State of emergency declared across WA by Roger Cook to manage fuel crisis

A state of emergency is being declared in WA in a bid to pressure fuel companies to divert supplies where they’re needed, but Roger Cook says the target is suppliers and public consumption won’t be restricted — yet.

The Premier and Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson visited Government House on Wednesday afternoon, for Chris Dawson to sign-off on the use of emergency powers under the Fuel, Energy and Power Resources Act 1972.

Parliament will be recalled on April 14 to table the orders, but they will come into effect at midnight on Thursday.

It’s the first time those powers have been used and comes after three out of six fuel companies snubbed the Premier’s request to reveal commercially sensitive information, so urgently needed supplies can be re-directed to the Goldfields and Wheatbelt.

“Full transparency is crucial for staying ahead of the situation and keeping WA’s economy running and protecting our way of life,” Ms Sanderson said.

“We are using this act to comply with Level Two of the national plan, which is to compel information out of those companies.

“Under the Fuel, Energy and Power Resources Act it is (a State of Emergency) and we’re activating emergency powers.”

Mr Cook had asked fuel companies to volunteer the information, including volumes, scheduled shipments and delivery timetables by 5pm Tuesday.

Only half of the companies replied to his letter.

The Government wouldn’t name those that didn’t, but Ms Sanderson said most are co-operating.

“This is highly sensitive commercial information. What these powers doing is allow those companies to be released from those constraints and to provide that information to governments,” she said.

“It’ll give us visibility in the future. I think this is an important part of preparing us for further shocks.”

Industry groups representing small and mid-tier miners left without diesel declared the stand-off “staggering”.

“The fuel companies had their chance to do the right thing but failed,” Association of Mining and Exploration Companies chief executive Warren Pearce said.

“Western Australians have a right to feel pretty disappointed in the behaviour of these companies, at a crucial time for Western Australia.”

Chevron, which supplies Caltex petrol stations, said it responded to the Premier’s letter in full.

“Chevron, through the Caltex fuel network, remains committed to working constructively with the WA Government and relevant agencies to support the continuity of supply to customers and communities,” a company spokesman said.

Mr Cook said the information is necessary to get line of sight on available volumes.

“There’s more fuel coming into the State today than there was before the conflict started,” Mr Cook said.

Penalties of up to $100,000 will apply, if companies do not comply.

But they can’t be forced to divert their contracted supplies to regional locations in need, unless level three of the national plan agreed by National Cabinet is enforced.

“We’ve seen a significant volume of extra fuel into the market, but what we’re not seeing is the correlating uplift across regional Western Australia,” Ms Sanderson said.

“There’s still a question around where a portion of that fuel has gone.”

Nationals Leader Shane Love said it was the right move, too late.

“The Nationals WA first called for urgent action three weeks ago,” he said.

“The Cook Labor Government dismissed us, laughed at us in Parliament and accused us of scaremongering.

“The focus now must be on action, not words and not taskforces. We will be watching closely to ensure emergency powers are used to get diesel to those who need it most in regional WA.”

On Wednesday 18 fuel outlets reported they had run dry of unleaded and about 20 were out of diesel, out of 765 registered fuel stations.

“Unfortunately, our efforts are being hampered by not having the full visibility of the fuel supply chain,” the Premier said.

“In some cases, we don’t know where the fuel is.”

The declaration won’t trigger restrictions on public consumption.

A State of Emergency under the Fuel, Energy and Power Resources Act can include a permit or rationing system, but that hasn’t been written into the regulations this time.

“I want to stress these emergency powers under the Fuel, Energy and Power Resources Act are not the same as a state of emergency under the Emergency Management Act, which was used during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Mr Cook said.

“The Emergency Management Act has very broad powers to direct individual behaviour. What we are doing today is targeting specific emergency responses to understand our full supply chain much better.”

He’s previously said rationing will only become an option under stage four of the national plan, agreed by the Prime Minister and state and territory leaders this week.

“We remain at level two of the national fuel security plan, which is designed to keep Australia moving,” Mr Cook said.

“It’s worth noting that this declaration will enable us to create additional emergency regulations should they be required to implement actions at high levels as part of the national plan.”

But he said the next stage of the national plan is not inevitable.

“It’s not in preparation for anything,” Mr Cook said.

“It doesn’t pave the way. But we will utilize whatever resources we have in terms of our rules to respond appropriately to circumstances”.

He wasn’t putting much stock in US President Donald Trump’s latest prediction that the conflict in Iran, and the resulting blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, will be over in two weeks.

“We can’t rely on what you see around the world at the moment,” the Premier said.

“We can’t predict what’s going to happen. We’re obviously encouraged by the idea that the conflict will be over soon. But it’s had significant damage to the global supply chain, so it will be a while before we can also we can say that we’re in the all clear”.

The Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA warned that the “energy crunch” will last a while yet, but said the State Government’s early engagement with industry has helped.

“I can absolutely confirm that all stakeholders in that forum are working constructively together,” CME WA chief executive Aaron Morey said.

“We think that Western Australia has been ahead of other states, and we’ve seen a little of the benefit of that now flow through to some of those regions.”

Petrol prices in Perth will fall on Thursday with the average price of unleaded down from $2.446 per litre to $2.31 - that’s still 22 per cent higher than a month ago.

The price of diesel will fall slightly from $3.091 per litre to $3.025.

The full impact of the Albanese Government’s decision to halve fuel excise to 26 cents is not expected to flow through to prices at the bowser until next week, even as global oil prices continue to rise.

The states have also agreed to return the extra GST that is resulting from higher fuel prices, but are yet to agree how.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has warned Premiers to keep their promise.

“We don’t want to see this drag out forever. We don’t want to see the states and territories at war over this. We want to see the relief flow to motorists,” he said.

Mr Cook is chairing the Council for the Australian Federation, but wouldn’t be drawn on reports that Queensland is the hold-out state arguing to send the extra GST to impacted industries instead of reducing petrol prices.

“There’s a range of opinions around the table, as you’d expect, but we have all agreed that we will act together,” he said.

“We recognize that windfall gains should be provided to the people of Australia, to provide them with some relief tat the bowser.

“We’ve agreed on the principles, we’re just now working through the final details”.