Leader of The Nationals WA Shane Love MLA has labelled the Cook Labor Government’s failure to address fuel shortages in regional Western Australia a dereliction of duty, warning that the longer the situation is allowed to spiral, the more crises will emerge.
Mr Love said Western Australians were being kept in the dark while other states were taking decisive, practical action, providing daily updates, tracking shortages in real time and giving motorists clear advice.
“In Western Australia, people are left guessing, and that is simply not good enough.”
“New South Wales is providing daily fuel updates, running an incident room, tracking shortages in real time and verifying outages directly with service stations,” Mr Love said.
In Parliament yesterday, the Albanese Government outlined the service stations in NSW, Queensland and Victoria without fuel, no such information was available for Western Australia.
“Western Australians are getting nothing, no updates, no transparency and no clear advice to motorists.”
Mr Love said with Easter and the school holidays just over a week away, the Government’s inaction was putting travellers at risk.
“Families are preparing to head on road trips, yet service stations in parts of regional WA cannot guarantee fuel will be available,” he said.
“That is a recipe for disaster.”
“This Government is sending people onto our roads without the most basic certainty, that they can fuel their vehicle and get home safely.”
Shadow Minister for Emergency Services Honourable Rob Horstman MLC has also raised serious concerns about the State’s preparedness ahead of a potential cyclone event.
“We are potentially facing a Category 3 cyclone on the WA coast,” he said.
“We’ve seen exactly what happens, I saw it firsthand during Cyclone Seroja in my own community, power can be out for weeks and people are forced to rely on generators just to get by.”
“So, the question is simple: how are people meant to power those generators if they cannot access diesel, or cannot afford it?”
“You cannot talk about emergency preparedness while failing to guarantee fuel supply. The two go hand in hand.”
Upper House Member for Western Australia Honourable Julie Freeman MLC has warned the situation facing remote communities across regional Western Australia, particularly in the north, is reaching a critical point.
“Communities across the Kimberley and Pilbara are raising serious red flags about the security of their diesel supply,” Mrs Freeman said.
“Without diesel, these communities lose everything, power, water, communications and access to medical care. This is not an inconvenience; it is a complete breakdown of essential services.”
“If supply continues to fail, people will be forced into major towns, placing immediate and unsustainable pressure on housing, health services and already stretched communities.”
Mrs Freeman said the priority must be clear and immediate.
“Diesel must be secured and delivered to remote communities first. That is non negotiable,” she said.
Mr Love said the Government must urgently start communicating clearly with Western Australians.
“If the Government is so confident the problems in the supply chain are being fixed, then prove it, front up with the facts and provide daily, transparent updates.” he said.