel coming.
When asked what help essential workers need, Jordan said "the government should have more powers to stop price gouging" and "do something about it." The federal government has announced it will double penalties to a maximum of $100 million for service stations found to be deliberately price gouging. Others have called for subsidies or tax relief for essential workers with no option to avoid commuting.
The tension between fiscal prudence and national vulnerability lies at the heart of this crisis. Australia chose decades ago to allow domestic refining capacity to disappear in favour of cheaper imports. The strategy worked during stable times. But when geopolitical events close shipping lanes, it exposes how little margin exists between comfortable supply and regional shortage. Essential workers, earning modest wages in trades and agriculture, now bear the cost of that calculation.