Relief package for fuel-hit businesses a welcome reprieve

The Federal Government’s $1 billion Economic Resilience Program to help businesses absorbing the worst of the fuel crisis should provide some short-term relief for those industries in the firing line, including agriculture and transport. 

Any reprieve for sectors linked to the food security of all Australian households is good news. It’s important to acknowledge that the fuel crisis is not just a logistics problem, it’s an inflation problem and potentially a monetary policy problem.

Farmers must be the top priority in terms of accessing fuel supplies, because if they can’t get diesel, they can’t plant, harvest or move produce.

On that front, today’s agreement between states and territories to support a further cut in the fuel excise, using extra GST revenue is welcome news.

Having said that, reducing the cost of fuel doesn’t increase its supply, so this needs to be complimented by the general public’s judicious use, in order for essential sectors to really benefit from this reduction in prices.

A one-week fuel shortage during peak harvest can cause supply disruptions that ripple through the food system for months. Higher food prices feed into headline inflation at a moment when the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has already raised rates twice in early 2026.