In 2013, a retired Air Vice-Marshal named John Blackburn wrote a report for the NRMA warning that Australia had adopted a “she’ll be right” approach to fuel security. He warned that a conflict in the Middle East would disrupt supply chains and leave Australia exposed within without adequate liquid fuel, food production and distribution would be severely curtailed, most businesses could not operate, and our Defence Forces could not function He warned that Australia was the only IEA member noncompliant on the 90 day reserve requirement, and that actual usable supply was closer to 23 days. He warned, specifically, that Singapore refineries sourcing crude from the Middle East were a critical vulnerability in Australia’s supply chain. That was 2013. 12 years ago. This week, an entire town in Victoria ran out of fuel. Farmers have idle tractors mid planting. NSW declared an energy supply emergency. The government is now scrambling to build a fuel taskforce that Blackburn said we needed over a decade ago. “You can have the best military in the world,” he said, “but it’s futile if you can’t fuel it.” Nobody listened.