The Melbourne refinery is to close and government subsidies are of no help.
Kwinana near Perth is already closing so only Geelong and Brisbane are left.
Geelong is up for sale but there are no buyers.
That means to all intents and purposes, Australia has almost no
ability to use crude oil. We have to import all petrols, oils, greases
etc etc and can plastics and fertilisers be far behind.
Some years back I did a study of on oil tankers entering Sydney ports.
It was averaging two a day. As we are a couple of weeks from Asian
suppliers that means there are 28 tankers at a minimum needed just to
supply Sydney. It is more complicated than that as they sometimes only
discharge part of their cargo and then deliver elsewhere.
That puts it into some sort of perspective.
The government is trying to hide its panic but they are worried.

The above ties in nicely with a statement by the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell
at their AGM some few years back that they are setting up a group
to study how the company can exit the oil industry.
BP has made similar noises. Just have a look at the financial returns
major oil companies are making and how search and development has
impacted their profits.

Then suddenly almost all at once, motor manufacturers announce they
are to stop building petrol and diesel cars and later trucks.
They are to all switch to electric cars. Have you wondered why ?
The switch to electric cars has nothing to do with global warming
but has been triggered by the risky fuel situation.

On Australia Day it was hot but not remarkably so but four Sydney
suburbs had load shedding imposed on them. Not even a work day.
What will happen when Liddel closes in 2022 or 2023 ?
Nothing can now be done to prevent more blackouts.
Perhaps the public will see the need for nuclear energy.

I don't think that the government is "trying to hide its panic" or is "worried". They either don't care (smirky, smart Smart Aleck PM) or they are even more incompetent than is obvious to most of us.

As for electric cars, there seems to be a lot of lobbying going on from the industry; but, as the government has said, subsidising the massive cost to would-be owners is just not on. Mass electric car ownership is just another of those 'by 2030, by 2050' myths.

Why does the government make doing things so hard?

A simple law requiring anyone who wanted to sell petroleum products in Oz to refine 70% of their product in Oz, or buy 70% of their product from Oz refineries, & no further problem with this garbage.

Channel 7 eventually got around to reporting the closure last night. They actually mentioned the jobs lost. And there aren't any 'green' jobs for them to go to.

Hasbeen, the problem is the cost of getting the crude oil up out of
the ground. It comes down to the old Energy Return on Energy Invested.
Fracking has hit its limit and is showing up in bankruptcies.
It has taken 15 plus years since the peak and then the crash and then
fracking when the writing went up on the wall in big letters.
All the greenies efforts will do is increase costs on oil products
that always will be needed for such as lubricants and some plastics.
I suspect that the oil industry has told the motor industry that large
increases in petrol and diesel costs are inevitable and perhaps also
a limited supply at those higher prices.
As an industry faced with a prospect such as that, what would you do ?

Good thread Bazz.

The loss of refineries is a sign that we are becoming less self sufficient. If we are running out of oil as Bazz is indicating then it's a sign that there are too many people on the Earth.

The energy density of batteries is low compared to kerosene. If we were able to make throttled fusion generators it perhaps solve most of our energy problems. Another alternative is to make fuel from CO2.

The Locke Liberal's don't want to let on to the idea that infinite growth is impossible- it could have a huge impact on societies perceptions- and their power.

Nuclear power will be useful to Australia both for energy and self defense.