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Australia's fuel panic since the war in the Middle East began has become so bad that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a national cabinet meeting to address skyrocketing prices across the country and dire shortages in regional areas.
The outcome of that meeting was to appoint a national fuel supply task force, led by Anthea Harris – the former head of the Australian Energy Regulator and former chief executive of the Energy Security Board.
Harris is set to coordinate supply updates between the states and the Commonwealth, with the goal being to get fuel to where it is needed most.
"This is a sensible measure to put in place. The Commonwealth government is of course responsible for fuel security and supply, but it is the states and territories that are responsible for distribution, within their jurisdictions," Albanese said at a press conference after Thursday's meeting.
It does sound sensible, sure. But you know what's not sensible at the moment? People's perception that they need to buy as much petrol as they can right now, just in case prices go up.
The prime minister has continually said supply issues and price hikes seen in recent weeks were due to panic buying, not a lack of fuel arriving in Australia.
"Every single ship that was due to land here has landed here. There is not less supply. This is an issue of increased demand," he repeated on Thursday.
But then, why are there shortages and why are prices going up? Because there is a pervasive (and not 100 per cent unfounded) public sentiment that the ongoing war will see fuel prices rise even further.
In short, it's FOMO.
No matter how many times the PM, the treasurer and a myriad of other experts tell people not to buy more petrol than they need, people will do what they want. Do I have to mention 2020 and toilet paper?
So what if instead of just telling people 'we've started a task force so there's no need to panic buy', we actually gave them a tangible solution to their problem, which would help to solve the larger issue.
Make public transport in every capital city free for the next month or two, or for however long it takes for fuel prices to settle and for more certainty about future supply.
This would encourage people who usually drive to work to catch a train or bus (or tram, if they're in Melbourne). The need for petrol would suddenly be less pressing for city-dwellers, and the bowsers in the regions would replenish more quickly.
I exclusively catch the train on my commute to the office. My husband works from home, and uses the car we share to drop our youngest to daycare – about a 15-minute round-trip. We use the car to do the food shop and for the odd weekend adventure, but really, that's about it.
We, of course, drive longer distances on occasion – a road trip here and there or for various kids' events. But on a weekly basis, our petrol consumption is minimal – one tank lasts us between about six and eight weeks.
When you compare that with the four weeks the average Victorian driver gets out of a tank, you can see how providing incentives for people to cut back on driving – at least temporarily – could go a long way to reserving petrol for where it is needed most.
Another thought would be for businesses and governments to encourage people to work from home more often, where possible. We've done it before, we know we can do it again.
We need farmers and transport logistics operators to continue their work in order for us all to feed our families and buy essentials.
If state and federal governments spend a bit now to encourage people to reduce their petrol consumption by relying more on public transport, hopefully we can avoid a food and supply shortage reminiscent of the pandemic.
Jemimah is Drive's Consumer Editor. She has more than a decade of editorial experience and has previously worked in property and lifestyle journalism for Domain, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and REA Group, among many other publications.
