Diesel Exhaust Fluid Shortage Shows Morrison Asleep At The Wheel
MEDIA RELEASE
10 December 2021
The Morrison Government has been asleep at the wheel in failing to prepare for a looming shortage of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) which threatens the supply of essential goods to Australians households and businesses.
One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson said short-sighted trade policy and an obsession with climate change ideology had led to poor decisions which now threatened to garage more than half of Australia’s fleet of freight vehicles along with mining and farming vehicles.
“DEF is a pollution-reducing additive required by Federal law in most modern diesel engines, including those powering the majority of freight vehicles in Australia along with specialty mining vehicles and farm machinery,” Senator Hanson said.
“A key ingredient of DEF, or ‘AdBlue’ as it is commonly known here, is urea. Urea is also a major component of nitrogen-fixing fertilisers widely used in Australia. We usually source up to 80% of our urea from China, which has recently cut back on exports to shore up its domestic supplies and reduce fertiliser costs.
“Urea is manufactured with natural gas. We have abundant natural gas resources but because the government allows nearly all of it to be exported, Australia’s only manufacturer of urea has announced it will cease production next year because it can’t secure an affordable long-term supply of natural gas. Instead the facility will be used to make hydrogen for Andrew Forrest.
“How short-sighted is this? Relying solely on China for supplies critical to keeping Australia moving and fed is just plain stupid given its appetite for weaponizing trade for political purposes, and potentially dangerous. Enabling the loss of our own capacity to manufacture these critical supplies is equally stupid and dangerous.
“We’ve learned a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some obvious lessons seem to have escaped Scott Morrison: the long-term strategic need for Australia to able to manufacture the products critical to our economy, and the vulnerability of our supply chains.
“The government in its obsession with climate change ideology can throw all the taxpayer money it likes at Andrew Forrest to make hydrogen, but no amount of money is going to convert every Australian truck and tractor to hydrogen in time for this looming DEF shortage.
“At least there will be no shortage of idle trucks in which the Prime Minister can have another nap behind the wheel while Australian households and businesses face high price rises and critical shortages of essential goods, just when our economic recovery from COVID-19 is beginning.”
ENDS
