Australia picks up world's biggest diesel tab: $9bn
Climate Council
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Australia has been hit with the world’s biggest extra diesel bill during the Iran conflict, paying around $9 billion between March and August – more than twice as much as any other country, a new Climate Council report finds.
The Crude Awakening report also includes an energy security scorecard that rates Australia as among the countries most exposed to an oil shock, as our nation is the world’s largest seaborne importer of diesel fuel.
Australia now uses two and a half times more diesel than it did in 2000, and imports around 90 per cent of our requirement. That heavy reliance on imported fuel left us highly exposed when global oil prices spiked, driving up the cost of fuel, freight and food. Today marks eight months since the Iran conflict began on February 28.
The report finds the best way out is by electrifying our transport and energy systems, and powering them with our own sun, wind and storage. Australia already ranks number one in the world for rooftop solar and battery capacity per person, but is lagging behind on public charging infrastructure and electrifying the trucking and mining fleets that burn 65% of our nation’s diesel.
Climate Councillor and leading independent economist Nicki Hutley said: “Relying on imported oil means leaving our energy security in someone else’s hands. When global conflict chokes supply, prices spike and the cost ripples through the whole economy.
“We’re paying heavily for that exposure: not just at the servo, but also at the checkout and almost every time we open our wallets.
“Global oil shocks contribute to Australian inflation because of that over-reliance on foreign oil. We can start fixing that mess by electrifying more of our freight and businesses, reducing our exposure and, in doing so, reducing inflationary pressure.’’
Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said: “Immediate fuel relief helped people who needed it, but cost us billions in foregone revenue and the relief was short-lived. When it ended, prices jumped back to where they were.
“We need protection that lasts: a clear plan to get our cars and trucks off imported diesel and petrol, so we’re shielded from more price spikes. We can start by redirecting the $3.4 billion in tax credits that paid big miners to burn diesel. That money could build chargers along our key freight routes, and help get more electric trucks on our roads.”
Climate Councillor and former BP Australasia president Greg Bourne said: “I lived and worked through all the fuel shocks from the 1970s onwards, and they have kept coming. This one isn’t over, and it won’t be the last.
“Each time, Australia’s reliance on foreign oil has resulted in us paying higher prices. More of the same won’t protect Australians. A strategy is not just the sum of tactical day-to-day political decisions, which is what we have been doing for decades.
“We need a strategy that speedily and progressively weans Australia off its reliance on fossil fuels to insulate us from geo-political shocks; allows us to capture our renewable energy comparative advantages and reduces our transport and industrial climate pollution.
“The faster we run our homes, transport and industry on homegrown clean energy, the more control Australians will have over their costs when the next energy shock hits.”
ENDS
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