Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson has warned the state will not hesitate to utilise harsh penalties of as much as $100,000 a day for fuel companies that failed to hand over supply chain information, as she confirmed WA was mulling a strategic stockpile of diesel amid the fuel crisis gripping the nation.
Sanderson and WA Premier Roger Cook went to Governor Chris Dawson at the start of the month to enact state of emergency powers that would allow them to compel fuel suppliers to cough up sensitive information on stocks and supply chains.
On Sunday, the energy minister said six suppliers – comprising some of the state’s biggest chains – had provided the government with “significant amounts” of information ahead of the deadline of Wednesday last week.
“And we’re currently analysing that information to assess whether it meets the requirements of the emergency powers,” Sanderson said.
“I also want to make clear that if any suppliers wilfully withhold information that’s required under emergency powers, we will not hesitate to use the penalties.”
Last weekend, as the government revealed all regional retailers would be compelled to join price monitoring service FuelWatch, Cook said suppliers withholding critical supply chain information could face $100,000 daily penalties.
Sanderson said the strategic stockpile being considered by the government would involve the purchase of additional diesel on top of federal stockpile requirements, and held in storage “for times when it’s tough and when we’re seeing challenges in those supply chains”.
“This would be solely for West Australians and be directed at the discretion of the state government to areas that need it most, for example; agricultural areas at the end of those supply chains, or remote communities who still rely significantly on diesel,” she said.
WA’s independent “spot market” was the first point of failure in the state’s supply chain when prices jumped and availability tightened following the US and Israel’s attack on Iran in March, Sanderson said.
It hit agricultural operators and small miners particularly hard due to their reliance on that market.
“[A state fuel stockpile] would allow us essentially to release fuel onto that spot market as required, should we see another spike in demand and that spot market evaporates,” Sanderson said.
“And it will also provide extra resilience in regional and remote areas, in particular our remote communities.”
Sanderson would not detail exactly how much fuel would be stockpiled, only that it would be “in the millions of litres”.
Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas welcomed the news, which he said addressed a “glaring void” in the state’s future planning and resilience, but pointed to a motion in parliament back in 2023 where Liberal Steve Martin warned WA’s fuel reserves were a “glaring weakness” in its ability to cope with natural disasters.
“Now, that was in 2023, and I note that nothing really has changed, and successive energy ministers have dropped the ball on future planning in this space,” Zempilas said.
“As soon as this crisis first developed in the Middle East, some six weeks ago, we called for proactive approaches from government, not just reactive approaches, and the need for our state to think very seriously about critical fuel reserves.”
While he was pleased the government was turning its attention to a fuel stockpile, Zempilas lamented the lack of detail in Sunday’s announcement.
“How it would look, how much it would cost, whether it would be government-owned or come about through a much closer working relationship between the state government and the suppliers, remains to be seen,” he said.
Fuel stations fined, but outages drop from Easter peak
Consumer Protection has handed out 33 infringement notices after inspecting 645 fuel outlets across WA since early March, with many relating to service stations breaching the rule which ensures prices listed on FuelWatch remain unchanged for 24 hours.
On Sunday, Sanderson confirmed there were three investigations currently under way into three outlets ahead of new penalties coming into effect at the start of May.
She said as many as 61 outlets reported running out of fuel on Good Friday, while on Sunday there were eight reporting outages of at least one type of fuel.
Sanderson said the current warning level warranted people looking for ways to save fuel and save money, “but in no way is it a suggestion that we’re in a rationing or demand management process or circumstance”.
“We’re actually going about our business, and that’s what we want people to continue to do,” she said.
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