‘Ornament in the garage’: Caravanners, 4WDers cancelling trips over fuel fears

A small volunteer convoy travels out to Queensland’s Western Downs to refurbish a remote showground every year. But Mike Hennessy says that won’t happen in 2026.

Hennessy, a retiree from Bribie Island, said the four-day trip to Jandowae Showgrounds had blown its budget at the bowser following the fuel price spike triggered by war in the Middle East.

“You use a tank full of fuel to get out there and a tank full to get back, and you don’t leave it empty, so you’ve got to fill again,” he said.

“It’s nearly $800, without driving around out there, just in fuel.”

Hennessy, who was due to embark on the trip on Thursday, said the group had typically come from across south-east Queensland, with the organisers based in Beaudesert.

“We didn’t also want to get out there and not be able to get back because of the lack of fuel at the fuel stations, [and] if you go to the gas station here and fill up your jerry cans, people look at you like you’re some sort of criminal,” he said.

“It’s disappointing for everyone … it wasn’t just to go for a holiday and have a good time, it was to help someone, and we can’t even do that.”

The price of fuel has soared since Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for ongoing aerial strikes from US and Israel, crippling the oil supply chain and causing a global energy crisis.

Hennessy, who owns a diesel-powered Ford Ranger, said the cost of diesel on Bribie Island – up to about 320 cents per litre (cpl) – had also ruled out visiting family in Logan over Easter.

Diesel prices in Caboolture, directly west of Bribie Island, sat between 315cpl and 320cpl, while in Brisbane, service stations started prices at about 306cpl.

He said his sister, who lives in Moreton Bay, had also nixed plans to take their own campervan away over the holiday period.

“They’ve got the same type of car as I’ve got, and she said ‘ours is just an ornament now in the garage’.”

Hennessy said he and his wife had opted to use electric bikes for travel within their local community.

At Neurum Creek Bush Retreat – a camping ground about 95 kilometres north of Brisbane – some campers booked in for the Easter break planned to swap out their diesel-drinking 4WD vehicles for smaller cars.

Woody Point local Rob Hill said he was starting to doubt whether he could leave for his post-retirement bucket-list trip from Brisbane to Perth in six weeks’ time.

“This is meant to be the big Western Australia trip, and it’s getting spoiled by Mr Trump’s fuel prices,” he said.

“When we started all this fuel was only $2 a litre … it’s a little bit of a disappointment at the moment, but at this stage we’re still going.”

Hill said the group, which included himself, his sister, and his brother-in-law, had already paid “hefty deposits” on some accommodation and activities.

“We are not sure how we would go transferring it to next year, [or] whether they would allow it as it’s not really an emergency,” he said.

While fuel remained available on popular routes west of Brisbane, including in towns such as Dalby or Roma, Hennessy said travelling for leisure felt increasingly unjustified.

“That’s how you tend to think of yourself now, there are other people who can’t even get to work or haven’t got enough fuel to go around shopping,” he said.

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