Andrew Williams

So it's a bigger problem, essentially, now than it was then.

And at time of recording, at least, the government has said fuel rationing isn't really being considered or discussed.

They pointed to guarantees from our suppliers in South Korea and Singapore as a key reason.

You would have seen this week that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong are heading off to Brunei and Malaysia to try and shore up fuel security, and they were in Singapore last week.

We've also got 30 to 40 days of fuel we have in reserve.

But

If the war in the Middle East keeps going, the ceasefire breaks, and this stretches on for months and months, this could become an increasing problem and something that they have to address down the line.

Yeah, it'd be a different story for businesses or for emergency services.

There's an act called the Liquid Fuel Emergency Act of 1984, which is a fun read.

And the Energy Department says that ambulances, police, fire, and even public transport would sit outside of those sort of restrictions.

There would be a different plan for them.

But as you say, we don't really know what this will look like.

This is all guesswork based on what's happened previously.

And we'll also link to that piece we mentioned from the Australian War Memorial.

It's a really expansive piece about the history of fuel rationing during World War II and well worth a read if this is a topic that interests you.

Hi, I'm Andrew Williams.

Ed Santo is from the Human Technology Institute at UTS, a research body that works with government and industry on the responsible development and use of AI, artificial intelligence.

Ed is also a former human rights commissioner, and he brings a strong focus to how technology impacts people and society.

Ed and the Institute have helped develop Australia's voluntary AI safety standard, and they're focused on what comes next to keep Aussies safe.

And Ed joins me now.