FuelWatch reveals the suburbs out of petrol, as builders warn the war will make housing even more expensive

WA’s state hazard plan is being assessed daily, after being increased from ‘white’ to ‘yellow’ alert as industry leaders warn Australia’s fuel supply crisis could push prices higher than COVID. Property developer Nigel Satterley praised the State Government for acting quickly, but he said the impact on construction was severe as it gets more expensive to transport supplies. “This is a lot more aggressive than COVID, where they came at five per cent increases, they’re coming a lot larger,” he said. “Around Australia, the civil cost (of) construction could go up between 12.5 and 15 per cent, that’s early days.” A housing industry round-table met with Treasurer Rita Saffioti and Housing Minister John Carey this week, amid calls for bitumen content rules to be eased and building site hours increased to reduce costs. The number of fuel outlets that have run dry in WA has doubled since the Federal Government revealed outages at more than 600 outlets nationwide. More than half of the outlets that have run out are in NSW. Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen said six outlets in WA had run out, but by midday on Wednesday there were 14 outlets listing unleaded as “temporarily unavailable” and 13 that had no diesel — according to the FuelWatch website. Premier Roger Cook said the information is being monitored, and outlets are being restocked as quickly as possible. “Fuel watch is a voluntary process and so we rely upon those retail stations to tell us where those shortages are occurring,” he said. “We want everyone in the in the supply chain to be completely transparent about where the fuel is.” The Opposition has set up its own website for the public to map fuel shortages and Liberal MP Ben Small even called it FuelWatch too. Mr Cook called that a “rank” political stunt. “This is the political party that wants to feed off the anxieties and the fear of fuel consumers,” the Premier said. “Use FuelWatch, it is the trusted source when it comes to understanding where you can get your best fuel purchases.” WA moved from zero to a level one yellow alert at the end of last week, under the State’s official hazard plan for energy supply disruptions. Yellow alert calls on market participants to use “internal redundancies and resupply strategies”, but does allow for some use of market forces to manage supply and demand. A move to a level two “amber alert” would escalate business continuity arrangements to “crisis management” and trigger emergency provisions under a raft of legislation. Government intervention is avoided “where possible”, according to the 56-page hazard plan. It classifies a level two alert as an “actual or imminent acute supply disruption” with a “noticeable effect” on security of life and wellbeing, social integrity and infrastructure, and the State economy. And potentially includes a “substantial market imbalance” of primary grade fuel, widespread stockouts of secondary grade fuel and “significant restriction” in gas production or delivery. The fourth and final level is a level three red alert for a “critical supply disruption” likely to include a “severe” market imbalance affecting liquid fuel, “severely compromised” supply channels and an “actual or imminent threat” to supply for essential services. The Premier couldn’t say how close WA is to triggering the next level. “We continue to look at the needs of the government in relation to powers and regulations to ensure that we can manage Western Australia’s fuel supply,” he said. Independent retailers have complained they’re being skipped over in favour of big suppliers. Simon Leske who has been the owner and operator of Hills Emporio in Karragullen for seven years has been out of fuel for three weeks. “I don’t think there’s any end in sight yet,” he said. “I spoke to my supplier the other day and he said that he’s been only given 15 per cent of his normal allocation, which he’s trying to get out to the farms and the regions.” He said more needed to be done to stop the big four petrol distributors withholding fuel from independents and to get fuel to regional areas. “The Government needs to look after the little guys, like myself, too. Something it feels like they don’t give a rats about small business.” Shadow Agriculture Minister Lachlan Hunter claimed farmers have been left in the dark, after a survey of more than 700 producers by the Grower Group Alliance found 84 per cent have no confidence or minimal confidence in their fuel supply. “Time is critical and running out,” Mr Hunter said. “Farmers are being forced to delay spraying, stop deep ripping and scale back cropping programs altogether, just weeks out from seeding. Others are being told deliveries could take weeks or may not come at all. “Livestock producers are now raising serious concerns about their ability to pump water and feed stock.” Fuel prices have increased across WA again on Thursday, with the metro area recording an average price of $2.58 per litre of unleaded while the maximum price will be $2.84 in Port Hedland. The average diesel price is $3.07 litre across the city. The cheapest outlet in the metro will be Vibe stations, with the brand average down 4.3 cents to $2.49 per litre. Caltex will be the most expensive brand at $2.68 per litre.