At 11pm local time in eastern Australia, a huge fire broke out at the Viva Energy refinery in Corio, Geelong.
There has been a near-total news vacuum. This may be deliberate or it may be a consequence of cost-cutting that has replaced many journalists with artificial intelligence. The few human journalists who remain in the profession may have already gone to bed when the fire started.
The national broadcaster, the ABC, was quick to include it in their list of breaking news items but without much detail. About three hours after the fire started, it was present on the web site of 9 News but not visible on the web sites of 7 News, Herald Sun or The Age. About five hours after the fire started, the local newspaper Geelong Advertiser included it in their Facebook account.
The story is newsworthy for a number of reasons. Australia previously had eight refineries but six of them were phased out and never replaced. Australia relies on foreign refineries for over eighty percent of fuel. With the Corio refinery out of action, there is only one domestic refinery left. Therefore, it is surprising the news media have been so slow to pick up the story.
The next big reason it is newsworthy is the war in Iran.
None of the news reports have commented on the fact that Richard Marles, the deputy prime minister and the minister for defence is the local member of parliament for the region where the refinery is located.
In the news vacuum, people have been quick to share rumours on social control media. Some people are speculating about the prospect of a drone attack. In Europe last year there were reports about Russian drones launched from cargo ships in international waters and interfering with European airports. Other reports have speculated about cargo ships using their anchors to sabotage pipelines and communications cables on the sea floor. France intercepted and seized a ship connected with Russia.
Another user on social control media has commented that there was a technical incident at the plant earlier in the day and the fire could be nothing more than an accident.
People would be wise not to jump to conclusions. Even if it is a terror attack, it may not be Iran. In recent news reports, Russia announced they had the right to attack any countries who are sending support to Ukraine. The French company Thales manufacturers the BushMaster armored personnel carriers in Bendigo and the government donated some of them to Ukraine. Low cost cardboard drones manufactured in Australia have also been donated to Ukraine.