IPAN Patrons: Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe AO & Kellie Tranter Lawyer, Human Rights Activist
MEDIA RELEASE 26 March 2026
Media Interviews: Bevan Ramsden M: 0418 697 528
Media Liaison: Jonathan Pilbrow M: 0403 611 815
• Four hundred and seventy petrol stations without petrol and diesel
• Rapid rise in fuel prices
• Rising cost of living
• Fuel shortages across the country
• Insecure transport of goods
• Impact on International and domestic flights
The Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) is deeply concerned by the impacts on the Australian people of the USA-Israeli illegal war on Iran, Lebanon and Palestine.
The impacts of the war include widespread fuel shortages across the country, with four hundred and seventy petrol stations already without petrol and diesel, and a rapid rise in fuel prices, which in turn threatens the secure transport of goods, disrupts international and domestic flights, and exacerbates the rising cost of living.
Prior to the conflict in Iran, around 20 per cent of households nationwide were severely food insecure, skipping meals or going entire days without eating. With renters particularly hard hit, with almost half of renters experiencing food insecurity, forcing many to choose between paying rent and buying food[i]. Households facing such stress are being further bit with the price hikes in fuel.
“While our primary concern remains the devasting toll on the innocent victims of this conflict, and we urgently call for an immediate end to the war, ‘it’s really important to be clear about who is responsible for these impacts on the everyday lives of Australians and the global community’, said IPAN spokesperson, Mr Bevan Ramsden.
‘The USA and Israel have started a war against Iran where there was no security threat to the USA’, stated Mr Ramsden. “There is no evidence that Iran has planned to produce nuclear weapons, and Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
“Furthermore, the attacks on Israel by Iran have been in response to Israeli attacks on the Iranian people.”
‘This illegal war which, contrary to international law the Australian Government publicly supports, has brought into reality the vulnerable position Australians are in, with successive governments failing to address the real security threats to Australia and the world’, said Mr Ramsden.
The real security threats include:
• The ignoring of international law which makes everyone, everywhere less secure.
• The impacts of a warming climate, evidenced by the increasing frequency and severity of bushfires, storms and cyclones.
• The positioning of US bases, such as Pine Gap and North West Cape, providing intelligence and targeting facilities on our soil, which is destroying our sovereignty and making us a target in the event of a world war.
• The AUKUS pact, which is draining our economy and wasting intellectual resources.
Rather than focusing on ‘military’ security—allegedly provided through AUKUS and the Force Posture Agreement, which offers no real security and instead makes Australia a missile target for enemies of the US—the concentration should be on providing climate security, fuel security, food security, communications security, and health (pharmaceutical) security. These are the severe impacts we are seeing precisely because of this misdirected concentration on ‘military’ security.
IPAN calls for the Australian government to notify the US that we are cancelling the AUKUS agreement, and use the $370B saved for urgently electrifying the country and for other urgent social needs.
Australia needs to break free from the US and build an independent, self-reliant, and sustainable economy.
‘We call on our government to work for peace, international law and mutual benefit with like-minded countries through the international framework of the United Nations’, said Mr Ramsden.
ENDS
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Bio: Bevan Ramsden is an ex-telecommunications engineer and telecommunications teacher and a long-time peace activist going back to the Vietnam Moratorium Campaign and campaign against conscription in the 1970s. Bevan was a member of the IPAN coordinating committee for a number of years and is the editor of its monthly publication, Voice.
About IPAN: IPAN represent many organisations across Australia – community, faith and peace groups, trade unions – and concerned individuals aiming to build public dialogue and pressure for change to a truly independent foreign policy for Australia – one in which our government plays a positive role in solving international conflicts peacefully. www.ipan.org.au
[i] Foodbank Australia, 2025, Hunger Report https://reports.foodbank.org.au/foodbank-hunger-report-2025/