SALLY SARA, HOST: Well fuel prices in Australia have risen sharply amid uncertainty over the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. On the weekend, US President Donald Trump called for other nations to help secure the Strait of Hormuz from Iranian attacks. Those attacks have disrupted global energy supplies. Catherine King is the Minister for infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, and joins me now. Minister, welcome back to Breakfast.   

MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT CATHERINE KING: Good to be with you Sally.

SARA: Will Australia get involved in any effort to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to international shipping?

KING: Well, we've been very clear about what our contribution is in relation to requests, and so far, that is to the UAE – obviously providing aircraft to assist with defence, particularly given the number of Australians that are in that area in particular – but we won't be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but that's not something that we've been asked or that we're contributing to.   

SARA: So we haven't been asked by the United States?

KING: It's something we're not contributing to, I'm not aware of whether there's an ask.

SARA: What's the government's thinking here? Why doesn't it want to send a ship when you're acknowledging the global oil difficulties right now?

KING: Well, obviously we have a range of defence measures in place in Australia itself, and they're matters for the Defence Minister and for the Foreign Affairs Minister, not me as Transport Minister, but I'm informed that we're not intending to send ships to the Strait of Hormuz. We're well prepared here in this country to weather the economic crisis that is occurring as a result of the Middle East, but we're not planning to send a ship.

SARA: How many days of fuel reserves do we currently have here in Australia?

KING: So today, because of the minimum stock holding obligations, we've got 1.6 billion litres of petrol, that's 37 days. 30 days of diesel and 29 days of jet fuel sitting in that minimum stock obligation. Again, which is why, we're well prepared to weather what's occurring in the Middle East at the moment.

SARA: So that 37 days, does that account for some of the reserves being pumped into the supplies across the country?

KING: Yes, it does. That includes the release of the 20%, so that's in addition to the release of the 20% of the baseline minimum stockholding that the Minister for Energy announced just recently.

SARA: When will more fuel start flowing into regional areas?

KING: Yeah, well, we should see two measures that the government's put in place immediately. First, the release of 20% of the baseline minimum stock holding. That allows for about 762 million litres of petrol and diesel to go out into domestic reserves, and that should relieve some of the pressure we're seeing on the fuel distribution chain. But then also the temporary lowering of the sulphur standard, which allows for 100 million litres a month of new petrol supply that otherwise would have been exported, because of our sulphur standards here. That's being released and worked through to get that out as quickly as possible. Ampol has been asked particularly to prioritise, to redirect that to the regions, and to the wholesale spot market, to support independent distributors and harvesters. So we should start to see some of that flow and ease shortly.

SARA: You're listening to Radio National breakfast. My guest is the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King. You're saying that Australia's got around 37 days of reserves currently, and we're having some released into the economy. Are you confident that that stockpile will not run out during this crisis?

KING: Well look, we're obviously well placed. We've been, obviously conscious for a long period of time that fuel security is a significant issue for Australia, given how reliant we are on overseas markets and the volatility of the global world has obviously had our attention for some time in relation to this. It's why we did introduce the minimum stock holding obligation, and that means that those fuel supplies are held here in Australia, and they are holding us in good stead as we weather, what really over in the Middle East, is the consequences of a global conflict.

SARA: Is it the Federal Government's understanding that China has told its oil refiners to halt all fuel exports?

KING: Certainly, we've heard reports to that effect, and we're watching that fairly closely. It's clear, obviously, the longer that the war continues, the greater the impacts will be felt, not just by us, but obviously the Asia Pacific region overall. And we'll continue to monitor those events as they occur. But at this stage, all of the ships that were planned to come into Australia, are coming in. The fuel supply is holding. Obviously we are seeing localised distribution issues, and I heard from your news that it's really good to see the States are also stepping up to try and help transport companies get that fuel to where it's needed. There are obviously larger loads being required to get fuel across the country in a different way, and so they're stepping up to make sure that road load limits are being worked through, and we're providing that accessibility for road transport to get through to the areas that that's needed. That's an important role that the states and territories can play in assisting on getting the distribution to where it's needed.

SARA: If China stops exports of jet fuel to Australia, does the government anticipate there could be significant disruptions to flights here?

KING: Well again, I'm speaking on almost daily, and my Department on a daily basis with the aviation industry, and particularly to Qantas and Virgin. They're, again, well placed to withstand what is occurring globally. At the moment, they are telling me there is no immediate or short-term issue in relation to jet fuel supply. And then we obviously have our minimum stock holding obligations as well. So we don't see any immediate issue in terms of flights. Obviously, the price of jet fuel is having some impact on our aviation industry, and we're watching that fairly closely, but both of the airlines are telling us that they are okay at the moment, and we'll continue to monitor that. And as you can see, when the Government is being asked to step in, when we know that we need to do something to help, whether it's distribution, whether it is trying to say to people to not stockpile, don't panic buy. When it comes to fuel and diesel, we're stepping in where we need to, and we're working pretty closely with industry to make sure that we've got that understanding of what's needed and what the supply is.

SARA: What's the Government's understanding of the latest situation with members of the Iranian football team?

KING: Thank you. What we've done as a government, is ensure that there are opportunities provided and they were communicated to the Iranian football team. We can't remove the context in which these players are making incredibly difficult decisions. And so we've obviously made the offer for humanitarian visas. They have been accepted, and then we understand there are a number who have taken the decision now to return to their home country.

SARA: In retrospect, was it wise for the Minister Tony Burke to be photographed so prominently with these players?

KING: I think both Tony Burke and Australia can be really proud that it was in our country that these women experienced a nation presenting them with genuine choices, and that's what we've done. And I think Tony can be very proud that he's done, in making sure that they had every opportunity to know that they were safe and welcome here in this country and that they had a genuine choice to make. We understand the context in which they were making it must have been incredibly hard and very, very difficult. They would have been facing enormous pressure, from what was happening overseas, in their home country as well. And we are certainly very proud that Australia has offered that choice to these women.

SARA: Did the Minister overplay his hand? Did it perhaps make the decision more difficult, given it was so prominent?

KING: No, I think that Tony did exactly what he should do. He offered these women a choice, a choice that's often not available to them in their home country to make. They were provided an opportunity to come to Australia, to make that decision, and ultimately it is their choice. And I think that Australia can be very proud as a country that we were able to do that.

SARA: Catherine King, thank you for your time this morning.

KING: Good to be with you Sally.

SARA: Catherine King is the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.