Israel “should be commended” for going to war with Iran despite starting a fuel crisis that has plunged world markets into crisis, Israel’s ambassador to Australia has claimed.
Dr Hillel Newman, who took over the ambassadorship earlier this month, appeared before the National Press Club in Canberra on Tuesday.
Asked if Israel bore any responsibility for how the worsening fuel crisis after Israel and the United States’ attacked Iran on February 28, Dr Newman said the nations had acted to remove “existential threats”.
“The fact that Israel and the United States of America see eye-to-eye on the strategic threat and decides to work on it is actually an action that should be commended by the international community,” he said.
“Perhaps we are opening options and even peace options for the entire international community. We’re bringing perhaps freedom for the people of Iran.”
Dr Newman denied Israel “dragged” the United States into the conflict said the “idea is to try and do this operation as short as possible”.
“We all want short deadline, attaining the objectives and then the war will be over,” he said.
“The objectives are mainly, as I said before, removing the existential threats, ballistic missiles and the uranium aspect, nuclear aspects.
“Once we remove those two objectives from our point of view, the war is over.”
However, Dr Newman said Israel “do not set a deadline” because it was defined “according to the objectives”.
He said both Israel and the United States both aspired to see the war end, including the reopening of exports from Iraq and “even opening export of oil from Iran”.
Speaking during question time, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said out of 2400 service stations in NSW, there were 247 without diesel and 61 with “total stockouts”.
In Queensland, where there are about 1800 service stations, there are 77 without diesel and 39 with no unleaded petrol, Mr Bowen said.
In Victoria, out of 1627 service stations, there are 82 with no diesel and 40 without petrol.
In South Australia, out of about 700 stations, 20 were without diesel and 13 without unleaded petrol, while in Western Australia, out of 771 stations, there were 18 without diese and 14 with no unleaded.
In Tasmania, out of 297 stations, eight were without diesel and 15 were without one or more grades, while in the Northern Territory five were without diesel and four with no unleaded, though Mr Bowen said that was also as a result of road closures and flooding.
In the ACT, there five without diesel and two without unleaded, though they were expected to be filled in the same day.
Mr Bowen said there were currently 53 ships en route to Australia, including from Asia, the United States, Mexico, and other locations.
Fuel excise cut
Australian motorists will have to wait between “one to two weeks” to see the Albanese government’s fuel excise cut reflected in prices at the bowser, Treasurer Jim Chalmers earlier revealed.
The excise cut means the cost of fuel will be reduced by 26.3 cents per litre. Motorists will save about $19 when filling up a 65-litre tank.
It is set to take effect from Wednesday.
But Mr Chalmers told reporters in Canberra it would take time for the changes to be reflected in prices at the pump.
“First of all, it’s really important to remember that the excise cut is levied to or applied to wholesale fuel sales. So the full 26 (cents) won’t show up at 12.01am tonight,” he said.
Fuel at service stations, purchased before the excise cuts, had been bought at the higher rate, Mr Chalmers said.
Motorists should therefore expect the savings to take “somewhere between maybe one and two weeks for the full benefit” to flow through, he added.
“I want to manage expectations on that front, because people shouldn’t rock up at five past midnight tonight and expect to see the full benefit passed on,” he said.
“Obviously, we’ll make sure, via the (Australian Consumer and Competition Commission) that the benefit is passed on as is appropriate. People shouldn’t be taking motorists for mugs when it comes to passing it on.
“I’ve written to the chair of the ACCC to set the expectations on this front.”
Bowen defends excise cuts despite inflation risk
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has doubled down on the Albanese government’s plan to halve the fuel excise despite fears it will put pressure on inflation and trigger interest rate hikes.
Critics have raised concerns the changes could stoke inflation by injecting demand into the system, forcing the RBA to consider lifting the cash rate again to cool the economy.
On Tuesday, Mr Bowen defended the changes when asked by the ABC whether the Albanese government was concerned they could trigger demand spikes and propel further shortages.
He said these impacts were “certainly considered” in the government’s decision.
“But I think it’s fair to say petrol prices are very high and will remain higher than they were because we’ve always said that the biggest impact on petrol prices will be the international oil price, which is unlikely to plummet anytime soon,” Mr Bowen said.
“But in the face of that, a sensible thing to do would be to provide as much cost-of-living relief as possible, to take that 26 cents a litre in terms of the excise and obviously some further impacts from the (goods and services tax) cut as well.”
The GST arrangement referenced by Mr Bowen was announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Monday. It points to a forthcoming agreement from the states and territories not to benefit from increased GST revenue collected on higher fuel prices.
They would try to reach a deal this week on returning part of the GST revenue earnt through elevated fuel prices to the federal government, NSW Premier Chris Minns later told Sky News.
“The states have agreed to give up the GST windfall gain, if you like, that has accumulated over the last four weeks as a result of increase in fuel prices, hopefully handing back to consumers,” he said.
“We’re trying to work out the details of that. It’s not straightforward, but we’ve agreed to the principle, and we hope to have an agreement in the next couple of hours.”
PM downplays inflationary impact of excise cuts
Later, analysis of the government’s fuel excise cuts and its inflationary impact was branded “simplistic” by Anthony Albanese, who denied the changes acted as a cash injection into the economy.
The Prime Minister was asked whether the extra $2.5bn in Australians’ pockets as a result of the cuts would lock in a third back-to-back interest rate rise and place pressure on mortgage holders.
“The idea of some of this simplistic analysis that says that somehow this is putting more money into the economy … so how is there more money in the economy? By reducing the cost?” Mr Albanese responded.
He also refused to be drawn on what conditions would be necessary to push Australia into stage 3 of the National Fuel Security Plan, where there is significant disruption to fuel supply, or what situation would trigger fuel rationing.
“Well, the plan outlines it is where there’s extraordinary disruption,” he said.
“But where we’re at, the objective here is to stay at stage 2. That’s the objective. That’s why supply is important.”
Mr Albanese later dismissed an ABC report that said government analysis assumed rationing would start when Australia got to 10 days of supply.
“That’s the ABC … you’ll see lots of speculation … national cabinet will go through all of these processes in an orderly way,” he said.
