Tanker carrying Russian oil set to dock in WA despite sanctions, campaigners say
The ship Seferis left Sika in India two weeks ago full of oil from the Jamnagar refinery, and it is due to arrive in the outer-Perth suburb of Kwinana by 4am Sunday.
The Jamnagar refinery is notoriously fed by Russian crude oil, with as much as 55 per cent of their 2025 stock coming from the European pariah.
This means the imported oil, which originated in Russia, could end up fuelling Australian vehicles on the road.
The alarm has been raised about a 'loophole' that allows Russian oil to be bought and sold in Australia, with local campaigners and parliamentarians calling for immediate action.
Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie raised the issue in Question Time on Thursday, asking the Defence Minister Richard Marles 'Why are the loopholes in our sanctions so big you can drive a tanker through them?'
'In July, two vessels reportedly docked in Botany Bay, with some 175,000 tonnes of petrol from the Jamnagar refinery in India, which uses up to 55 per cent Russian oil,' Mr Wilkie said.
'So these vessels effectively carry some 90,000 tonnes of Russian-sourced petrol, paid for by Australians, which will help fund Putin's war in Ukraine.'
Mr Marles largely avoided the question instead focusing on the sanctions that had been put in place.
'Sanctions, which is the topic of the question the member has asked, is an important part of what we are putting in place to stand with Ukraine,' Mr Marles said.
'And our government will stand with Ukraine.
'I know the Australian people will stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to resolve this conflict on its terms.'
The loophole has recently been closed in the European Union, which has banned the importation of petroleum products refined form Russian crude oil in its 18th sanctions package against Russia.
The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations has urged Australia to take similar action.
'This decisive action closes a glaring and deeply exploited loophole that has allowed Russian crude to enter global markets through refineries in third-party countries – undermining sanctions and fuelling the Kremlin's war machine.
'We urge the Australian government to take similar action and close this loophole in Australia's own sanctions regime.
'Since February 2023, Australia has imported an estimated $3.7bn worth of Russian crude, as a component in refined petroleum products from Indian refineries – sending around $1.8bn in tax revenue to the Kremlin.
'This flow of profits directly helps fund Russia's brutal war against Ukraine.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
26 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Major step towards cutting maximum medicine cost to $25
Australians will pay no more than $25 for selected medicines for the first time in more than 20 years under a proposal to be brought before parliament. It will be the second cap on medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) introduced by the Albanese government in three years, after it cut the maximum price of PBS prescriptions from $42.50 to $30. "The size of your bank balance shouldn't determine the quality of your health care," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. "My government will continue to deliver cost-of-living relief for all Australians." PBS medicines would be capped at $7.70 for pensioners and credit card holders until 2030. The bill's introduction is largely a formality, with its passage through the lower house all but assured thanks to Labor's massive 94-seat majority in the 150-seat House of Representatives. The election promise is the Albanese government's next priority after it introduced childcare safety and HECS debt reduction legislation. Federal Labor has been talking up plans to strengthen the PBS amid concerns the scheme will be targeted as a bargaining chip in US trade negotiations to ward off threatened pharmaceutical tariffs. Mr Albanese has repeatedly said the scheme was not up for negotiation. Australia eased its biosecurity restrictions on US beef imports last week, but the prime minister has denied the move was linked to US trade talks, noting it followed a 10-year review of Australian biosecurity rules. Beyond new legislation, conflict in the Middle East will likely prompt fierce debate on the parliamentary floor after Mr Albanese said Israel had breached international law by blocking the flow of food aid into Gaza. "Quite clearly, it is a breach of international law to stop food being delivered, which was a decision that Israel made in March," Mr Albanese said on ABC's Insiders program on Sunday. He stopped short of saying Australia would join France in recognising a Palestinian state, but said his government would decide at "an appropriate time". "Hamas can have no role in a future state," he said. "Hamas are a terrorist organisation who I find, their actions are abhorrent." Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said Mr Albanese failed to adequately condemn the role of the group in the ongoing conflict. The government is also likely to come under pressure regarding transparency when parliament resumes, after a Centre for Public Integrity probe revealed only a quarter of freedom of information request responses returned by the government in 2023-24 were un-redacted. By comparison, the Morrison government returned almost half of its FOI requests as complete documents in 2021-22.
West Australian
26 minutes ago
- West Australian
Major step towards cutting maximum medicine cost to $25
Australians will pay no more than $25 for selected medicines for the first time in more than 20 years under a proposal to be brought before parliament. It will be the second cap on medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) introduced by the Albanese government in three years, after it cut the maximum price of PBS prescriptions from $42.50 to $30. "The size of your bank balance shouldn't determine the quality of your health care," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. "My government will continue to deliver cost-of-living relief for all Australians." PBS medicines would be capped at $7.70 for pensioners and credit card holders until 2030. The bill's introduction is largely a formality, with its passage through the lower house all but assured thanks to Labor's massive 94-seat majority in the 150-seat House of Representatives. The election promise is the Albanese government's next priority after it introduced childcare safety and HECS debt reduction legislation. Federal Labor has been talking up plans to strengthen the PBS amid concerns the scheme will be targeted as a bargaining chip in US trade negotiations to ward off threatened pharmaceutical tariffs. Mr Albanese has repeatedly said the scheme was not up for negotiation. Australia eased its biosecurity restrictions on US beef imports last week, but the prime minister has denied the move was linked to US trade talks, noting it followed a 10-year review of Australian biosecurity rules. Beyond new legislation, conflict in the Middle East will likely prompt fierce debate on the parliamentary floor after Mr Albanese said Israel had breached international law by blocking the flow of food aid into Gaza. "Quite clearly, it is a breach of international law to stop food being delivered, which was a decision that Israel made in March," Mr Albanese said on ABC's Insiders program on Sunday. He stopped short of saying Australia would join France in recognising a Palestinian state, but said his government would decide at "an appropriate time". "Hamas can have no role in a future state," he said. "Hamas are a terrorist organisation who I find, their actions are abhorrent." Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said Mr Albanese failed to adequately condemn the role of the group in the ongoing conflict. The government is also likely to come under pressure regarding transparency when parliament resumes, after a Centre for Public Integrity probe revealed only a quarter of freedom of information request responses returned by the government in 2023-24 were un-redacted. By comparison, the Morrison government returned almost half of its FOI requests as complete documents in 2021-22.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Putin attends scaled-down Navy Day after drone attack
Vladimir Putin has visited his home city of St Petersburg to honour the Russian Navy despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns, and the airport being forced to close after a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks on the city. St Petersburg usually holds a large-scale, televise parade on Navy Day, which features a flotilla of warships and military vessels sailing down the Neva River but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed this year's parade had been cancelled. Putin arrived at the city's historic naval headquarters on Sunday by patrol speed boat, from where he followed drills involving more than 150 vessels and 15,000 military personnel in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and Baltic and Caspian Seas. "Today we are marking this holiday in a working setting, we are inspecting the combat readiness of the fleet," Putin said in a video address. The Russian Defence Ministry said air defence units downed a total of 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones on Sunday, below a record 524 drones downed in attacks on May 7, ahead of Russia's Victory Day parade on May 9. Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region surrounding St Petersburg, said more than ten drones were downed over the area, and falling debris injured a woman. St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport was closed during the attack, with 57 flights delayed and 22 diverted to other airports, according to a statement. Pulkovo resumed operations later on Sunday. Russian blogger Alexander Yunashev, part of an official group of reporters travelling with Peskov, said Peskov had told him their flight from Moscow to St Petersburg had been delayed by the drone attack for two hours on Sunday. Russia continued to batter Ukraine with drone and missile strikes Sunday. In Sumy in Ukraine's northeast, a drone attack damaged civil infrastructure objects, an administrative building and non-residential premises, leaving three people wounded. Elsewhere in the region, two men died after being blown up by a landmine and another woman was injured from a drone attack on another community in the region, the regional military administration said. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Sunday via social media for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to uphold independent anti-corruption bodies. Von der Leyen also said in a post on X, made after a call with Zelenskiy, that support would continue for Ukraine on its path to EU membership. with AP
