Industry calls for gas fuel freight workers to receive vaccine priority
9 July 2021
9 July 2021
Gas Energy Australia (GEA) has reinforced industry calls for essential road freight workers to be prioritised in the COVID vaccination rollout to ensure vital gas fuels can continue be delivered safely and efficiently around the nation.
The peak body has today written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Health Minister Greg Hunt, Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Australian Health Protection Principal Committee chair Professor Paul Kelly to advocate for the industry's freight and logistics workers to receive vaccines as a priority.
"GEA supports the calls of other freight logistics companies and peak bodies which have called for prioritisation of workers who are at the front line in terms of keeping our businesses, industries, hospitals and households safe and secure for as long as outbreaks are occurring," CEO John Griffiths said.
"The downstream gas industry, incorporating gas fuels such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), is also at the forefront of supporting key sectors that are considered a priority for receiving and distribution of vaccines, such as aged care facilities and hospitals.
"For more than 12 months, our road transport operators have 'kept on trucking' despite cross-border restrictions and confusion, working hard to keep essential energy supplies available to all Australians.
"Prioritising vaccinations for them would also help safeguard people at our gas terminals and distribution points across the country – sites our trucks visit every day.
"This is critical, because if even just one of our terminals is forced to close because of a confirmed COVID case, we face immediate and huge pressure on the industry's ability to get gas where it's needed.
"We have to ensure gas fuels – along with food, medical products and other essential goods – continue to be available to all Australian industries, hospitals, aged care facilities and households."
Media contact: John Griffiths 0439 344 622
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