Ongoing supply chain crisis shows urgent need for Australian ships

After three months of the USA/Israeli war on Iran and the constant closure and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Australians are eager to know what practical and lasting measures are being developed by government to ensure resilient, secure supply chains for economically and socially essential oils, fuel and resources.

With just two oil refineries left in Australia, one damaged by fire, and both of them completely dependent on the importation of Middle Eastern crude oil, the country has surrendered its economic, defence and social resilience to the market forces of the globalised fuel and shipping cartels, warns the Maritime Union of Australia.

“Just-in-time supply chains work beautifully for multinational oil companies, petrol refiners and international shipowners, but wreak havoc on the communities and societies, the people, that our economies are supposed to serve,” said Jake Field, National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia.

“Over the past six years, one crisis after another has smashed Australian supply chains, be it COVID, bushfires, flooding, and now a war of choice by the United States in the Middle East and the Iranian retaliation of shutting down international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. All of these “unlikely” events have arrived and compounded upon one another, but at no point has government of either political stripe responded with a meaningful or lasting measure to assure Australians of steady access to essential resources like refined fuel or fertiliser,” Mr Field said.

The partial restoration of Australian oil refining is a years-long industry development project and cannot address the immediate concerns that have prompted panic buying or price hikes. These are economic responses to a physical scarcity caused by insecurity of transport and supply. In this context, opening the taxpayers’ wallet and paying top dollar for a fuel supply guarantee from our near neighbours is a short term solution to a long term problem.

“As everyone now understands, fuel security is national security, but there is no security of supply without security of transport, and there is no security of transport without ships. The first and most meaningful step towards securing fuel transport is to ensure Australian controlled vessels, operating with Australian crews, are deployed to move these essential cargoes,” Mr Field said.

“We cannot afford to see tankers turned around. We must not put ourselves in a position of begging other countries for access to their supply chains. We have the resources, the skills and the wealth to provide our own security of access to oil, fuel and fertiliser, but seizing this opportunity requires decisive action,” Mr Field said.
 
The MUA believes it is unforgivable that Australia has lost the capacity to refine its own plentiful supplies of crude oil. Australia is now in the ridiculous position of needing to export its own crude and buying it back as refined petrol and diesel because domestic refineries are not configured to process locally extracted, Australian crude oil.

In the meantime, Australia must establish and maintain a fleet of Australian oil and fuel tankers, alongside bulk cargo vessels that transport critical resources like coal, fertiliser, ores and grain. This would be a genuine act of faith that the Australian community would respond to positively and enthusiastically.
 
These vessels would operate in the strategic and social interests of the Australian supply chain and the communities who depend on it. They would also be available to be requisitioned by government in times of massive upheaval or crisis as we are seeing unfold right now so that we never see a fuel tanker turn around and go “home” with its load of essential fuel or oil.

“This fleet, strategic in nature, should be the immediate and urgent priority of the Federal Government. The MUA and its members stand ready to support this measure and crew those vessels,” Mr Field said.