By Bevan Ramsden
Successive Australian governments’ misplaced priority on military “security” against a fictitious threat has left Australians without adequate fuel, food and transportation security.
The disruption to oil supplies, resulting from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, has exposed this vulnerability.
At time of writing, 470 service stations across Australia were without petrol or diesel and the cost of both these fuels has skyrocketed, impacting the cost and ability to transport produce from farm to supermarket. The cost of everyday foodstuffs is escalating. The recent interest rate hike has put further financial pressure on mortgage holders. Workers are being urged to use public transport or work from home to reduce demand on scarce fuel supplies. Any worsening of the situation could bring in petrol and food rationing.
Even prior to the Iran War, according to Foodbank Australia, around 20 per cent of households nationwide were severely food insecure, meaning they were skipping meals or going entire days without eating.
Their report highlighted how the housing crisis is intensifying the problem, with 48 per cent of renters experiencing food insecurity, and being forced to choose between paying rent and buying food.
One must ask why, in a supposedly rich country like Australia, so many people are struggling to survive. Why has our fuel, food and transportation security become so vulnerable to overseas war disruption?
The responsibility for this situation lies entirely with successive Australian governments of both major parties, who have, for decades, focussed on military “security” for the nation and spent heavily in support of it. And this, despite lack of any realistic military threat, imminent or foreseen. They have, as part of their subservience to U.S. foreign policy, persisted with the Force Posture Agreement and the AUKUS Security Treaty, facilitating an increased US military footprint on Australia and enormous expenditures on so-called defence, which in reality means arming our Defence Force (ADF) for integration with the U.S. armed forces and providing extensive facilities for U.S. military operations in our country.
Facilities being provided to the U.S. military include training facilities at the Bradshaw Training Range and Delamere bombing range in NT, accommodation for 2,500 U.S. marines in Darwin each year, port facilities at HMAS Stirling in WA for U.S nuclear hunter-killer submarines, with the Government considering building an East Coast port for the same purpose.
RAAF Tindal in the NT is being upgraded to allow the stationing of up to six U.S. B52 bombers, some of which are nuclear-capable. U.S. military officers are now embedded in our defence intelligence system, in a combined operation based in Canberra.
Billions of dollars have been given to U.S and U.K shipyards to prop them up in the hope that it will enable Australia to buy/build up to eight nuclear hunter-killer submarines, which, if we get them at all, will inevitably be drawn into U.S. wars. This is in addition to Pine Gap, the most important U.S military intelligence gathering facility outside the continental U.S., and the North-West Cape submarine communications station, which, according to journalist Peter Cronau, was most probably the source of the firing command which resulted in a U.S. submarine sinking the Iranian frigate recently with heavy loss of Iranian life.
Any realistic assessment of this U.S. military buildup and expansion of bases, be they U.S. or jointly operated, shows that, rather than enhancing our security, they have made Australia a certain target for retaliatory strikes in the event of war between the U.S. and its numerous enemies.
The Governments’ myopic, misplaced focus on military “security” has resulted in other vital areas of human security being neglected, including fuel security, food security, health security, transportation security, climate security, shelter security and communications security.
Successive governments’ failure to ensure that Australia has the internationally recommended 90-day supply of fuel for the nation in case of disruptions to overseas supply is not due just to misplaced priorities, but is clearly a dereliction of duty verging on incompetence.
In fact, they have allowed the level of storage to drop to one-third of this recommended level.
Successive governments have allowed this industry to remain in the ownership and therefore control of foreign corporations, mainly American. It has allowed them to operate with only one-third of the recommended level of fuel security storage and, even worse, to close six of the eight refineries operating in Australia and, instead, rely on overseas refineries.
Due to this dereliction of duty, transportation fuel for Australians is now vulnerable to shipping disruption due, for example, to war — as is now happening with the closure of the Strait of Homuz. And in this case, the Australian Government is supporting the illegal U.S./Israeli way on Iran, which is responsible for the disruption.
The way forward
Short term, the Australian Government must cease any involvement in the Illegal U.S./Israeli war on Iran, recalling ADF personnel and equipment from the Middle East, close U.S. access to Pine Gap and the N/W submarine communications station and urge an end to hostilities, and a return to the conference table to determine a blueprint for peace and security for all the people in the Middle East.
Long-term, the Australian Government must become involved in the energy supply industry. This, in order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, accelerate electrification of transportation, including trucks and build enough publicly-owned fuel storage capacity – and, if necessary, refining capacity – to ensure Australia meets the recommended 90 days of fuel security.
Our Government must refocus its priorities away from contrived security threats and subservience to the U.S. alliance, and concentrate on our real security needs: fuel/energy, food, transportation, shelter, health, communications and the climate crisis.
