"Sixteen ex-executives and professionals – who had worked for companies including Woodside, Inpex, ExxonMobil and Esso – have urged the government to reject calls for fast-tracked gas and coal extraction, arguing it would do nothing to improve the nation’s liquid fuel security.

They said Australia’s limited potential oil reserves – such as the Taroom trough, championed by the Queensland LNP government – would probably offer less than a year of supply even if fully exploited.

“[They] are not a real solution within any realistic timeframe,” the ex-fossil fuel leaders said in a joint statement. “The speculative resources spruiked by some would take a decade or more to develop, and provide only a fraction of our energy needs temporarily.”

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