King Island has several weeks worth of petrol and diesel in wholesale storage, TasPorts says, after warnings in state parliament that residents fear “a return to the days of horses and carts”.
Labor leader Josh Willie made the comment on Tuesday as the opposition pressed the government over its handling of the fuel crisis linked to conflict in the Middle East.
Willie asked why Tasmanians were “being left in the dark on fuel supply” and what the plan was for King Island, after one of the island’s two service stations reportedly ran dry twice.
He accused the government of going silent since late March.
“[There has been] no meaningful communication from you and no real transparency,” he said, pointing to fuel supply, fertiliser access and contingency planning.
Deputy Premier Guy Barnett told parliament King Island was not facing a shortage.
He said the island had seven weeks worth of petrol and nine weeks worth of diesel, based on advice received on Tuesday morning.
“All parts of Tasmania are very important,” Barnett said.
“Tasmania is an island off an island and in terms of King Island, of course, it is an island off an island as well.”
Barnett said urgent legislation recently passed by parliament had given the government full visibility of supply, after only some fuel companies had previously shared information.
He said the laws had also expanded the FuelCheck app, which previously showed only prices, to now display service station outages across Tasmania every 30 minutes.
TasPorts, which manages wholesale fuel storage on King Island, runs weekly voyages on the John Duigan vessel and says its on-island stores are well stocked.
“We understand how critical fuel is to the island and we plan for this accordingly,” TasPorts interim chief executive Allan Gray said.
“Our focus is on maintaining consistent, reliable supply and we have the systems in place to support continuity.”
The government’s TasALERT website acknowledges some businesses have struggled to obtain fuel but attributes this to demand rather than supply.
TasALERT is advising businesses to “continue working with their usual fuel suppliers” if they are “having difficulty” obtaining fuel.
“The TasALERT website is updated regularly and consistently,” Barnett said.
“If Tasmanians need access to any information, it is on the TasALERT website.”
