Letters to the Editor | September 10, 2026
Letter to our Late Editor
(The Editor, “The Times”)
Dear Robin– There is always too many words and yet never enough, I cannot thank you enough for the support, encouragement, humour, and interest you gave to my family and I. You supported everything I did with a beautiful mix of both support and guidance. Tossing in a joke whenever you could.
From the constant humming to coming into the press room with little tidbits of information like “Did you know Canada also has a Donald?”, you had a way of making your presence known at the office. I came to find great comfort in that presence, always knowing someone with seemingly endless amounts of wisdom and humour only matched by what felt like boundless curiosity for people and their stories was right next door.
Words cannot express how much it meant to me the sense of community you instilled around yourself at the “Times” office. As far as I had travelled, he helped make Donald feel like home. I am incredibly thankful I got to meet you, and I applaud a life incredibly well lived.
–Daniel Puentes
Australia’s Fuel Economy
(The Editor, “The Times”)
Dear Editor.– While the frustrations expressed by Kenneth King regarding high fuel prices and household cost-of-living pressures are entirely understandable (and shared!), his attribution of these challenges solely or predominantly to government mismanagement and “multinational fuel cartels” overlooks the structural economic realities that govern Australia’s energy sector.
Blaming local authorities or conspiratorial commercial orchestration ignores how fuel pricing actually functions in an open, refined fuel import-dependent economy such as ours. Australia’s retail fuel prices are inextricably linked to international benchmarks – specifically Singapore motor gasoline (MOGAS) prices – and global crude oil supply dynamics, alongside the relative strength of the Australian dollar.
When global or regional conflicts, such as the war between the US/Israel and Iran (which started in February 2026, and accounts for the sudden uplift in prices in March), shifting OPEC production quotas, or currency fluctuations push costs up overseas, those increases flow directly through to local bowsers. Governments of any political persuasion possess very limited ability to unilaterally override global commodity markets, the more so given Australia accounts for a little more than 1% of global oil and petroleum consumption.
Framing fuel security entirely as a domestic political failure misrepresents the vulnerability of our supply chains. Australia’s transition toward becoming a largely refined-fuel importer following the closure of major domestic refineries means our security relies heavily on international shipping lanes remaining open, and commercial stockpiles. While temporary relief measures like excise adjustments offer short-term comfort rather than structural solutions, dismissing the Federal government’s international diplomatic efforts to secure supply lines underestimates the genuine logistical challenges of maintaining energy reserves as a relative bit-player in an unsettled and competitive global market.
That said, for many years, Australia was the only International Energy Agency (IEA) member state in substantial non-compliance with the organization’s baseline treaty requirement to hold 90 days of oil or fuel stock cover. While the Morrison government sponsored Fuel Security Act 2021 (which establishes the Minimum Stockholding Obligation, aimed at ensuring less reliance on “just-in-time” supply chains) and offshore storage agreements (such as utilizing the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve) mitigate the risk of running out of fuel, our onshore physical inventory for refined products remains limited to about 4-5 weeks of continuous domestic demand. One might well query the sense of this, especially in light of the devalued currency which international agreements represent these days.
Addressing cost-of-living pain requires pragmatic and broad-based economic policy and an honest appraisal of global market forces rather than populist scapegoating. Sustainable solutions lie in continuing to diversify energy sources, supporting transport efficiencies and capacity, and strengthening domestic resilience – not in maintaining the pretence that local policy alone controls the price of a barrel of oil.
Yours sincerely,
David Green
Cape Woolamai.
Re: Australia’s Fuel Fiasco. (Part two.)
(The Editor, “The Times”)
Dear Editor.– What is the fuel excise tax? For those who do not know, here in Australia, fuel excise tax is paid by all motorists who purchase petrol and diesel at the bowser. This tax is a flat sales tax imposed by the federal government and incorporated into the fuel price we pay. In addition, heavy vehicle owners, such as buses and trucks, pay a Road User Charge for each litre of diesel purchased, the fuel excise is collected and contributes to government’s general revenue and funding transport infrastructure, such as roads. Certainly not here in our region.
From April 1 until June 30, 2026, Australia’s fuel excise was temporarily reduced to 20.6 cents per litre, down from the standard 52.6 cents per litre.
The temporary reduction ended 30 June 2026 and as stated rates returned to standard indexed levels thereafter.
Right now, we’re facing a fuel security crisis – a problem politicians can’t talk their way out of and one the Labor government needs to seriously consider – dumping Net Zero lunacy or their so-called green agenda. It’s not going to work because Australia is a diesel economy.
More than 90 per cent of our fuel is imported from overseas suppliers, domestic production has been declining for decades, and refineries have shut down one by one, leaving only two. We are a resource-rich nation that cannot fuel itself, and that vulnerability was identified, documented, and repeatedly warned about long before this current crisis hit. The United States has a petroleum fuel reserve of 90 days, Australia has just 36 days of fuel in reserve, if we are lucky, far below the International Energy Agency’s recommendation.
Under Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison, refinery capacity continued to collapse, and external dependence deepened. As Energy Minister at this time, Angus Taylor oversaw a system that remained critically exposed, while reviews were promised, delayed, and never meaningfully delivered. Now the consequences are arriving all at once, and Australians are being told there is nothing to worry about.
Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen continue to downplay the situation even as supplies tighten and shipments are cancelled. Thanks to our government Australia still fails to meet the basic 90-day fuel reserve requirement that every other advanced economy adheres to, and instead, the public is reassured that roughly a month’s worth of supply is sufficient. That reassurance collapses under even basic scrutiny, particularly when past warnings made clear how quickly shortages would cascade through the economy. These decisions are not accidental but in fact very deliberate.
Why are we forced to be reliant on someone else’s fuel and where are Australia’s oil refineries?
We have two major oil refineries still operating with several former operations converted to fuel import terminals only or closed permanently.
The following are the big, still-running crude oil refineries that matter for most people’s day-to-day fuel supply:
Lytton Refinery in Brisbane, Queensland. Owner/ Operator: Ampol (often still associated with the Caltex brand, historically).
Role: One of only two major refineries left, supplying a minority share of Australia’s petrol, diesel and jet fuel (less than 20% combined with Geelong).
Supported by federal government refinery subsidies are scheduled to run until around mid 2027 to keep local refining viable.
Geelong Refinery in Geelong, Victoria. Owner/Operator: Viva Energy (originally built and run by Shell).
Role: Processes crude into petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and other products, and is the other key contributor to that <20% domestic fuels share.
Its long term future has been under periodic review due to global refining margins and energy transition.
Most Australian motorists filling up at the bowser now rely on imported fuel shipped into our ports and stored at ex-refinery sites that are now import terminals.
Other significant sites closed or converted.
• Kwinana, south of Fremantle, Western Australia (BP). Refining ended; being converted/used as a fuel import terminal.
• Altona, southwest Melbourne, Victoria (ExxonMobil). Closed in 2021; no longer refining.
• Kurnell, Sydney, New South Wales (Caltex). Closed in 2014; converted to an import facility.
• Clyde, Sydney, New South Wales (Shell). Closed 2013; site re-purposed for fuel import/storage.
• Bulwer Island, Brisbane, Queensland (BP). Closed in 2015 and converted to an import terminal.
• Port Stanvac, near Adelaide, South Australia (Mobil). Mothballed in 2003 and later permanently closed.
There is also a small specialist refinery at Eromanga, in remote south west Queensland, processing locally produced crude mainly into diesel and special fuels rather than acting as a major national fuel hub.
Australia has sufficient off and on-shore oil reserves to serve our country for many years to come. In Queensland we have the Taroom Trough, a 750 square kilometre exploration zone with the potential to become Australia’s first major oil province in decades. Industry experts describe it as one of the most significant exploration opportunities in the country, capable of attracting billions in investment, supporting regional jobs, and restoring domestic production capacity.
The Great Australian Bight is known to be a potential source of billions of barrels, with estimates suggesting it could support thousands of jobs and generate hundreds of billions in revenue over time. Other sites throughout Australia include North-West Shelf, Bonaparte/Browse Basin, Northern Carnavon/Roebuck Basins, Perth Basin, Canning Basin, Amadeus Basin, Cooper/Eromanga Basins, McArthur Basin, Bowen/Surat Basin, Bass/Otway Basins, Gippsland Basin plus other areas not identified or listed.
Editor, the US Energy Information Administration identified 403 billion barrels of shale oil across six basins, with 17.5 billion barrels considered recoverable, enough to supply Australia for roughly four decades or more at our current consumption.
Our nation is at a crossroads, by us relying on mainstream political parties to genuinely move us in the right direction is a fallacy, we have a government debt of 1 trillion dollars and possibly more most politicians will fall in line as told to do by their globalist masters. The choices we have are few but could not be clearer:
Dump Net Zero and develop our sovereign energy sources so we have an abundance of cheap energy and become self-reliant as we should be. Or continue to indulge in Labor’s green fantasy and make Australia energy-dependent on countries like China.
The population says nothing and endures the pain of treachery and lies.
Sincerely yours.
Kenneth King,
Birchip.
