First on the table will be fuel supply, and then the group will move to figuring out a plan for if and when this fuel crisis escalates.
A compliance blitz on the Fuel Check real-time price monitoring website, will also be fast-tracked for tomorrow.
At least two service stations in other states have been fined for reporting the wrong prices to their state’s official monitoring site since the war began.
Following reports of some drivers stockpiling fuel and even selling it online at inflated prices – a move labelled unAustralian by federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen – NSW Premier Chris Minns yesterday warned motorists not to buy more than they need.
The federal and other state governments have also called emergency roundtables to discuss how the increased price of fuel could cause flow-on effects from retailers and distributors to consumers.
“Shipping companies are rightfully nervous at the moment, and as long as they’re nervous, the markets are nervous, people are buying fuel and at an increased rate,” Nine political editor Charles Croucher told Today at the weekend.
“It all serves to push up prices even further beyond all that.”
Macquarie University senior lecturer in applied finance Dr Lurion De Mello said he was surprised prices hadn’t gone even higher.
“Look, it’s a tricky one. The government keeps telling us that fuel is coming into onshore but we don’t really know,” he told 9News.
“I mean, right now today, I saw a lot of petrol stations were out of diesel already. So that’s the biggest worry.
“I think the petrol prices are kind of holding up.”
Gulf states reported new missile and drone attacks on Sunday after Iran threatened to widen its campaign and called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates.
US President Donald Trump said he hoped countries reliant on oil and gas exports would send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
None responded with firm commitments by Sunday though some said they were considering action.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE told residents on Sunday they were working to intercept incoming projectiles.
The UAE and other Gulf countries that host US bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran, including toward the island, home to Iran’s primary oil terminal.
Australia, which imports 90 per cent of its oil, has also released 20 per cent of its petrol and diesel reserves to help areas experiencing low supply.
Bowen this week confirmed the country has 1.6 billion litres of petrol, 2.7 billion litres of diesel and 800 million litres of jet fuel available – translating to 37 days’ worth of petrol, 30 days of diesel and 29 days of jet fuel.
Israel and the United States attacked Iran on February 28, saying they were striking nuclear and military sites and encouraging the Iranian people to rise against their leaders.
Iran has responded with attacks against Israel and neighbouring countries in the Persian Gulf.
Since the war started, Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf states, most of them migrant workers. In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed so far. Iran’s Health Ministry says 223 women and 202 children are among those killed, according to Mizan, the judiciary’s official news agency.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis deepened, with more than 820 people killed there, according to the Ministry of Health, and 850,000 displaced since Iran-backed Hezbollah started hitting Israel and Israel responded with strikes and sent additional troops into southern Lebanon.
United Nations chief António Guterres on Saturday warned Southern Beirut “risks being bombed to oblivion”.
“It is tragic to see all this happening in a country that has contributed so much to world civilisation,” he said.
The Lebanese people did not choose this war. They were dragged into it.
“My message to the warring parties is clear: Stop the fighting. Stop the bombing.”
– Reported with Associated Press
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