South Australians have always known that our prosperity is tied to our connections with the world.
We are a state that grows grain, produces world-class wine, builds ships at Osborne, and sends minerals, food and manufactured goods across the globe.
For a trading state like ours, secure sea lanes are critical to our livelihoods. When those routes are disrupted, the consequences reach our farms, factories, service stations and households.
We have all seen how quickly the weaponisation of sea lanes can impact us at home. Through the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, attacking merchant vessels and claiming to lay sea mines, Iran has turned one of the world’s most critical shipping routes into a theatre of coercion and conflict.
The Iranian regime’s threats to impose tolls on ships passing through the Strait could permanently drive-up petrol prices, worsen inflation and create a dangerous precedent for our region.
Australia cannot accept a world where countries must pay a toll to exercise rights guaranteed under international law.
That is why Australia joined the European Union-led “No Fees/No Tolls” pledge at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level week in New York. In doing so, we committed to championing global cooperation, rejecting coercion and unilateral action, and opposing measures that would hamper or impair lawful navigation.
I also stood with representatives of 80 nations, led by Bahrain, at a UN Security Council press stakeout to reiterate our call for the urgent and full re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the safe, secure and unimpeded transit of all vessels. We too condemned the Iran-backed terrorist group, the Houthis, for their reckless attacks in the Red Sea and advances in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
We will continue to work with international partners, just as we did when the Strait first closed and we quickly secured additional fuel and fertiliser supplies from Singapore, China, Malaysia, Brunei, the Republic of Korea and Indonesia, while also committing to support Pacific Island nations in their time of need.
At the same time, we are building resilience at home. This year’s federal budget included a $14.8 billion fuel security package, including $7.5 billion that shored up Australia’s near-term fuel and fertiliser security.
$3.2 billion will be invested to build Australia’s long-term diesel and jet fuel supply resilience, through the Australian Fuel Security Reserve – a permanent, Government-owned fuel reserve of around a billion litres.
The Albanese Government is also developing feasibility studies to expand our domestic refining capability, manage Australia’s Fuel Security Framework and deliver a nationally coordinated approach to manage disruptions to supply chains.
We are using every practical lever available to protect maritime and energy security, and our prosperity.
That means more domestic resilience, diversified supply, strategic reserves and stronger refining capacity. It also means working with partners overseas to keep global shipping routes open and uphold the rules that make international trade possible, like the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
We know we can’t control every global shock, but we are building Australia’s resilience so we are prepared for disruptions, and we are using diplomacy to defend the international rules on which our people depend.
Whether it’s grain leaving Port Lincoln, wine from the Clare or Barossa Valleys, or the fuel that keeps South Australia moving.
Free and open seas are a part of Australia’s economic security and protecting them requires strength at home and strong relationships with international partners.
A version of this first appeared in The Advertiser
