What we learned, Thursday 2 April
That’s your lot for today – save for a recap of the headlines:
The government will ban gambling advertising in sports venues and cap the number of ads allowed on TV and radio. The prime minister described the measures as the “most significant reform on gambling” in Australia history, but the government’s plan has fallen far short of key recommendations from a Labor-led report handed down more than 1,000 days ago, experts say.
Petrol prices have now fallen about 20 cents in every capital city over the last two days, after the government cut the fuel excise by 26.3c on Wednesday ahead of the Easter long weekend.
The consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said it was investigating fuel distributors and urging them to pass on all excise cuts as quickly as possible. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, warned against profiteering, saying: “anyone who seeks to use the conflict in the Middle East to rip off Australians will have the book thrown at them”.
Penny Wong will represent Australia at an international summit on efforts to reopen the strait of Hormuz, with the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, promising to explore “all viable diplomatic and political measures” to end the blockade of oil shipments. Starmer will host the talks, set to be attended by 35 nations on Thursday night (Australian time).
The US president, Donald Trump, delivered a nationwide address from the White House, declaring the month-long war in Iran a success “nearing completion” – despite a spiraling conflict that has caused economic turmoil across the globe, fractured transatlantic alliances and eroded the president’s approval ratings.
Australian shares have tumbled while the price of oil is surging after Trump threatened to send Iran “back to the Stone ages”.
One Nation have won a fourth lower house seat in Western Australia’s recent election.
Updated
One Nation wins fourth seat in SA
One Nation has picked up its fourth lower house seat in the South Australian election. They are the first lower house seats Pauline Hanson’s party has won outside Queensland.
The electoral commission has finished a recount in the Yorke Peninsula seat of Narungga, finding One Nation’s Chantelle Thomas pipped the Liberal party’s Tania Stock by just 58 votes.
In the lower house, that puts Labor in a strong majority with 34 seats, the independents at four, One Nation at four and the Liberals at five, in opposition.
One Nation has three MPs in the 22-seat legislative council. There are set to be 10 Labor MLCs (the ABC has the 10th, Clare Scriven, as “likely”), six Liberals, two Greens, and Sarah Game, a former One Nation MLC who left and formed her own party.
Updated
