Linking National and Military Energy Security in Australia: A Legitimate Nexus or Political and Economic Expediency?

Despite recent declarations of elevated interest, Defence fuel security has remained a low priority for defence policymakers for several decades. Policymakers sometimes linked or de-linked national and military fuel security issues for broader political and economic reasons, but not necessarily because there was a direct impact on Defence. Specific concerns were often only raised when there was a perceived political benefit, such as in the treatment of Offshore Energy Infrastructure in the 2009 Defence White Paper, and no significant actions has followed identification of the problem in this case. The perceived guarantee of logistic supply from the United States in the most anticipated operational scenarios has served to reinforce the low priority for (and subsequent inertia in) Defence fuel management.