A  friend of mine told me something last night on the phone. (if this is old news to you, just let it pass)
Australia is where the tp shortage started, the wild fires burned up trees for lumber, and then the crono scared ever one to stock up with something they could not find.  And of course social media took over and panic.

Oh how a long for the days when we got our news of the world from a speaker on a hallicrafters.