Animal welfare concerns are mounting across regional Australia as the federal government finally moved to ease fuel supply pressures that farmers say are threatening livestock transport, planting and the daily operation of rural industries.
After days of doggedly insisting there was no problem, Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced in Parliament that Australia would temporarily relax fuel quality standards to allow an additional 100 million litres of petrol a month to remain in the domestic market rather than being exported.
The emergency measure will allow fuel with slightly higher sulphur levels to be blended into Australian supply for the next 60 days, with Ampol committing to prioritise that fuel for regions experiencing shortages and the wholesale spot market used by independent distributors.
“The Government’s focus is ensuring our fuel gets to where it needs to go,” Mr Bowen said.
“In order to assist with getting more supply, and secure downwards pressure on prices, I am temporarily amending Australia’s fuel quality standards to allow higher sulfur levels for the next 60 days.
“This will allow around 100 million litres a month of new petrol supply that would otherwise have been exported to be blended instead into Australian domestic supply.”
Mr Bowen said the redirected supply would be prioritised for “regions of shortage and for the wholesale spot market that supports independent distributors and harvesters”.
The move follows growing alarm from farm groups, fuel distributors and regional politicians who say the current squeeze on independent fuel suppliers is already disrupting agricultural operations across rural Australia.
National Farmers’ Federation President Hamish McIntyre said farmers were increasingly reporting difficulty accessing fuel through independent regional retailers.
“While overall national liquid fuel supplies may remain sound, impacts are being acutely felt in regional communities right now, especially among independent retailers, who rely on the ‘spot market’ for supplies,” Mr McIntyre said.
“This is seeing concentrated impacts on regional communities where independent retailers dominate, which is very different from metropolitan areas.”
Livestock welfare top priority
Mr McIntyre said the situation was rapidly escalating from a fuel logistics problem into a risk for Australia’s food production system and carried serious animal welfare implications, particularly for industries reliant on daily feed deliveries and livestock transport.
“There are industries like dairy that need fuel to move product every single day,” he said.
“Farmers also need fuel to transport fodder to livestock and maintain the health of their animals.”
The fuel squeeze was also raised in Parliament on Thursday by Member for Parkes Jamie Chaffey and Member for New England Barnaby Joyce.
Mr Chaffey said independent distributors servicing regional communities were already being denied supply.
“Let me tell you about Sam Clifton from Transwest Fuels, an independent wholesale fuel supplier for regional New South Wales,” Mr Chaffey told Parliament.
“Sam has been turned away from his normal bulk fuel suppliers in both New South Wales and Queensland. How will he provide fuel for his more than 2,000 customers?”
Mr Chaffey also cited farmers already facing operational risks.
“No diesel equals no food.”
Mr Joyce said the shortage was already affecting livestock transport and freight movements across the New England, emphasising both the logistical nightmare and animal welfare issues with an example involving cattle movements through Gunnedah saleyards.
“There was a truck from Betts Transport. It did a number of runs—ran out to Ebor up to Dorrigo, back to Caroona Feedlot, which is near Quirindi, and then to the Gunnedah saleyards,” Mr Joyce said.
“Those B-doubles take 1,800 litres of fuel to fill up. They have about 90 head of cattle.
“Gunnedah saleyards had 6,500 head that day. That means you have about 72 B-doubles worth of cattle and fuel is about 130,000 litres. It wasn’t there. The fuel just was not there.”
Mr Joyce said the consequences could quickly escalate if trucks moving food and livestock were unable to refuel.
“In the end they couldn’t find fuel. So there’s 90 head of cattle sitting on a truck.”
Industry operators say those kinds of situations are becoming increasingly common as regional distributors struggle to secure supply and transport costs surge.
Denny Kreutzer, managing director of independent distributor Westlink Petroleum, said animal welfare was now their primary determinant of who gets fuel.
“We’ve got around 500 orders waiting and we can’t get enough fuel to do them all,” Mr Kreutzer said.
“So we’re having to make awful choices about who gets fuel first.”
“We’re prioritising feedlots and operations where animals will literally die if they don’t get fed. The grain guys who can wait a bit are being asked to wait.”
Survival mode for many
Mr Kreutzer said the situation highlighted the real-world consequences of the supply squeeze.
“When you’re deciding between a customer who can delay and a feedlot where stock will go hungry, the choice is clear,” he said.
“We’re making sure animals are looked after first, even in the middle of this fuel crisis.”
Kreutzer said the company had introduced a temporary 17.5 per cent fuel levy simply to cover skyrocketing operating costs.
“We didn’t pluck 17.5 per cent out of thin air. We sat down and worked out exactly how much fuel our trucks use and the kilometres they travel on each delivery,” Mr Kreutzer said.
“If anything, some of our bigger clients tell me we’re still a bit light.”
Mr Kreutzer said the levy was not about profit but survival as diesel costs soared.
“Our own fuel bill has effectively doubled — we’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars more a month just to keep 38 trucks on the road,” he said.
“The 17.5 per cent levy simply covers the extra dollar a litre we’re being hit with. It keeps us operating without ripping anyone off.”
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