Food on the Line: Frustrated Farmers Call for National Fuel Action Amid Soaring Prices

Farming groups have warned that Australia’s food security could be at risk as farmers struggle to obtain supplies from wholesalers.

A general view of Diesel pump at a filling station in London, England, on Dec. 17, 2014. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The escalating conflict in Iran has renewed farmers’ calls for the federal government to address Australia’s long-term fuel security.

Peak farming bodies say Australia has been non-compliant with its fuel reserve obligations since 2012, adding that producers’ earlier calls for action before the situation reached a crisis point fell on deaf ears.

On March 9, Shane McCarthy, the general president of Agforce Queensland—a peak producer body, warned that some farmers could not get access to fuel supply due to “unprecedented demand” caused by the conflict, raising significant concerns about food security.

“We need fuel to get the product to store. We need the fuel to do everything on the farm that we need to do,” he told ABC Radio.