General News
21 April, 2026
War fallout is starting to bite
EVER increasing fuel prices are putting pressure on the local primary production sector, with transportation costs starting to bite.
Well known cattle producer Alan Pedersen from Karma Waters Station near Mt Carbine said the much-touted reduction of fuel levies had not provided any real relief.
“Under the present situation, it seems doubtful that many of the decision makers in Canberra have any evident concept nor perception of how much people living outside urban and metropolitan centres rely on road transport to keep alive and functioning in business, primary production and everyday life,” he said.
“At this time of year, most cattle producers are still affected by the current extended wet season, so shifting stock to market also comes with boggy conditions, so there’s not a lot of revenue coming into the stations and households, making the high cost of fuel a significant and immediate impact on most operations across the Far North and elsewhere.
“For instance, with the rising cost of fuel, the normal cost of transporting a B-double of cattle to Townsville would have risen from around $4000 to $4500 and now could be $6000 or even higher.”
Mr Pedersen said he had been fortunate in purchasing avgas and diesel at the end of last year.
“Luckily, we purchased a couple of thousand litres of avgas and our normal supply of diesel at the end of last year, prior to the Iran War, so it hasn’t really hit us at present,” he said.
“But rising fuel prices certainly will hit us heavily when we attempt to fill the tanks again, and this will add significantly to our day-to-day operational costs of production.”
He said that the much-touted reduction of fuel levies had not reduced prices as promised as yet, adding that regional and rural Australia was so reliant on stable fuel prices because these days, just about everything is transported in and out of regional and rural centres by road transport.
Stan Remfrey, owner operator of the widely known and long-established transport company Remfreys Transport, confirmed that rising fuel prices had created a massive change for everyone associated with the transport industry.
His company, once operating with a fleet of trucks, had now been reduced to himself being an owner operator.
“The announced 50% reduction in the fuel levy simply has not been delivered to date, making it yet another broken promise, so high fuel prices is hitting everyone hard,” he said.
Mr Remfrey also questioned why the price of diesel fuel was so high.
“It is the least refined of the petroleum-based fuels so it costs less to produce, and yet the prices for end users always is the highest. It just doesn’t add up.”
Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG) say pressure continues to build for horticulture growers despite recent Federal Government measures aimed at supporting freight and input costs.
One week after the Federal Government’s Economic Resilience Program was announced, growers say they are still facing rising costs and ongoing uncertainty across freight, fertiliser, fuel and packaging, with little sign of relief reaching the farm gate.
Feedback from Queensland horticulture growers revealed that a freight provider had increased its surcharge by 53% in early April, while another grower reported fertiliser costs rising from approximately $1,225 per tonne last year to around $1,690 per tonne this year, alongside difficulty securing key liquid fertiliser inputs required for planting programs.
