Originally published by Charles Chadwick of The Saturday Telegraph
28.03.2026
Seven in 10 Australians want domestic oil production ramped up amid war in the Middle East, with a majority of voters disapproving of the Albanese government’s handling of the worsening fuel crisis.
A new Fox & Hedgehog survey, provided to News Corp, shows 69 per cent of voters, including 64 per cent of Labor voters, want more oil produced locally to strengthen national fuel security, even if it means higher carbon emissions.
Support for more drilling was strongest among One Nation voters (86 per cent), Coalition voters (82 per cent), and voters aged 65 and over (82 per cent).
It was least popular among Greens voters (39 per cent), and voters aged between 18 and 34 (58 per cent).
It follows Nationals leader Matt Canavan’s call for Australia to “get back to drill, baby, drill”, including resuming oil exploration in the Great Australian Bight, with former prime minister Tony Abbott appealing for more production “as soon as possible” in the wake of war in the Middle East.
Energy expert Saul Kavonic said “hundreds of millions of barrels, if not billions of barrels” could be extracted from the Taroom Trough in Queensland.
“Australia’s oil demand is about 1.2 million barrels a day. Taroom could do up to a third of that,” Mr Kavonic told News Corp this week, suggesting investment of $1-3 billion in developing Taroom, and the Bedout Basin off Western Australia, could deliver commercial volumes of oil by 2030.
The Fox & Hedgehog poll of 1810 voters – carried out on Monday and Tuesday with a 3 per cent margin of error – found 57 per cent of voters think the Albanese government has handled the crisis poorly, including 27 per cent who say it has handled it very poorly.
Just 18 per cent of voters say the government management has been good or very good.
Almost half (44 per cent) are reducing driving due to prices, with 19 per cent saying they will significantly cut back on car use if prices hit $3 per litre.
Most voters (55 per cent) blame supply chain disruptions caused by Middle East conflict for petrol prices rising, with 24 per cent blaming the Albanese government, and 15 per cent blaming servos and suppliers.
More than three quarters of voters (76 per cent) expect fuel shortages to become widespread nationally in coming weeks.
On Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia’s fuel supply outlook “remained secure over the near term”.
“The government has been clear that the longer this war goes on, the greater the impact.
“But, we continue to act to prepare and shield Australians from the worst of it. I want us to have the strongest possible plans, so we’re ready as well, overprepared for what may come.”