Good morning everyone and welcome to the Ampol Lytton Refinery. My name is Kara Cook, I'm the local Federal Member here, and it's my great pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Anthony Albanese here, and of course Minister Chris Bowen as well. We've just had a wonderful tour of the facility. This is a really important facility in my electorate employing almost 1,000 people on site at the moment, and also of course really important nationally as one of only two refineries across the country. I'd like to introduce Matt Halliday who is the CEO of Ampol to say a few words.
MATTHEW HALLIDAY, CEO OF AMPOL: Thank you very much. I'd certainly like to welcome the Prime Minister, the Energy and Climate Change Minister and the Member for Bonner here today. Ampol is Australia's locally owned and governed downstream fuels company, and as just mentioned operates one of the two remaining oil refineries in Australia. Lytton supplies about 10 per cent of Australia's transport fuel needs and about 40 per cent of these for Ampol's customers. Clearly in the situation that has arisen out of the Middle East we've been working closely with the Government and we appreciate the support that's been taken very promptly. Steps such as the temporary reduction in MSO inventory levels, the temporary adjustment to gasoline fuel standards to allow more fuel to stay in Australia, and the recent announcement around the Export Finance Australia financing arrangements to help more cargoes come to Australia and further bolster the fuel resilience of the Australian supply chain. We certainly look forward to continuing to work with Government to underpin the really important role that Lytton plays long term for the fuel industry in Australia. I'd like to now hand over to the Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: Thanks very much Matt, and thank you to you and the workers here at Lytton in what is one of Australia's most important facilities. 700 people employed here directly and indirectly as contractors. Making an enormous difference for the national interest which Australians are so concerned about at the moment because of the global crisis that has arisen as a result of the conflict in the Middle East. A conflict a long way away, but a conflict that is making a difference here for Australians. This is one of Australia's two refineries. There were six when we left office in 2013. When we came back in 2022 there were just two. But this is such an important facility. And it's been great talking with Matt and the other people here at Ampol for the difference that the policy decisions have made to the capacity of this refinery. The difference that changes to the fuel standards have made, increasing the capacity for fuel to stay here in Australia by about 20 per cent, making an enormous difference.
But today as well we have an important announcement, which is that last week we were able to pass through the Parliament the fuel security powers to allow EFA, Export Finance Australia, to be able to give the underwriting of companies to be able to go out there and source additional fuel for Australia's supply. And today I can announce that Export Finance Australia have agreed to terms with our two largest suppliers, Viva Energy, of course, based in Geelong, and Ampol based right here, to enable them to bring more fuel to Australia. This is not business as usual. Importantly, this is additional supply here in Australia that they will be able to source. And as part of this agreement, of course, the Government can direct where that supply goes. So, that particularly going to regional Australia and areas that are under pressure in terms of supply.
This is an important announcement today and it comes on the back of yesterday's announcement of a two-week ceasefire. We want to say this, that this is an important step forward. Of course it is a fragile peace, but we want it to lead to an agreement. The Australian Government also firmly believes that this has to apply to Lebanon as well. We want to see peace in this region and it will make a difference. And I know that many Australians are concerned about the events that are occurring in Lebanon. This is a matter of not just the impact there, but the impact that it's having right around the world. So, yesterday was an important agreement. We want to see it pursued. But the pressures, of course, as we have said, an end to the conflict, even if it is a permanent end of the conflict that we want to see, doesn't mean that Straits of Hormuz reopened and that it's back to business as usual. This will have a long tail, which is why after this we will travel to Singapore. I'm looking forward to a constructive meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong tomorrow. This is an important relationship. We have spent four years building relationships in our region, particularly with ASEAN leaders. Prime Minister Wong and Singapore, the relationship that we have is a critical one, and of course Singapore is a major supplier of fuel to Australia. So, I'm looking forward to that tomorrow. And I'd ask Minister Bowen to make some comments and we'll take a few questions.
CHRIS BOWEN, MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE & ENERGY: Thanks very much, PM. Firstly I want to thank everyone who's worked so hard to make the announcement the Prime Minister has just made a reality. As you know, we passed the legislation to enable Export Finance Australia to intervene to support fuel imports into Australia, in record time through the Parliament. And then a lot of people worked hard over Easter, including in Ampol and in Viva and in Export Finance Australia and in my Department, to make this agreement that was struck overnight a reality. This now enables Ampol and Viva, with an agreement in place on the commercial terms, to go out and buy spot cargoes with the support of the Government when they become available. And as Matt could tell you better than I can, these cargoes become available at short notice and quick decisions have to be made and this agreement will now enable those decisions to be made. This agreement now and the EFA intervention is more important now, in my view, than it was even last week. With the oil price moving around, a lot of speculation about what will happen in the Middle East, these purchases become even riskier for companies like Ampol and Viva, as the oil price might move substantially by the time the spot cargo gets from where Matt or Viva buy it, and the time it gets to Australia. So, this arrangement will enable the companies to take a purchase that would have been non-commercial and to go out and buy that fuel for Australians that otherwise would go to other countries. And that is very much in our national interest.
Can I just also give you, as I do every day, my daily update on service station outages. In New South Wales, we continue to make good progress. Today, 112 service stations without diesel. That's down 12 on yesterday. This is part of an ongoing trend where we're seeing the number of servos without diesel come down each and every day. This is particularly pleasing against the backdrop of Easter, where obviously a lot of people were moving around, demand was up. Ampol's demand for fuel was up 30 per cent on the Easter before, similar with Viva. But nevertheless, we've been able to work with the industry to see those deliveries to service stations, particularly in regional New South Wales, which is where the biggest pressure has been, because rightly, everyone's been prioritising farmers who are getting their seeds into the ground. So, 112 in New South Wales, 24 total stock out. That's down also on yesterday. Victoria - 43 without diesel, 26 with no unleaded. Queensland - 32 without diesel, 23 with no unleaded. South Australia - 4 and 5. Western Australia - 11 and 20. Tasmania - 8 and 6. Northern Territory - 4 without diesel, 6 without unleaded. And the ACT - 2 without diesel, no service stations without unleaded.
So, again, as I've said before, a big shout out to everyone who's working very hard. I know Ampol's increased its truck fleet, as has Viva, by around 20 per cent, just to get more fuel to the places it needs to be. In this very difficult period where we've seen continued high demand, particularly for diesel, continued elevated purchasing of fuel, we need to keep up with that demand by increasing supply. That's exactly what we're doing. And the announcement today that we are now have an agreement with Viva and Ampol, with other agreements we'll advance. There are other agreements EFA has well advanced that are progressing through the system and the Prime Minister and I will have more to say about that when those agreements are finalised. But they're very well advanced. But importantly, Australia's two biggest players now have these agreements locked in. They can go out and do the right thing by Australia now, get that fuel for Australians. Thanks very much.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how much will these agreements and this new arrangement with the EFA cost?
PRIME MINISTER: What we're doing with EFA. Essentially these agreements will enable people, Ampol, on the spot market, if the price of something was normally $100 and it's $120 or $130, and they wouldn't do that because it's beyond normal commercial rates. If the price then goes down, it will enable them to mitigate that risk, to underwrite. So, that's the basis of it. And so, our position is - your question assumes that we know how many spot purchases are made and for what price they are made. This is a market that is moving up and down. What this is about is Ampol and Viva coming to terms so that we get that increased supply here.
JOURNALIST: Is there some sort of funding envelope, Prime Minister of the $2 billion that's been allocated to the firms? When can we expect them to be used? How many cargoes could they purchase? Is there any more detail you can give?
PRIME MINISTER: These are commercial arrangements. And so, obviously if you are out there bidding and we tell you what the price is, guess what? It'd be like going to an auction and telling you in advance how much you have in your pocket and are prepared to bid. We want to protect taxpayers' interest, we want to minimise taxpayers' exposure, but our first priority to be very clear, is supply. There is supply available on the spot market. We know that that's the case. This will enable Ampol and Viva to participate in that market.
JOURNALIST: In terms of purchases on the spot market, generally where are they coming from? Do you know roughly what countries they are?
MINISTER BOWEN: We're not going to hold Ampol and Viva and the other companies back from where they can get fuel, but primarily, of course, Australia gets most of its fuel from Asia, but also there are purchases coming online from North America, from Mexico that have become available at short notice. So, obviously the closer it is to Australia the better, the quicker it is to get here, if it's through Singapore or Korea or Malaysia, for that matter, but there's also opportunities in North America and Mexico in particular.
PRIME MINISTER: One of the things that Matt has said, you might want to add to this, is that there's an increased purchase here from the United States. Some of the mix has changed because of the changes and pressures that are there in the market.
JOURNALIST: Just on Lebanon, PM. The Government obviously sent some defensive assets to defend the UAE. As you mentioned, the Wedgetail and so forth. Is there any consideration of doing similar things for Lebanon? And I guess on the other side of things, I think the Wedgetail was deployed for an initial four weeks. I think that four weeks comes up this Sunday. Has there been any consideration about whether that aircraft and associated ADF personnel will stay in the UAE, stay in the region, or be brought back?
PRIME MINISTER: The Wedgetail will be staying in the region for a period of time. That extension is something that in fact I signed this morning after that was agreed at the National Security Committee yesterday.
JOURNALIST: The mining sector is calling on the Government to delay the upcoming reviewing into the safeguard mechanism. They say that given the environment around fuel uncertainty, it would be best delayed. What's your response to that?
MINISTER BOWEN: No, we'll conduct a review under the normal timetable. It's not on the top of my to-do list right now, to be frank with you, I'm focused on other matters. But we said we will conduct a review this year and we will, but later in the year. And the other point I'd make is that safeguard policy is set for the long term. It's not set for an immediate period of weeks or months. It's set for years. So, it takes into account how the market might change. It'll be a very genuine review. All safeguard facilities will be able to produce emissions and we'll work them through in our normal way. Safeguard facilities have been reducing their emissions on site. That's a great thing, but also companies have universally told me the certainty that the safeguard reforms have provided have enabled them to make good investments in the future. That's good for the country, that great investment, and it obviously enables certainty to make those investments and make the facilities better able to compete around the world as that investment occurs in every country. But we'll conduct a review later in the year, the normal methodical fashion.
JOURNALIST: What does success look like in Singapore?
PRIME MINISTER: Success looks like us going to Singapore, success looks like the relationship that we have built, the agreement of the statement that we've already made between myself and Prime Minister Wong. We don't preempt one-on-one meetings at leaders levels, but the fact that we have been welcomed on relatively short notice to Singapore speaks about the strength of the relationship.
JOURNALIST: [INDISTINCT]
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we're not a party to the discussions between Iran and the United States through intermediaries -
JOURNALIST: [INDISTINCT]
PRIME MINISTER: We don't support Iran having the capacity to get a nuclear weapon, to be very clear. That is our position. And when it comes to us being a reliable supplier of energy, I can certainly confirm that we agree with existing contracts are honoured. That is very important going forward.
JOURNALIST: What about a change to gas taxation?
PRIME MINISTER: That's very important that we honour those contracts.
JOURNALIST: Does that mean no change or -
PRIME MINISTER: No, that means exactly what I said.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the ceasefire is obviously fragile, but if it does hold, will we still need that fuel from Singapore and is it worth the jet fuel heading over there?
PRIME MINISTER: We get fuel from Singapore. And yes these arrangements are important. And if the ceasefire holds, that doesn't mean that the world global capacity comes online in a week or a month. It will take a considerable period of time. This will have a long tail, that is very, very clear. You can't have the disruption that has occurred, not just in terms of ships getting out of the Gulf, but also ships entering the Gulf to be filled from storage. But also there's been damage to capacity in the Gulf when it comes to various fuels as well, and in the region. We have seen that damage caused, which will make a substantial difference over a period of time. So, what we are doing and what we have done consistently here is not to wait. We have taken every action as soon as possible, including here. One of the things that we've done here, of course, is to make sure that the Fuel Security Services Payment for the two refineries is continued into the future as well. That's just one of the announcements that we've made, as well as the EFA announcements, as well as the change to the sulphur content of fuel that's permitted to be used here. So, we've looked at every possible opportunity there is to increase supply, and that's precisely what we've been doing.
JOURNALIST: [INDISTINCT]
PRIME MINISTER: We're open to consideration of all of those issues. I know that our Environment Minister, I spoke to him last night and he said he hasn't yet had any contact from Queensland, any proposal. So, proposals should go through government to government, not just through media conferences. But we certainly - the legislation that we carried last year, which was opposed by the Liberal and National parties in Canberra, to streamline the environmental laws in this country, are precisely aimed at doing things quicker. And this would enable if there is agreement, for example, between the state government, if the Queensland government requests a simultaneous environmental assessment with the Commonwealth, that's one of the things that is now permitted as a result of the legislation that we put through the Senate last year.
JOURNALIST: New Zealand has got a national dashboard and shows both the supply and the shipments coming in. Why can't Australia do the same, especially given our new focus on cargo and overseas supply?
MINISTER BOWEN: As you know, I hold a press conference every day on service stations. I hold a press conference every Saturday on deliveries. On how much stock we have in Australia, and I give updates and I speak to both Chief Executives of the two big companies before that press conference each Saturday and get any developments overnight. And I share the latest information each week. That's pretty transparent. A weekly update is the sensible way to do it. These things, you know, they change from day to day. But a weekly update for the Australian people, the last one was 39 days of petrol in hand, with 3.7 billion litres of fuel on its way to Australia during the month. I'll give another update in two days time on Saturday and you know, it'll all be transparent and for everyone to see and I'll keep doing that for as long as it's needed.
JOURNALIST: [INDISTINCT]
MINISTER BOWEN: There's also my department - updates the MSO figures every week as well.
JOURNALIST: Are you going to be proactive in approving, fast-tracking, the Taroom Trough Project. Or are you going to wait for a letter from David Crisafulli?
MINISTER BOWEN: As the Prime Minister said, if governments want to get things done, you talk to each other. I spoke to Minister Watt yesterday as well and he told me he's, you know, very keen to hear what the proposal from the Queensland Government is. But you know, he's got to actually receive some communications from the Queensland Government. That's how ministers and governments talk to each other, not necessarily through press conferences.
JOURNALIST: Are your supplies still guaranteed well into May. Can you just explain exactly what well into May means?
MINISTER BOWEN: As I've said, all the indications are to us, that the contracts that are entered into, locked in and legally committed can now get us well into May. Every day that goes past.
JOURNALIST: Does that include May?
MINISTER BOWEN: Every day that goes past is another day where those contracts are being locked in by all the importers into Australia. Yes, and now well into May. So, these contracts are done six weeks in advance. So, if you take that - in four to six weeks in advance, we are now well into May in terms of security of supply. I'm never going to make an assurance I can't back up. Also, you know, companies are also making bookings for June and that sort of period. That is a good thing. But I'm not asserting that that supply is yet locked in all through June. I will assert it's well into May. That means several weeks into May.
JOURNALIST: Just on the ceasefire. Are Israel strikes to Lebanon a threat to the ceasefire holding and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we want to see a ceasefire.
JOURNALIST: In 2022, 53 days before you became Prime Minister you talked -
PRIME MINISTER: You've done your research.
JOURNALIST: In your Budget Reply speech about fuel security you said we must be self-reliant. We need a government with a real plan to ensure supply, using Australian flagged vessels with Australian seafarers and strategic fleet and a fuel reserve that is accessible. You said we need a government that looks forward and plans ahead and an Australia that stands on its own two feet. Four years into your Prime Ministership, you're now travelling to Singapore to shore up fuel supply. Is that a sign that you failed in that aspiration?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it doesn't at all. We have the largest reserves in 15 years. The largest reserves in 15 years. We've made sure on our watch no refineries are shut. The two, we've made sure that they're secure going forward as well. And when it comes to the strategic fleet, that's something that's been considered by the Government. We're working those issues through to make sure that they're delivered. That's an important component. I stand by those comments. We continue to make sure the whole Future Made in Australia agenda is about resilience, is about our sovereignty. And we continue to work across the board, whether it be fuel security or other issues as well, to make sure that we can deliver on that. Thanks very much.
