‘Uncertain times’: Albanese warns months ahead ‘may not be easy’ in rare address to nation about Middle East crisis

3:24 Australian PM says ‘next few months may not be easy’ in rare address to the nation – video ‘Uncertain times’: Albanese warns months ahead ‘may not be easy’ in rare address to nation about Middle East crisis Prime minister urges Australians to consider using public transport and conserve fuel for ‘critical industry’ and others Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has used a rare address to the nation to attempt to allay public fears over dwindling fuel supplies, vowing to keep petrol prices down by shoring up international supplies and ramping up local production. But the opposition has been scathing of the address, describing it as “nothing but hot air” and urging more clarity over the fuel crisis. In an acknowledgment of the global challenges and “uncertain times” ahead due to the war in the Middle East, the prime minister used a prerecorded video address to outline how Australia was responding to the “economic shocks” that “will be with us for months”. Albanese talked up national cabinet’s fuel security plan, the temporary halving of the fuel excise until July which came into effect on Wednesday, and cutting heavy vehicle road user charges to zero for now. But the prime minister pointed to longer-term measures to ensure fuel prices would not spike again once those changes expired. Those include refining more fuel for domestic consumption and securing fuel orders from international suppliers as the global crisis continued. “We are working to bring the price of fuel down. To make more fuel here and to keep it onshore,” Albanese said. “And get more fuel here – using our strong trading relationships with our region to bring more petrol, diesel and fertiliser to Australia.” The prime minister sought to assure Australians it was still business as normal but said workers should consider taking public transport to conserve fuel supplies for those who didn’t have the option. “If you’re hitting the road, don’t take more fuel than you need – just fill up like you normally would. Think of others in your community, in the bush and in critical industries,” he said. “And over coming weeks, if you can switch to catching the train or bus or tram to work, do so. That builds our reserves and it saves fuel for people who have no choice but to drive.” Australia remains on level two of national cabinet’s four-stage fuel security plan, meaning there are no moves to introduce stricter measures to reduce demand. The government has made several interventions to shore up petrol and diesel supplies in recent weeks as it scrambles to cushion Australia from the global energy crisis sparked by the Iran war. On Thursday morning the opposition accused Albanese of failing to provide more clarity over the war and ongoing fuel disruptions. “A national address is an extraordinary opportunity, a very unusual opportunity to create that clarity, to show that path forward,” Taylor told Nine. “Instead we got hot air. We got nothing.” Taylor told ABC Radio the address “could have been a social media post”. The shadow energy minister, Dan Tehan, was equally critical, and said the prime minister made no commitments to transparency. “He might as well have told us what he was going to have for dinner last night. There was nothing new in it. He didn’t take the Australian people into his confidence,” he told ABC Radio. The prime minister’s remarks were delivered just hours before the US president, Donald Trump, was scheduled to make his own national address on the Iran war. Trump on Wednesday (Australian time) suggested the US military operation could end within “two or three weeks”, while his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, declared “we can see the finish line” in the conflict. The Australian government is desperate for the war to end and for the strait of Hormuz to reopen as fears mount about the severity of the domestic economic shock if the fuel crisis drags on for months. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, announced a suite of Covid-era business relief on Wednesday while revealing that officials were modelling a wider range of economic scenarios – including a prolonged oil crisis that triggers a recession. “The longer the shock drags out, obviously, the harsher the consequences for our economy, whether that’s measured by inflation … or by impacts on the labour market,” Chalmers said. The prime minister will appear at the National Press Club in Canberra on Thursday, giving him another opportunity to update the public ahead of the Easter long weekend. Explore more on these topics Australian politics Petrol prices Anthony Albanese Cost-of-living crisis Australian economy Coalition Australian foreign policy news Share Reuse this content