New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has assured residents that the state has an adequate supply of petrol, though there are challenges in distributing it effectively to all areas.
During a meeting in Sydney, Minns and Energy Minister Penny Sharpe spoke with farmers, truck drivers, and tradespeople, emphasizing their commitment to managing the petrol scarcity impacting rural regions of New South Wales.
Currently, around 32 out of the 3000 petrol stations across the state are experiencing shortages, particularly in remote areas.
In Tilpa, a far western town, the absence of diesel is affecting daily life significantly.
Local pub owner Stacy Henman expressed concerns, stating, “If conditions remain unchanged or if fuel prices rise to $3 per litre, tourism will decline sharply.”
“We’re on the brink of running out of everything,” she added.
Sharpe admitted it was becoming a problem.
“We don’t have a supply problem yet, what we do have is a distribution problem,” she said.
It is an issue that is being compounded by the closure of the Great Western Highway at the base of the Blue Mountains, cutting off a crucial supply link to the Central West.
“It is slowing down some of the major suppliers and some of the bigger tankers,” Transport Secretary Josh Murray said.
Peter Khoury from the NRMA said people panic buying petrol and storing it in jerry cans was also adding to the problem.
Bunnings stores across the state have sold out of many of their jerry cans in the last week.
”For every litre of diesel that’s sitting in someone’s garage in a jerry can from Bunnings, that’s one litre of diesel that’s not in the supply chain,” he said.
“That’s [fuel], truckies need to use and that farmers need to use.”
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