The Hon. Shane Love, Nationals WA Leader; The Hon. Lachlan Hunter, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Joint Media Release, 17 March 2026
The Nationals WA Leader Shane Love MLA has blasted the Cook Labor Government as impotent in the face of Western Australia’s escalating diesel crisis, accusing it of failing to use the powers available to ensure fuel reaches the industries and communities that keep the State running.
Mr Love said the clearest warning signs were already emerging from the mining sector, the engine room of the Western Australian economy.
“A gold mining company operating in Western Australia has already been forced to stand down around two thirds of its workforce due to fuel shortages,” Mr Love said.
“That is more than one hundred workers sent home, not because there is no work and not because there is no demand, but because there is not enough diesel to keep operating.
“If that does not send alarm bells ringing through this Government, nothing will.”
Despite repeated assurances from the Cook Labor Government that there are no diesel supply issues, Mr Love said the reality on the ground tells a very different story.
“If the Government is telling Western Australians there is diesel in the system, then the failure is entirely of their own making,” he said.
“They have the power to prioritise supply. They can coordinate distribution. They have the responsibility to act. Yet they are choosing not to.”
Shadow Minister for Agriculture Lachlan Hunter MLA said the crisis is now hitting agriculture hard, with devastating consequences for farmers heading into one of the most critical periods of the year.
“Farmers are telling me their tanks are running dry just weeks out from seeding. Without diesel, tractors stop, seed stays in the shed and next year’s harvest is put at risk,” Mr Hunter said.
“Farmers cannot press pause on a season. They do not get a second chance. If they miss the window, they lose the crop,”
Mr Hunter said without urgent action, this fuel crisis will quickly become a full-blown food crisis.
“When diesel does not reach the people who produce and move our food, the cost does not disappear, it lands squarely on the kitchen tables of Western Australian families.”
“This is how a fuel crisis becomes a food price crisis, with higher freight costs, disrupted supply and more pressure on families already struggling with the cost of living.”
Mr Hunter said the Cook Labor Government’s claim about panic buying is a convenient excuse for its own failure.
“This is not panic buying. Farmers are doing what they always do at this time of year, planning and trying to keep their operations running,” he said.
“The reality is simple. The diesel is not arriving.”
“Six days on from the Government’s so called fuel security roundtable, and the situation has only deteriorated,” he said.
Mr Love said without urgent intervention, the diesel crisis risks triggering billions of dollars in lost economic activity, reduced State revenue and worsening cost of living pressures for every Western Australian.
“This is a government with the power to act and the resources to act, choosing not to,” he said.
“If they do not step in immediately to prioritise fuel for mining, agriculture and regional communities, this crisis will deepen and the consequences will be felt in every household across this State.”
