THE Australian government has deployed $A30million ($F47m)in budget support to Fiji to help respond to the current fuel crisis.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong announced the assistance in Suva yesterday, saying Australia understood the extent to which the fuel crisis was being felt as a price shock in Fiji.
She said Australia remained a committed and reliable partner to Fiji and the Pacific during times of crisis.
“We have walked with the Pacific family through challenging times in the past, and we stand with you today,” she said.
She said the region was particularly exposed to global fuel disruptions because of its dependence on oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Twenty per cent of global oil passes through the Strait, but about 80 per cent of the Pacific’s fuel supply comes through the Strait.
“So we are proportionally affected.”
Ms Wong said Australia had been engaging key regional and global energy partners to advocate for continued fuel flows into the Pacific.
She said these included discussions with countries in North Asia such as Japan, China and Korea, as well as Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
“We used those opportunities to advocate to those key suppliers, those key trading partners, the importance of keeping fuel supplies flowing toward our region.
“And we’ll continue to provide that advocacy and technical assistance to Fiji and other Pacific partners to respond to their current energy shock.”
She said the assistance would also support Fiji’s role as a fuel storage and supply hub for other Pacific countries.
“We want a Pacific-led response to global shocks that we can all back in.”
