The Australian government announced this week it would study whether to build a major oil refinery in Western Australia to help shore up the country’s energy security.

If approved, it would be Australia’s third oil refinery, following the closure of several facilities over the past 25 years.

The US–Iran war and the sharp reduction in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have been visceral reminders of how much fuel security matters to a country like Australia. Exploring additional refining capacity is therefore a sensible step.

But fuel is not the only critical thing Australia imports by sea. There’s a broader lesson from the Middle East crisis: Australia needs greater resilience across the entire maritime trading system on which its economy depends.

Fuel security and domestic industrial capacity are part of that task, but there is much more we need to focus on.

Read more: New research shows how vulnerable Australia would be to attacks on shipping in the Indian Ocean

Addressing one vulnerability at a time risks becoming a game of whack-a-mole. Australia does not just need another fuel security measure; it needs the government to treat maritime resilience as a national priority.

So what does this mean, practically speaking?

First, let’s address how we got here. For decades, successive Australian governments have operated under the same assumption. Freedom of........

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