Murray Olds: Australian correspondent on the Government's newly-unveiled $10 billion fuel security package

Australia's unveiled a new multi-billion -dollar fuel security package to keep things going amid the ongoing global uncertainty.

The plan, to be included in the upcoming federal budget, will fund the creation of a Government-owned fuel reserve and expand onshore storage to boost fuel supply.

Australian correspondent Murray Olds says the opposition has raised concerns about this - and said it's not enough for the country.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Murrayold's Assie correspondence with us Alo Mars.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hello, Heather, good afternoon.

Speaker 1 (00:04):
All right, So how much is the government spending on
getting the fuel reserves up.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Well, there's going to be ten billion dollars in the
budget next week to boost domestic fuel reserves here and
fertilizer as well. That's been confirmed by the Prime Minister
Anthony Albanez. He says it's in the budget to Currently
refiners and importers have to have up to thirty two
days of emergency supplies depending on the fuel lay hold,

(00:30):
but that's going to be increased by an extra ten days,
so that means petrol reserves will be out to thirty
seven days, diesel and jet fuel to around fifty. Now
the opposition's whining about this, says there's nowhere near enough
and we have to start developing new oil fields and
boost refining capacity. We've only got two refineries in one
of those of course, caught file last month and blew

(00:53):
up all part of it blew up. So look, it's
not a good Australia is at the end of the
supply chain of course, with limited ability to refine on shore.
Most of our product was brought of course out of Asia, Singapore,
South Korea and Malaysia. So it's not an ideal situation,
particularly where twenty percent of the world supply is currently

(01:16):
stuck and you know it can't get through the strait
of horn moves. So look, it's a welcome move. I
think most people are going to say, well, he's a
move in the budget. Yes, it's going to cost money,
but it's probably money very well spent.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Most do we know what time these isis? Brides and
the kids are arriving?

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, I don't know, but our newsrooms certainly will. There's
a flight coming into Melbourne tonight and it's a cut
Airways flight, so there won't be too many arriving in
Melbourne this evening. I think it'll be easy to work
out which one it is. There's also a flight coming
into Sydney. Melbourne is the one with most of the
people on board. We've got four women and thirteen children.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
I think it was just that it was a total
party of thirteen, wasn't it four?

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Cost your pardon? But I'm old enough I walk into
rooms now I forget what the hell I've gone in
there for, so please forgive me anyway you cut it,
you know, and it's it's not as that this hasn't
happened before. It's happened before under Labor and it happened
under Scott Morrison the Coalition. But the whole thing has
been weaponized to Billio. Now over here the oppositions screaming

(02:26):
about this, saying it's dreadful, they should be banned. Well,
the fact of the matter is they can't be banned.
They're Australian citizens traveling on Australian passports. The government, it's part,
is bending over backwards to tell anyone who's interested, oh,
we're not helping them, We're not helping them. Oh no, no, no.
But the fact is they cannot be banned from coming
back to their own countries. However, Federal Police say at

(02:47):
least one of these women, possibly more, are going to
have some pretty serious charges laid against them. One of them,
we understand, is going to be pardon me, it's going
to be in terms of it's not a war crime,
but it's a crime against humanity and that's slavery. And
the others, of course, are also involved with terrorism. That's

(03:10):
going to be the allegation. Because these women followed their
partner's stroke husbands too, Siria, because these halfwooded blokes went
to fight for Islamic state that didn't end so well.
Most of them died and the others are in prison.
So now these women want to come home. Their children
are Aussies. Apparently one of the kids even as an
Aussie accent because he's grown up in this refugee camp

(03:33):
with mum who sounds dinky Dieozsie. So I'm not sure
what's going to happen when they get back here. There's
all sorts of education programs. And also bear in mind
the previous people who have come home, women and children.
They've vanished into Australian society. I mean, no one cares.
They're not causing any problems. The kids are going to
school and growing up.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Yeah, now how many of them do we because they
have been a bit vague even day as to how
many of them are going to be a risk? Is
it all four of them?

Speaker 2 (04:02):
I don't think all four at least one according to
the head of the Australian Federal Police, as she has said,
one will be arrested and charged, but others will be
The other adults will certainly be questioned and as far
as the children are concerned, there's all sorts of agencies
who are going to be rolling out the red carpet
for these children who no doubt have seen things that

(04:24):
probably other kids of their age would never even imagine.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
So, yeah, Myles, thanks for talking us through it. Appreciated.
Murray Old's Australian correspondent. By the way, there's the Pharao
by election this Saturday, which is going to be the
big test of whether Pauline Hanson's One Nation candidate can
get over the lines of Keep an eye on.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
That for more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
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