Donald Trump wants other countries to send ships to the Gulf to help protect oil shipping. Australia says it won’t be doing that. Photo: David Murtagh.
The Federal Government has no intention of sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz to protect oil tankers in transit, despite US President Donald Trump putting a general call out for countries to do just that.
Transport Minister Catherine King said that while the oil shipping route in the Middle East needs to be secured, there are no plans for Australia to do more than it currently is doing, which is deploying a crewed E-7A Wedgetail aircraft to the Gulf.
The minister also noted that the Australian Government had received no request to send ships.
“We’ve been very clear about what our contribution is to requests, and so far, that is to the UAE [United Arab Emirates], obviously providing aircraft to assist with defence, particularly given the number of Australians that are in that area in particular,” Ms King told ABC Radio.
“We won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but that’s not something we’ve been asked, or we’re contributing to.”
Shadow defence minister James Paterson said any such direct request from the US Administration would have to be carefully considered in Australia.
“You would need to have a naval vessel that’s capable of protecting itself against drone and missile attacks,” Senator Paterson said.
“In 2023, when a similar request from the United States came to help in the Red Sea against the Houthis terrorist organisation, we weren’t able to provide any naval vessels because we didn’t have ones that could protect themselves that were available for that mission.”
Global oil prices have spiked once more as the war in the Middle East continues and US calls for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened are so far falling on deaf ears.
The key transit route’s closure has blocked 20 per cent of the world’s crude oil and refined fuels from reaching the international market.
China has an estimated 1.2 to 1.3 billion barrels of crude oil in onshore storage, and it maintains the world’s largest oil refining capacity.
The Chinese communist government has imposed an immediate ban on refined fuel exports to protect its domestic supply.
The Australian Government says such decisions do not point to a threat to jet fuel supplies in this country.
“We don’t see any immediate issue in terms of flights,” she said.
“Obviously, the price is putting some impact on our aviation industry (but) both of the (major) airlines are telling us that they are okay at the moment, and we’ll continue to monitor that.”
The Transport Workers’ Union has launched a campaign to protect gig workers and owner-drivers from rising fuel prices by allowing them to pass on costs to transport clients.
Along with the Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation (ARTIO), the TWU is applying to the Fair Work Commission to shield drivers from surging fuel prices by requiring transport clients to pay for the increases.
“Gig workers, owner-drivers and transport operators are being squeezed by rising fuel prices,” TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said.
“If they can’t pass those on to clients with healthier balance sheets, that increases deadly pressure to delay vital vehicle maintenance, push longer hours and skip breaks.
“Transport already suffers from razor-thin margins, and safety is the first thing put under strain. We need transport clients to step up and be part of the solution to keep our critical supply chains running safely and sustainably. This keeps both drivers and the public safe on our roads.”
The union and ARTIO point to statistics showing previous fuel crises have led to “dangerously low profit margins”.
So far this year, 24 people have died in truck crashes on Australian roads, including seven truck drivers.
In the last financial year, 734 transport businesses went under – a 48 per cent increase from the year before.
“This application to the Fair Work Commission encourages the whole industry to share the burden of skyrocketing fuel costs, rather than shunting it on to those at the bottom of the chain. It brings together workers, transport companies, gig platforms and transport clients to drive a fair solution for all,” ARTIO secretary Peter Anderson said.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
