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John MacDonald: Luxon needs to do some elbowing for fuel supplies too

Author
John MacDonald,
Publish Date
Mon, 13 Apr 2026, 12:35pm
Christopher Luxon shakes hands with Anthony Albanese. Photo / Adam Pearse
Christopher Luxon shakes hands with Anthony Albanese. Photo / Adam Pearse

John MacDonald: Luxon needs to do some elbowing for fuel supplies too

Author
John MacDonald,
Publish Date
Mon, 13 Apr 2026, 12:35pm

After what happened at the weekend, I think Christopher Luxon needs to take a leaf out of Anthony Albanese's book, jump on a plane and head over to South Korea to make sure we don’t run out of fuel. 

With negotiations between the U.S. and Iran falling over, President Donald Trump has announced that he’s now in charge of the Strait of Hormuz, with the U.S. Navy blockading the vital trade route. 

He’s also talking about stopping any ships that have paid any sort of toll to Iran to sneak through. 

Which says to me one thing: this fuel crisis isn’t going to be over anytime soon, and we now need to start doing a little bit more than calming the farm. 

Which is where Anthony Albanese comes into it. He’s going to make his second trip in a week to Asia to shore up fuel supplies. 

This week he’s off to Brunei and Malaysia. Last week he was in Singapore, where he signed a new agreement - which means Singapore has promised to keep sending fuel to Australia. 

The other part of that agreement is that Australia has promised to keep sending gas to Singapore. Which is where Anthony Albanese has more to put on the bargaining table than Christopher Luxon does. 

Albanese has been telling countries he’ll give them gas if they give him petrol and diesel. 

Christopher Luxon might be thinking he doesn’t need to rush. Because he’s due to travel to Singapore next month, where he’s going to be signing the agreement with Singapore to keep fuel supplies flowing. 

Which is fine. But what about South Korea, where we get about half of our fuel from? 

That’s why, at the very least, Christopher Luxon should be on a flight to Seoul as soon as he can. 

Because one of the things he is extremely good at is getting on with world leaders. He loves nothing more than working a room. 

So let’s get him doing what he does best. Because this fuel crisis isn’t going to be over any time soon. 

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