Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has declared that Australia's crippling fuel crisis has exposed years of neglect and complacency in energy security and national policy. Writing as oil supplies continue to be disrupted by the closure of the Straits of Hormuz, Abbott argued the crisis was entirely predictable and had revealed Australia's persistent failure to prepare for foreseeable risks.
A Broader National Decline
The impact of the Iran war is just the latest sign of the trouble we are in, Abbott wrote on his Substack. Australia might still be the world's best place to live, but we are letting ourselves down big time. Abbott said the country's deepening fuel crisis points to a broader national decline economically, strategically, and culturally.
There is actually a deeper problem, a spiritual malaise, that is sapping the morale and the ambition of what was once a country that set no limits on what it could achieve, he wrote. We think that our wealth has somehow made others poor, that the world's problems are somehow the West's fault, that settler societies are fundamentally unjust.
Issues Treated as National Atonement
Abbott said issues of mass migration, climate action, and identity-based concessions are increasingly treated as acts of national atonement. The former leader said the fuel shock is a long-overdue reckoning and highlights how fragile Australia's position has become on the international stage.
Iran has threatened to shut the Straits of Hormuz for decades, he said, making the current disruption to supplies no surprise. Because Australia is heavily dependent on imported diesel, the nation remains perilously exposed, he added. No country should have been more alert to the Hormuz risk; few have done less to prepare, Abbott wrote.
Four Priorities for Energy Resilience
He then listed four priorities to restore Australia's energy resilience. Abbott argued Australia must act decisively by rapidly expanding onshore fuel storage so the nation is never again caught short in a global supply crisis.
- Resume oil and gas exploration and extraction so that next time there is trouble in the Persian Gulf, we can help rescue the world rather than plead for its help.
- End the cannibalising of conventional defence forces to bankroll nuclear submarines that remain years away from service.
- Reject calls to pressure Asian refineries by leveraging Australia's gas exports, arguing such tactics would harm allies without fixing national insecurities.
- Embrace Australia's potential as a fossil fuel superpower and a reliable provider of global energy security.
Criticism of Green Energy Transition
Abbott said successive governments have become obsessed by what he described as an ideological commitment to an unstoppable green energy transition, neglecting the reality that fossil fuels account for about 90 per cent of Australia's energy use.
Call to Stop Bludging on US Alliance
Abbott also pushed for Australia to raise its contribution to global security, giving further weight to the arguments he shared on social media on Sunday. He said recent criticism from Washington could not simply be dismissed after Donald Trump said he was surprised by Australia's limited support in the Middle East.
I do not like it when the President insults Australia, but frankly he has got a point, he said, adding Australia was bludging as an ally. We have not done enough to help America and Israel to protect freedom and justice in the wider world, he said.
It is high time that we stopped being bludgers on the US alliance and offered America the help it needs to keep the Straits of Hormuz open and keep the fuel flowing here in this country.
