Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is racing to lock down Australia's fuel security — jetting to Karratha on Monday to unveil plans for a brand-new oil refinery in Western Australia, the first built on Aussie soil in a staggering 60 years.
The PM will splash $4 million on a pre-feasibility study to explore building a third refinery, joining the country's two aging facilities in Geelong and Brisbane as the Middle East conflict threatens to send fuel prices soaring.
'Proven to Get Things Done'
Chemical and fertiliser outfit Perdaman is tipped to build the refinery — and Resources Minister Madeleine King is talking it up hard.
"The thing about Perdaman is they have proven themselves to get things done," King said. "For a company like Perdaman to come to government and say we're going to look at this … it's got to have some strength behind it, and I believe it has."
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong also pushed the case for home-grown fuel solutions, saying Albanese's announcement would back "a return to refinery capacity in Australia."
"We need to look at what we can do here in Australia to shore up our resilience," Wong said.
'Too Hefty a Price'
Treasurer Jim Chalmers warned Australians have already paid a brutal price for the fallout of the grinding Middle East conflict — and said a proper end to the war "can't come soon enough."
"The longer this drags out the more serious the consequences for inflation and growth here and around the world," Chalmers said. "From an economic point of view, a proper and permanent end to the war can't come soon enough."
Coalition: Not So Fast
The Coalition is backing the project — but with a sharp catch. Nationals leader Matt Canavan warned Labor's carbon tax could choke the life out of the plan before a single barrel is refined.
"I'd love to see a new oil refinery built, but to do that we've got to get rid of Labor's carbon taxes," Canavan told News24 on Monday. "We're not going to get a new oil refinery in this country while this government imposes a massive carbon tax on existing refineries and new ones would be subject to the same."
Bowen vs. Albo: The Energy Contradiction
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O'Brien went for the jugular, calling out the glaring contradiction between Albanese's fuel push and Energy Minister Chris Bowen's anti-fossil-fuel crusade.
"On one hand, you've got Chris Bowen, the Energy Minister, on the world stage saying no more fossil fuels," O'Brien said. "And then you've got the Prime Minister of Australia saying we need more fossil fuels."
"The contradiction in Labor's energy policy explains why Australians are paying higher prices for energy than they ever have and why energy markets are now pulling back investments from Australia."
The refinery bombshell comes as Aussies face a fresh fuel nightmare, with Treasury briefing warning price pressures may intensify as the Middle East conflict grinds on — leaving drivers bracing for more pain at the pump.
