ESPERANCE MONTHLY MAGAZINE - Political commentary – 2 separate pieces

MR RICK WILSON MP

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR O’CONNOR

16th March 2026

ESPERANCE MONTHLY MAGAZINE - Political commentary - 2 separate pieces

Do we have a crisis and should anyone panic?

The Albanese government took its time to recognise that there was an issue with fuel distribution, not just pricing.  It is still not clear that they understand the needs of farmers and miners in the productive economy.

People across the electorate of O’Connor provided valuable intelligence on pricing and more importantly the availability of diesel in the week that Minister Bowen finally accepted that there was a problem.

Esperance farmers identified that the evolving situation in the Middle East would have some impact on shipping of the inputs required for the cropping program and that our food exports of meat and grain could be at risk.

Flooding in South Australia disrupting the east west rail task had already increased freight costs for groceries and other supplies as the demand for trucks grew prior to the bombing in Iran.

The quantum of the road freight task for WA alone looked like it came as a surprise to the Albanese government. 

The daily volumes of diesel required to run irrigation pumps, feed mills and machinery for planting and harvesting crops such as potatoes, carrots and lettuce was not recognised.  Then we add broadacre cropping.

It is autumn and supplementary feeding of sheep is in full swing.  There has been a dramatic drop in sheep numbers, courtesy of the live export ban, but we do still have sheep.  Our more intensive livestock production with pigs and chickens have energy demands 365 days of the year and back up systems that require diesel.

Regional West Australians were smeared as hoarders when what they were asking for was the delivery of fuel that suppliers knew would be required.  Constraints were placed on independent wholesalers in accessing fuel for delivery to both retail and bulk customers. Whether these were driven by precaution, profiteering or misunderstanding is unclear. 

Leadership change

In the first two sitting weeks of March, the Labor government did not provide answers to legitimate questions about Isis Brides and the fuel crisis instead seeking out the cheap laughs with references to the leadership changes within the coalition.

As outlined in my last column, the key job in opposition is to hold the Prime Minister and his cabinet accountable for every decision they make. 

Angus Taylor has re-set the approach to holding Labor to account and the resignation of David Littleproud and subsequent election of Senator Matt Canavan as leader of the National Party will bring a different energy to the Parliament.

Both Angus and Matt have solid academic qualifications backed with real world experience and understanding of business and finance. 

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