Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) candidate for Herbert, Clynton Hawks, says the federal LNP is entrenching our dependence on oil imports and all but guarantees fuel affordability in Australia will be at the whim of the inscrutable mechanics of international oil markets. 

“Prior to the latest surge in fuel prices, according to AAA, Australian families spent on average about $3,500 a year getting to work, the shops, schools and sport in their vehicles.  That has gone up by about 30% in the last few months alone. 

“The net effect of a one-off cut in fuel excise evaporated in a blink of an eye. 

“The bigger issue is that the LNP has no vision for Australia’s fuel security.  The recent announcement propping^[1][1] up the two remaining oil refineries is a short-term fix masquerading as a long-term solution to Australia’s fuel security. 

“Fuel security is ensuring Australia’ has enough on-shore fuel supplies to meet our needs.   

“Fuel sovereignty means, as a nation, owning the resource ourselves, which we can only do if we are producing it. 

“Fuel sovereignty creates the conditions for fuel security.” 

Mr Hawks said the Katter’s Australian Party’s fuel sovereignty bill has a four-pronged approach which together will reduce Australia’s dependence on foreign imports by 80%. 

“Firstly, we need to own our own refineries and stop exporting our indigenous oil. 

“Next, we need to incubate the growth of the bio-fuel industry.   

“That can be achieved with ethanol mandates such as in the United States, where E10 is the default unleaded fuel.  A mandate will ensure that there is the market for biofuels like ethanol. 

“The Queensland government’s introduction of the 4% mandate combined with their E10OK campaign saw E10 take a 20% market share of the liquid fuels retail market.^[2][2] 

“Motorists seemed happy to make the switch and sales were climbing.  Unfortunately, momentum was lost with COVID as global oil prices fell. 

“But with rising oil prices the opportunity is with us once again, as long as governments are willing to back biofuels in.”  

Mr Hawks said the final plank of KAP’s fuel sovereignty bill is to mandate that all government vehicles operating in metro areas are EVs, a switch that will save tax-payers millions in running costs. 

Kennedy MP, Bob Katter, said the LNP had abandoned Australian sugar and grain farmers, and Australian manufacturing workers by failing to support the KAP’s four-pronged sovereign fuel security bill.  

“I was with cane farmers in Ingham this week who are screaming out for their industry to be diversified,” he said.  

“Sugar cane can be used to create many more things other than raw sugar, including bio-energy and bio-fuels. All we need is our own State and Federal Governments to act in our interests 

“Similarly, we could be making Australian made electric vehicles and batteries for the metropolitan areas. This would employ the Holden and Ford car manufacturers who were left out to dry by the free-market policies of Labor and the LNP.”