The three-page fuel plan the Australian government released last week was very light on detail. So too was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s address to the nation. This week, Energy Minister Chris Bowen moved to reassure Australians their fuel supply was safe “well into May”.

It’s understandable the government is focused on the immediate problem. Australia imports almost all its liquid fuels via very long supply chains, making it highly exposed to disruption. But as the war on Iran drags on, it won’t be nearly enough.

As analysts have pointed out, what we need is a longer-term plan focused not on fuel, but on energy security.

If policymakers conclude the answer to fuel shortages is to simply build much larger liquid fuel reserves, they will lock Australia into a worse dependence on less reliable supplies of petrol, diesel and other liquid fuels. As geopolitical tensions increase, this reliance is foolish in the extreme.

What Australia needs isn’t bigger fuel tanks. It’s to build energy independence. A nation able to run its transport sector on its own resources is a nation better able to weather global uncertainty. The fastest and most cost-effective way to do so is to accelerate the electrification of transport, powering vehicles with electricity from renewables and storage.

From oil stockpiles to electrified oil resilience

The longstanding fuel supply goal set by the International Energy Agency (IEA) is for nations to have 90 days’ supply stored. Australia has long fallen short of that aim.

Much analysis has focused on this........

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