Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gave her Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese a Japanese musk melon and a heavy metal record when she visited Canberra this week. But her biggest gift was a commitment to keep fuels flowing between the two countries.
The joint statement on energy security sealed during Takaichi’s visit capped weeks of intense efforts across Asia by Albanese and his ministers to ease fears of a fuel crisis in a country dependent on imports of refined oil products to keep its transport, farming and mining industries moving.
The effort, dubbed “petro-diplomacy” by some Australian observers, has borne fruit. The joint energy statement with Japan, which followed similar declarations with South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, helped reassure consumers and companies that regional partners will not halt fuel shipments to conserve their domestic supplies.