Topics: Fuel, U.S.-Iran war, Dennis Richardson exits Royal Commission

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ASHLEIGH GILLON: Let's return now to Canberra. Joining us live is the Shadow Assistant International Development Minister, Dave Sharma. Good to see you. Thanks so much for your time. Firstly, I wanted to get your reaction to the breaking

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DAVE SHARMA: Pleasure.

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ASHLEIGH GILLON: We've heard in question time this afternoon, Chris Bowen's fuel announcement. He says fuel quality standards will be temporarily lowered to try and s-secure more fuel supplies at home. Is that welcomed by the opposition?

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DAVE SHARMA: Well, it is welcomed, but this is a minister who's been in denial that there is even a problem up until this point and blaming consumers and blaming the opposition for raising the issue, blaming any number of other things. Uh, i-it's clear that there is a risk of energy and fuel shortages in Australia. It's clear that some places are running out. We've seen anecdotal and other evidence of that. Uh, and it's clear that, the world is taking this seriously now. I mean, the International Energy Agency has just released hundreds of millions of barrels from global strategic reserves. Australia needs to be playing a part in that.

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ASHLEIGH GILLON: I am keen for your view on the bigger picture here. As a former ambassador to Israel, you know the region better than most. What is your read on just how this war in Iran is progressing?

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DAVE SHARMA: Look, it's a little, it's been underway now for, what, a little less than a week, I think, or a little over a week. Not that long, though. Uh, I don't expect it's going to be a long campaign, uh, but it's I think it still has some way to go. Uh, I think the United States and Israel have further objectives, uh, they want to achieve, uh, before they cease their military operation. Uh, I think they need to make sure that the Strait of Hormuz is once again safe for commercial and civilian shipping. Uh, and I think that, at the very least, they will need some sort of understandings or commitments from Iran about the sort of behaviour it engages in in the future. And I think it will take some time for any of those objectives to be fulfilled just yet.

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ASHLEIGH GILLON: Yeah, and if, uh, shipping traffic can't return to the Strait of Hormuz in the, in the coming weeks, what is the fallout there for us?

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DAVE SHARMA: Well, it will have an impact on global energy prices. I mean, I would point out that, that, look, firstly, Iran continues to export oil through the Strait of Hormuz. They're still sending about 2.1 to 2.2 million barrels a day. Uh, Saudi Arabia can pipe significant amounts of oil to ports on the Red Sea, on the other side of the gulf. The United Arab Emirates is able to pipe oil to the other side of the Strait of Hormuz. So there are, it doesn't mean that no oil is getting to market from the Gulf states, but it's also significantly reduced. And particularly producers like Kuwait in particular, where they've exhausted their stockpiles, if you like, their storage facilities are going to have a harder time getting that to market. So that will have an impact on global energy prices. I think m-measures to release energy from stockpiles, like the International Energy Agency is coordinating and facilitating, will help put a dampener on that. But I think we also need to bear in mind that, I don't think this is likely to be a long war. We can't be certain, but it's not likely to be a long war. So markets and other, producers and consumers should be bearing that in mind in terms of their consumption and production patterns and, and their forecasts for the future. And I think largely, most economic analysts expect this will certainly cause a blip in oil prices, but longer term, it's not necessarily going to have a big impact on global energy supply.

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ASHLEIGH GILLON: Just another matter, well, you would've seen our reporting today on Dennis Richardson's resignation. Were you disappointed to learn about that? And what do you think it means now for the, the royal commission into the Bondi terrorist attacks?

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DAVE SHARMA: Well, I was very concerned to see that news, because this is someone who is rightly respected across the political spectrum for his understanding and familiarity with his security and intelligence community. It someone who was rightly said by the Prime Minister to be indispensable to getting to the bottom of any security or intelligence failings. The fact that someone who is indispensable is now left the royal commission makes me worried about what is the will the royal commission be able to do its work in the way that it was intended to do? And I think, the government needs to answer those questions, the government needs to be looking behind and probing into the reasons for Dennis Richardson's departure, and what it might mean for the royal commission's program of work, not least the interim report, which is due to be handed down in a little over six weeks' time.

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ASHLEIGH GILLON: Dennis Richardson himself doesn't seem to have huge concerns on that front. She was on Sky News earlier saying he believes the royal commission will still do an excellent job under Virginia Bell.

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DAVE SHARMA: Look, I think, Dennis Richardson is a good and honourable public servant. And he's careful with what he says publicly. But the fact that someone of his profile and significance has decided to leave the royal commission, a little over two months after it was set up, before an interim report has been handed down, and clearly, and I don't think I'm verballing him here, with a level of frustration about the process that has been gone through, that should be concerning. And I think it's the only way you can, you cannot be, I don't think you can be blase or cavalier or disregard the significance of his departure from the royal commission.

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ASHLEIGH GILLON: Dave Sharma, appreciate you making the time. Thank you.

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DAVE SHARMA: Thanks so much.

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