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A 2019 document released under freedom of information laws hints at what steps the government would take if fuel supply gets dicey.
Documents reveal details of how "light handed" measures encouraging more economical driving, carpooling, and using public transport might be the next step in the government's plan if fuel supply to Australia is reduced.
Currently the government maintains that there is still no significant impact upon supply of fuel into Australia, with shortages at some fuel stations due to a combination of increased demand and logistical issues.
The suggested "light handed" policy measures are part of the National Liquid Fuel Emergency Response Plan, a document from 2019 that was released under Freedom of Information laws in late 2024.
The policy manual suggests the initial measures, combined with encouraging businesses to curtail their fuel use, could reduce fuel demand by around 2.6 to 5.1 per cent.
However the Minister for Energy and Climate Christ Bowen told the 7am Podcast that the document was a little outdated, not even factoring in work-from-home.
"The Liquid Fuel Emergency Plan. It's just a guide, it's not government policy, but it's existed under all governments since 2006 and it does give a pretty good guide… it says first governments would encourage reduced fuel use, carpooling, public transport use," Bowen said.
"It doesn't talk about work from home, because that wasn't a thing when it was written."
The Government has not yet made any suggestions Australians should consider taking measures to reduce their fuel use.
In recent days there have been incorrect and widely reported claims that the Federal Government would be soon limiting motorists to purchasing $40 worth of fuel, claims originally sourced from the Liquid Fuel Emergency Plan document.
In an example section, $40 is mentioned as an arbitrary case study of how a "total transaction value" based limit on fuel purchases could function in the case of rationing being introduced.
Bowen has repeatedly implied over recent weeks that if rationing was to occur, it would not be through the Federal Government imposing nation-wide wide rationing. Instead rationing would be implemented on a state-by-state basis, with each state setting their own potential rationing limits.
“Now, [The Liquid Fuel Emergency Plan’s] got a particular thing in there about the federal rationing. I wouldn't do it that way. I just wouldn't do it that way,” Bowen said.
“But look, that conversation really only comes if supply gets crunched.”
“We wouldn't do that with what we're dealing with at the moment, demand. But in the worst-case scenario, this war rolls on for months and months and months and the supply of oil to the Asian refineries is really constrained. And therefore, the supply of petrol and diesel to Australia is really constrained.”
“And governments, state and federal, we'll do voluntary public communications campaigns. We'll do that and then look at all our different powers.”
“...I don't think we're there. I don't envisage being there. But of course, we are dealing with the biggest energy crisis in history and so, you know, there will be, there does need to be governments working together about prudent contingency planning.
“…we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves, but… historically, rationing has been done state by state.”
You can read the full National Liquid Fuel Emergency Response Plan documents, released under a freedom of information laws, here.
Max is the News Publishing Coordinator for Drive. He enjoys creating engaging digital content, including videos, podcasts, interactive maps, and graphs. Prior to Drive, he studied at Monash University and gained experience working for various publications. He grew up playing Burnout 3: Takedown on the PS2 and was disappointed when real life car races didn’t have the same physics.
