The Albanese government will release up to 762 million litres of petrol and diesel from domestic reserves to address shortages, cutting into freight operations across regional Australia. That is according to the Australian Trucking Association, which lobbied ministers directly last week as supply disruptions began affecting timber, agricultural, and bulk-haulage corridors.
The decision reduces the baseline minimum stockholding obligation, freeing fuel companies to release up to 20 per cent of the nation’s domestic stocks. It forms Australia’s contribution to a 400-million-barrel drawdown by International Energy Agency member countries — the largest emergency fuel release ever recorded.
“In our meetings with ministers last week, the ATA urged the government to keep Australians up to date on fuel stocks and to address the regional supply issues that are occurring,” CEO Mathew Munro said. “These shortages are due to high demand, not to a lack of fuel in Australia. Fuel shipments are continuing to arrive.”
Munro was blunt on where Australia’s reserves actually sit: “Australia’s fuel reserves are here in Australia or on ships nearby, not in the United States or anywhere else,” he said.
Fuel companies can only relax their storage obligations under strict conditions. They must prioritise supply to regional, agricultural and maritime customers experiencing shortages, direct additional volumes to bulk customers including independent regional distributors, and limit releases to meet normal demand — not to supply uncontracted customers seeking to profit from global price spikes, panic purchasing or stockpiling.
The government has also committed to publishing weekly fuel supply data. Munro said the two measures together would ensure regional trucking businesses had the fuel to keep freight moving.
The ATA has moved to map the problem state by state. “At a meeting of our member association CEOs, it was agreed that the ATA will gather and provide the government with a list of regional areas where freight transporters are having supply issues,” Munro said. “The ATA has expert road freight association representatives across all parts of Australia.”
