Six Tankers Cancelled, Minister Discovers Exciting New Definition of 'Demand'

Michael West Media · AAP · Sunday 22 March 2026

Six Tankers Cancelled, Minister Discovers Exciting New Definition of 'Demand'

Six fuel shipments to Australia have been cancelled due to Middle East conflict, but the government insists any shortages reflect demand rather than supply — a distinction increasingly difficult to maintain with three weeks of reserves and no domestic refining capacity to speak of.

Three weeks of reserves isn't a strategic petroleum buffer — it's a long weekend with anxiety. The minister's rebranding of supply failure as demand adjustment is the kind of linguistic innovation that should earn a PhD in euphemism, if not a court summons. We decommissioned our refineries, outsourced our logistics to geopolitics, and now stand blinking at empty berths wondering who forgot to order. Nobody forgot — nobody was asked to remember.

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