H5N1 (Bird flu) in Australia

The deadly strain of bird flu, H5N1, arrived in Australia last week and threatens a list of 100 native animal species, including birds, land and sea mammals.
Two birds, the brown skua and the giant petrel flew from the sub-Antarctic region to southwest Western Australia, have been confirmed to be infected with the deadly virus.
Until last week, when the skua was found on a remote beach near Esperance, Australia was the only continent free of the deadly virus.

Brown skua

A giant petrel, found several kilometres away, also tested positive for the H5 strain.

Brown skuas and giant petrels are a common sight offshore in southern Australian waters in the winter months, but they will rarely risk venturing on to land.
So when two of these birds were discovered sick on beaches a few kilometres apart it was a sign something might be wrong.
Both birds have since died.

Giant southern petrel

Australia’s unique wildlife, which has evolved in isolation for millions of years, could be particularly vulnerable to H5N1.The list of at-risk animals includes: bird-eating raptors, including white-bellied sea eagles, powerful owls and wedge-tailed eagles; black swans with no defences to the virus; Australian sea lions; rare parrots, including the tiny populations of orange-bellied and swift parrots; and Tasmanian devils as they eat carrion.The risk of an outbreak in farmed birds is also high, with potentially devastating consequences. Australia’s largest chicken meat producer announced on it had locked down access to all its farms in Western Australia, even though they are all north of Perth and more than 700 kilometres from where the infected birds were found.Experts had warned it was inevitable for the virus to make its way to Australia via migratory birds. 

H5N1

Now that it has come from the sub-Antarctic region, governments and experts say a wild outbreak is likely.However the Agriculture Minister who is responsible for biosecurity, and the Environment Minister said that only two positive cases had been identified and there was no evidence of widespread fatalities to indicate an outbreak in Australia.The Australian government committed $113 million to preparations to deal with an H5N1 incursion, with an emphasis on planning to swiftly identify an outbreak and responding to limit its spread. This includes teams to swiftly remove carcasses of infected animals to prevent further spread and stopping farmed poultry from mixing with wild birds.

Stay tuned for updates!

The Australian Fuel Crises

Just over two decades ago eight oil refineries in Australia produced up to 98% of our petroleum.

Today only two remain, one in Brisbane and one in Geelong.

The cull was due purely due to economics.

The infrastructure of the refineries was old. 

Much had been built in the 1940s and 1950s.

It became more cost affective to import refined fuel from the Asia Pacific region.

Now 80-90% comes primarily from Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and India.

It made sense, given Australia’s high transport and labour costs not to mention stricter environmental laws, to import our fuel requirements from Asia’s large scale oil refineries.

Then in late February in retaliation to USA military strikes, Iran effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz.

This cut off 20% of the world’s crude oil supply much of which goes to Asian refiners.

Australia held only 44 days of petrol, 33 days of diesel, and 30 days of jet fuel in reserves. 

This included both onshore storage tanks and fuel in transit via shipping and is one of the world’s smallest fuel reserves.

So there was an immediate concern we would have a fuel shortage.

Panic buying and substantial price increases followed.

Rationing raised its ugly head but never eventuated.

Diesel was of the greatest concern where farmers were harvesting their summer crops and preparing for winter sowing. Road transport and the mining industry were also affected.

There were instances of petrol stations running dry, particularly in rural areas.

Before the war I was paying $A1.70/litre for 91octane. It went up to $A2.65/litre.

The government stepped in and managed to secure promises of substantial uninterrupted supplies from our Asian neighbours.

Korea and Japan, as well as Singapore and Taiwan are all locking in crude oil from the Atlantic basin which comes from the USA, Canada and Latin America,

The government also reduced the fuel excise by 50%.

The situation calmed down.

I am back to paying an average of  $A1.70/litre although the fuel excise reduction will finish on 30th June* with a resulting increase, probably to over $A2/litre.

Around 50-80 ships deliver around 3.5 billion litres of fuel every four weeks to Australia.

To secure the nation's energy sovereignty, the Australian Government is expanding critical reserves to 50 days by increasing mandatory stockholding obligations and creating a permanent, government owned one billion litre emergency stockpile.

There is no intention to look at new refinery construction.

In addition to onshore tanks, Australia maintains a separate national crude oil reserve housed in the United States (as part of a strategic buffer agreement) to hedge against extreme global shocks.

But this situation is not over and will not be until the USA/Iran conflict is settled.

And there is no end in sight for that.

Or is there?

The situation changes on a daily basis.

*Update: 21/06/2026

Government has extended the fuel excise rebate for another month albeit at $0.16/lire rather than the original $0.32/litre.

For USA readers : One US gallon ≈ 3.8litres and $A1= $US0.70

For UK readers: $A1 = £0.75

For European readers: $A1 = €0.60