Fuel ration card

At the start of World War II Australia had sufficient petrol in storage for only three months' consumption. Motorists were initially encouraged to reduce their fuel usage voluntarily, but this led to hoarding. So the government encouraged the use of gas producers, but these were relatively new and unknown. In Dowerin many people used gas producers on their vehicles, fueled by charcoal that was produced locally. They were reputedly very messy. Petrol rationing was introduced in Australia in late 1940 early 1941 but was not strictly enforced until 1942. The first ration tickets had a currency of 6 months, though later this was changed to 2 months to avoid forgeries and black market hoarding.