By Lauren Henry

Australia’s fuel crisis has renewed a focus on investigating the Wimmera-Southern Mallee’s capacity to produce sustainable liquid fuel.

As the Middle East conflict continues, access to fuel has become limited in some regional towns and has escalated the costs of diesel and unleaded petrol.

The lack of diesel is particularly problematic to cropping farmers, who were also facing a shortage of fertiliser – caused by the fuel crisis.

But while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the Federal Government would halve the fuel excise, reducing the cost of petrol and diesel by 26.3 cents a litre for three months, as well as reduce the heavy road-user charge to zero for the same period, there were no significant announcements to assist agriculture following a national cabinet meeting on Monday.

Wimmera Southern Mallee Development chief executive Chris Sounness said the region’s canola and cereal straw could offer an opportunity for local biodiesel, sustainable aviation fuel and e-methanol production.

Mr Sounness said while the region produced about 40 per cent of Victoria’s grain, it had no control over fuel supplies.

“That is a structural problem. But this region has the feedstocks, the research capability and the growing investor interest to be part of the solution,” he said.

Mr Sounness’ comments follow the recent Food for Thought forum, hosted by the WSM Food Security Resilience Lab, where farmers, emergency managers, welfare workers, local business people and government representatives gathered to assess risks, threats and vulnerabilities in the region’s food system.

He said the region already had large volumes of canola and cereal straw – established feedstocks for low-carbon liquid fuels. 

Mr Sounness said broadacre cropping and grain freight currently depended on heavy diesel-powered machinery where electrification was not a near-term option.

“Biofuels offer the most credible pathway to lower emissions for these operations. Regions that can produce those fuels domestically will have an advantage in those export markets,” he said.

Mr Sounness said now was the ideal time to start talking about the possibilities.

“We need government to treat liquid fuel security as a food security issue, which includes putting agriculture on the nation’s emergency fuel list,” he said.

“We’d like industry to look seriously at this region as a location, and for researchers to be supported to connect regional agricultural outputs to next-generation fuel pathways.”

 

Member for Mallee Anne Webster has also thrown her support behind the Federal Government considering Australia’s biofuels industry as a sensible way to mitigate current and future fuel shocks.

Dr Webster said the government had delayed action on biofuels for years and needed to address it as a matter of urgency.

“Mallee grows immense volumes of canola, varieties like Caronata, of which the nation exports 70 per cent to Europe to turn into biofuels,” she said.

“This is yet another way Australia’s abundant resources are not being used for our own energy and fuel security.
Australia’s heavy reliance on imported refined fuels has been exposed by the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, threatening significant supply disruption risks and tremendous vulnerability to our national economy should the situation not be resolved.

“Last week I was shocked to learn that while Australia has tens of millions of litres in biofuels onshore like ethanol and biodiesel that could be blended with our unleaded and diesel respectively to stretch our fuel supply – the Albanese government has shown no interest in those supplies. 

“Alternative home-grown Australian biofuel blended fuel can help reduce our fuel security exposure, support national energy resilience, and reduce emissions.” 

Dr Webster said biofuels had contributed to Australia’s fuel use in petrol and diesel cars for more than 25 years, and the industry had benefited by the decision of two states, New South Wales and Queensland, to mandate the use of an ethanol component in fuel. 

“Victoria, South and Western Australia could incentivise E10 blended ethanol in the petrol mix to immediately unlock extra supply to help address shortages being experienced in petrol stations in both our capital cities and regional areas,” she said. 

“Beyond the current fuel supply crisis, adding ethanol blended fuel to the supply chain in states not enforcing E10 mandates would not reduce Australia’s reliance on imported fuel to address the current fuel crisis, but would add to the amount of fuel sourced domestically, making a contribution towards greater local supply capacity.” 

The government’s new four-point National Fuel Security Plan announced on Monday is 1: Plan and prepare; 2: Keeping Australia moving – current settings; 3: Taking targeted action; and 4: Protecting critical services for all Australians.

But Victorian Farmers Federation president Brett Hosking said the national cabinet’s outcomes fell short of delivering certainty farmers needed.

“Farmers are among the hardest hit by fuel and fertiliser price spikes, yet the announcements contain no clarity on how fuel will be prioritised if the crisis deepens,” he said.

“Farmers are telling me they are facing a real make or break moment. They can’t keep absorbing skyrocketing input costs without a plan to at least break even in months ahead.

“This decision might help consumers in the short-term, but it leaves farmers out in the cold on price relief. Eventually, the pain felt by farmers now will hurt consumers at the supermarket.”

The State Government announced free public transport for the month of April in a bid to ease fuel consumption – see editorial, page 11.

The entire April 1, 2026 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!