'Not all that reassuring': Albanese faces the nation with call for calm but little detail

ANALYSIS: After hours of build-up and speculation, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's rare prime-time address to the nation landed with more of a shrug than a shockwave. 

In about 500 words and just over three minutes, he laid out the government's existing attempts to combat the fuel crisis sparked by the war in the Middle East and sought to reassure Australians that all would be well.

"You should go about your business and your life as normal," was one of the key takeaways, along with gentle urging to conserve fuel.

READ MORE: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warns 'economic shocks' to be 'with us for months' in rare national address

There were more dramatic messages, of course. He admitted it was "hard to be positive" as the war in the Middle East "caused the biggest spike in petrol and diesel prices in history".

"Australia is not an active participant in this war, but all Australians are paying higher prices because of it," he said.

"I know that you're seeing this at the servo and at the supermarket, and I understand farmers and truckies, small businesses and families are doing it tough, and the reality is, the economic shocks caused by this war will be with us for months."

Some experts have warned the supply chain impacts from Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the US and Israel's attacks may be bigger than the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The International Energy Agency said the oil bottleneck was causing an energy crisis worse than the 1970s oil shocks combined with Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

So it seems entirely appropriate that Albanese would push the national address button, last activated by Scott Morrison at the start of the pandemic and Kevin Rudd in the Global Financial Crisis.

All three messages were similar in many ways: pre-recorded, just a few minutes long and in a calm, measured tone seeking to reassure a panicking nation.

But at the end of the day the announcement of Albanese's address, a bolt out of the blue at 11am, hit with much more force than the pre-recorded video itself and left space for eight hours of anticipation and rampant speculation.

It stood out for the scale of the government response. Halving the fuel excise for three months will be a huge help for drivers struggling with soaring fuel costs and cost taxpayers $2.55 billion.

But it's small change compared to Rudd's $10 billion GFC stimulus package or the $20 billion of economic stimulus and health spending unveiled by Morrison.

Consider taking the bus to work, and don't buy too much fuel over Easter are important messages at a time when there are concerns about where Australia will get its fossil fuel from if Iran keeps its grip on the waterway through which 20 per cent of the world's oil passes.

But it's mild compared to banning whole countries worth of people from flying Down Under or guaranteeing the savings deposits of every single Australian.

Albanese's political opponents were quick to seize on the lack of detail and criticise the government's handling of the fuel crisis.

Nationals Leader Matt Canavan called it a "melange of mixed messages", One Nation's Pauline Hanson said it was a "message to calm everyone down" amid concern over the polls and Greens leader Larissa Waters said simply "Should have made public transport free".

But the low-key, low-impact message would seem to be part of the point. A way to reassure Australians that the government had a plan ahead of Easter and push back gently - for now at least - on any rumours of fuel rationing or more dramatic interventions to come.

Albanese stressed the unity of national cabinet and gave suggestions for ways Australians could help - if they wanted - in a marked departure from the whiplash orders the nation got sick of receiving during the pandemic.

But he didn't address many of the key questions Australians are asking. There was no update on fuel supplied or detail about what would happen if they dropped significantly.

The country is currently at level two of the National Fuel Security Plan, described as "keeping Australia moving", and the government has continually emphasised that supplies to the country have not been disrupted.

But the concerns are around what will happen if the refineries in Asia that supply Australia can't replenish their own stocks from the Middle East, and the government is yet to outline what levels three and four of the four stage plan would look like.

He made clear that Australia was "not an active participant in this war". But he did not mention US President Donald Trump, or even the US itself, Israel or Iran.

Albanese left voters with a parting message that the "months ahead may not be easy" but the government would "do everything we can to protect Australia from the worst of it".

Last night, many were yet to be convinced. 

Watching the address from a pub in Sydney, Bob Bailey said it showed the "gravity of the situation we're in" but was "not all that reassuring". 

"They are trying to take measures obviously but the fuel excise, they've halved that, which is a positive, but the cost of fuel's doubled and they're making twice as much on GST as they were only a month ago," he told 9News.

Filling up the tank elsewhere in the city, Nick Ashwood said there was "not much" to take away from the speech.

"It looked like an announcement that someone told him to do before a bigger announcement, maybe in a week or so's time," he told 9News.

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