Australia news live: RSL to review welcome to country policy; Angus Taylor vows to double fuel reserve

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Nationals leader Matt Canavan has detailed a Coalition plan to build the nation’s fuel reserves to a 60-day supply, spending $800m (out of a total estimated total $6bn) to build a new storage facility.

Canavan told RN Breakfast that to meet that obligation for a doubled reserve, Australia would need about 4.4bn litres of extra storage which will be met by existing infrastructure and the private sector. The $800m figure would come from Export Finance Australia, which would be used to help the private sector fund that effort in loans that would then be paid back. He said:

It wouldn’t fund the entire amount of that extra storage, but it would help make a contribution …

Obviously, this comes at a cost … But given what we’re facing right now, we think it’s a reasonable insurance premium to improve the security of all Australians.

It was sensible to do a few years ago to get to 30 days. It’s helping us now. Given the high risks, it’s even more sensible to go to 60 days.

It rocked the country. There’s no other way of describing it …

I’d just been elected to a prime minister after a long period in opposition, with a huge majority, and I developed a view pretty quickly that I had to do something significant. What’s the point of having a big majority unless you’re prepared to use it? …