What we learned today, Tuesday 21 April
Thanks for staying with us today. We’ll leave our live coverage of Australia’s breaking news there for the evening.
Here were today’s top stories:
A NSW Treasury employee has been charged after an alleged breach involving over 5,600 documents.
Petrol stations have been fined more than $128,000 for breaching Victoria’s fuel price plan.
A crocodile attack in the Kimberley involving a “large” animal prompted a warning to Western Australian officials.
A parliamentary inquiry into gas company taxation began, with Punters Politics’ Konrad Benjamin warning politicians were underestimating public interest.
Labor’s Ed Husic called for the May budget to bring in a 25% tax on gas export.
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has said such a tax would kill the sector.
Adam Bandt predicted there would be ‘statues in every town square’ for any PM who made gas companies pay their ‘fair share’ of tax.
Updated
Medicare ‘unfairly excluding’ parents who choose surrogacy, inquiry hears
Intended parent Lucy Koops said high out-of-pocket surrogacy costs are exacerbated by the Medicare system which effectively discriminates against intended parents.
A witness at today’s hearing for the NSW Inquiry into fertility support and assisted reproductive treatment, Koops shared that she is unable to carry a child as a direct result of medical intervention.
After a miscarriage, a junior doctor performed a dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure on her. This left her with a perforated uterus and Asherman’s syndrome, an acquired condition involving scar tissue in the uterus.
She described the frequent denial of standard IVF rebates when a surrogate is involved as “unfairly excluding” people with physical conditions preventing pregnancy. She estimated her total surrogacy costs at over $250,000.
Koops also noted systemic issues in basic hospital protocol once a child is born via surrogacy. Intended parents said staff routinely treat them as “boarders” in maternity wards rather than the child’s actual parents, including a rushed discharge process.
Updated
States will face budget pressure unless NDIS curbed, Labor minister says
Katy Gallagher, the finance minister, has suggested state government budgets are going to face growing pressure if they don’t help the federal government cut spending growth from the national disability insurance scheme.
Ahead of expected cuts to the NDIS, states are on edge they will be left to foot the bill. Read more here:
Gallagher has done little to allay those fears in her appearance on the ABC today. She said:
The NDIS really is a partnership, in terms of how we provide funding for it, so the States and Territories do have an interest in making sure the scheme is sustainable over time.
Because whilst there has been considerable pressure on the Commonwealth in recent years, unless we take some action now, there will be some growing pressure on state and territory budgets, and we know they are all under pressure as well. …
Obviously we are having a conversation with them, but I think it is in the national interest actually that we get these decisions right, and we need the states and territories to work with us and help us with that.
Surrogacy costing upwards of $250,000 leaves NSW families in ‘legal limbo’, inquiry hears
Families pursuing surrogacy have pleaded with a NSW parliamentary inquiry to implement pre-birth parentage orders.
Giving evidence at today’s fertility support and assisted reproductive treatment inquiry, a panel of intended parents and a surrogate told the committee that establishing legal parentage before birth was their single most important recommendation. Currently, surrogates can remain legally listed as the child’s mother for the first 12 months.
Anna Brown, Equality Australia CEO, said:
This leaves children in a legal limbo at a critical time and creates unnecessary administrative burdens, including for medical care and obtaining passports and places a burden of responsibility on surrogates that they didn’t seek to hold.
Witness Dacien Hadland-Beer, whose family spent about $130,000 per child for an “altruistic” embryo transfer via Canadian clinics, said he and his husband are still waiting for a correctly re-issued NSW birth certificate for their 11-month-old son, despite obtaining a formal parenting order in December.
Altruistic surrogacy is legal in Australia and Canada, provided there is no financial gain, however, the surrogate may be reimbursed for pregnancy and birth-related expenses. Conversely, commercial surrogacy is illegal in both nations.
Witnesses Camden Gilchrist and Lucy Koops each estimated their total surrogacy costs at upwards of $250,000.
After sudden legal changes in Argentina left Gilchrist and his husband off their surrogate-born twins’ birth certificates, they faced a four-month delay returning to NSW. While they managed to secure citizenship, their lack of legal parentage remains a dangerous liability in emergencies. He said:
Not being able to make a medical decision on behalf of my son terrifies me. One of our boys had a seizure last year in the emergency department. I had to pause at the administration desk to mentally check that I was the right father and able to provide the medical direction that the doctors required.
Labor weighing ‘important’ overseas gas needs with taxes, minister says.
Katy Gallagher has emphasised Australia’s international commitments on gas supply are important to Labor, but has given no indication of whether a new gas export tax is being considered.
When first asked on the ABC this afternoon, she said:
Our policies on that haven’t changed.
The finance minister was asked whether a new export tax on gas producers could hurt Australia’s relationship with energy-reliant neighbouring countries. She said:
Strengthening international partnership with our nearest neighbours and providing certainty to them is as important as providing certainty to us, around some of the needs that we have around fuel supply and fuel security … those international commitments are important.
Asked whether those commitments and relationships were guiding the government’s decisions, she said:
No, the government makes decisions around tax policy, but what I’m saying is the focus that we have, since the war in the Middle East broke out, has been to focus on … using every lever we have available to us to ensure that we are guaranteeing fuel supply coming into the country and that is linked to those important international relationships with our nearest neighbours.
Updated
Recession still not forecast for Australia by Treasury
Australia’s finance minister has confirmed Treasury is still not forecasting a recession.
The International Monetary Fund has warned the US-Israel war on Iran could tip the global economy towards recession. It has forecast Australia’s economy will grow at a steady 2% in 2026 but would slow further if the war lasts into the middle of the year.
Asked whether Australia is facing recession, Labor’s Katy Gallagher told the ABC:
The updated forecasts from Treasury will be released in the budget, but that is not the advice from the Treasury to the government.
Even if you look at some of the forecasts that came out of the IMF last week, I think you know, there are no doubt economic consequences from the war in the Middle East and the longer it goes the more significant they will be.
And I think the IMF has pointed out we will continue to see growth across the global economy but that growth will be slower, and Australia is not immune from those types of pressures.
We are seeing that from a war far away that we would like to see ended as soon as possible, there will be consequences, and they will all be released as part of our budget.
Gallagher was pressed on whether the slowing economy had forced the government to pare back its efforts to cut spending int he budget. She said:
Well, we respond to the economic circumstances of the time. In a sense that’s all I can say.
The finance minister also rejected suggestions the government could legislate to increase the debt ceiling (“not our expectation”).
Updated
More unopened votes reportedly found in South Australia
More unopened votes from South Australia’s March election have reportedly been found, compounding the sense of a chaotic poll.
Last week, the SA electoral commission said three boxes of ballot papers had been found, including 81 for the seat of Narungga.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation had won that seat by just 58 votes, so a new count was needed. Once the newly discovered votes were in, it increased One Nation MP Chantelle Thomas’s lead to 74 votes.
Radio station FiveAA said another box had been found in the safe Labor seat of Enfield, while the ABC said the ballots were from Enfield and another safe Labor seat, Newland, and that some upper house votes that were included could still be counted.
Journalist David Penberthy said he had been told 100 to 150 votes had been found.
SA attorney general, Kyam Maher, told the ABC it was “not good enough” and suggested the electoral commission should “triple-check everything”.
On top of the usual election review by the commission, the government will carry out an independent review into the election, which was plagued by delays, staffing issues, and the missing votes.
Maher told FiveAA there was “a level of frustration” with the polling process.
Updated
Greens say Labor’s growth limits on NDIS are cuts to services
The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, has warned proposed moves to curb growth in the national disability insurance scheme would still amount to cuts to the program.
Mark Butler, the Labor health minister, will tomorrow outline the Albanese government’s plans to restrict the growth of the NDIS.
Waters claimed slower growth was the same as a budget cut, telling the ABC:
It is cuts by any other name, a cut is a cut, and disabled people will bear the brunt of that.
She criticised Labor’s focus on cuts to spending on the NDIS over hiking revenue via taxes on big companies.
I think if you want to support people with disabilities, then do that, and raise the revenue from the greedy companies who aren’t paying their fair share so that you can help people. .. if people have disabilities and need support, we have a scheme designed to support them and we shouldn’t be making cuts to that scheme.
Greens leader rubbishes claims gas tax would add to energy disruptions
The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, has described the claim a new tax on gas exports would worsen the global energy crisis as “rubbish”.
The head of the International Energy Agency has been among those to warn the Albanese government against sudden changes to corporate taxes, suggesting a proposed 25% export levy on windfall gas profits would spook investors at a time when the US war on Iran is disrupting energy supply.
Waters said today’s testimony to the parliamentary inquiry into the tax settings for the gas giants disproved that idea. She told the ABC:
No, think that’s rubbish, I think it is gas company talking points. Several of the experts today, I put that very contention to them and they likewise totally shut it down. It is pretty clear that the export tax would be paid by those gas producers in Australia. It would not upset those international contracts.
But more to the point, the government should be looking at what is in Australia’s best interest, not worried about the interest of foreign investor shareholders. I don’t care about them or their profits, I care about Australians and getting through a cost-of-living crisis.
So we had several witnesses today saying, no, it won’t upset trading relations. I agree with them. I think it is just a fig leaf of the gas industry who don’t want to pay their fair share of tax.
Updated
NSW Treasury employee charged after alleged 5,600 document breach
The NSW government has declared a significant cyber incident after a Treasury employee allegedly transferred thousands of documents containing confidential commercial and financial information to an external server.
NSW police said this afternoon that cybercrime detectives had charged a public servant with accessing or modifying restricted data held in a computer, after arresting him yesterday afternoon about 1.30pm in the CBD. They received a report on Sunday that more than 5,600 sensitive government documents had been allegedly accessed and downloaded.
In a press conference a short while ago, the NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, said the 45-year-old man, a three-year employee in the Treasury’s commercial team, had been suspended without pay.
Police said the believe all the allegedly stolen data has been located and secured. The government has said there is no current impact to any NSW Government service, but Mookhey said he did not know if any commercial negotiations would have to be paused.
It’s premature for me to say that at this point in time, because obviously [commercial negotiations] are being assessed as well as to what the impacts are, and in live procurements as well, but it’s fair to say that is an area that the task force is focusing on.
The man has been granted bail to face local court on 3 June.
Updated
Unleaded petrol prices below $2 a litre in every capital but Darwin
Unleaded petrol prices have hit six-week lows and fallen below $2 a litre in every capital city except Darwin.
MotorMouth shows service stations are charging 196.6 cents a litre in Sydney, 194.9 in Hobart, 189.2 in Perth, 188.8 in Adelaide and 199 in Canberra for unleaded.
It costs less than 199 cents a litre in Melbourne and Brisbane for the first time since late February, when the US war on Iran closed the strait of Hormuz and forced up oil prices.
In Darwin, unleaded picked up in price from yesterday, to average 206.1 cents a litre. It’s not clear why – wholesale unleaded prices have been falling in every city.
Diesel prices are 295.2 cents a litre in Darwin and 290.2 in Canberra but below 290 cents a litre in the other capitals and below 280 in Perth and Hobart.
Updated
Victorian opposition’s memorial graffiti policy ‘chasing votes in Nepean,’ premier says
Jacinta Allan also discussed the state opposition’s proposal to create jail sentences of up to 10 years for destroying or damaging a war memorial and other historically significant landmarks.
Allan said:
It’s already against the law to desecrate our sacred war memorials, and there are jail penalties that apply.
I’d suggest the announcements today by the Liberal leader show that she either doesn’t understand how the justice system works, or she does, and it’s all about chasing votes in Nepean.
Victoria premier says her thoughts are with officers’ families amid investigation into YouTube video of Dezi Freeman’s hideout
Back to Victoria again. Premier Jacinta Allan was also asked about a YouTuber currently under investigation for allegedly posting vision from inside the shipping container where Dezi Freeman was living shortly before he was shot dead by police.
Freeman’s death on 30 March came after he allegedly killed two police officers and wounded a third in Porepunkah in August. He spent the next seven months on the run.
Allan said her thoughts were with the families of Freeman’s victims:
They do not deserve anything, any actions that only cause more hurt and pain. Victoria police are investigating. We’ll let those investigations take place, but let’s remember the victims here and what an evil man did, and that is who we should be thinking of.
That’s who everyone should be thinking of, and not taking any action that further causes trauma, hurt and pain. There’s been enough of that because of the actions of this evil man.
Petrol stations fined over $128,000 for breaching Victoria’s fuel price plan
More than $128,000 in fines have been issued to more than 40 fuel retailers in Victoria since 10 March by Consumer Affairs Victoria.
The agency has been monitoring and inspecting hundreds of retailers in recent months to ensure they register and report their fuel prices and stocks accurately on the state’s Servo Saver app.
Businesses face fines of more than $3,000 for each breach. If taken to court, they could be fined more than $24,000 and face potential convictions.
Under the state’s Fair Fuel Plan, all fuel retailers have to register, join the app and report the maximum fuel price of each type of fuel they intend to sell. That price cap must be provided by 2pm.
A similar crackdown was carried out in New South Wales a few weeks ago, with nearly 1,800 service stations inspected and 93 issued on-the-spot fines of $1,100 for misrepresenting their prices. You can read more here:
Updated
Thank you Nick Visser and hello readers. I’ll be with you for the rest of today’s breaking news.
That’s all from me, everyone. Luca Ittimani will take the reins from here.
Taylor says 25% gas export tax would kill sector
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, claims a 25% levy on gas exports would shut down the industry.
As a parliamentary inquiry in Canberra examines the prospect of a new gas tax, Taylor was asked on Tuesday if he was open-minded to extracting more revenue from the sector.
Taylor, who is this week visiting the mining state of Western Australia, said:
There is a proposal around a 25% tax which would close down the gas industry and that is the intent of that tax.
It’s worth remembering that Taylor’s shadow cabinet colleague and potential future leadership rival, Andrew Hastie, last month declared he was open to a 25% gas export tax to help contribute to a Scandinavian-style sovereign wealth fund.
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Jacinta Allan announces several budget items focused on Melbourne’s western suburbs
Meanwhile in Victoria, the premier, Jacinta Allan, spent her morning in Melbourne’s western suburbs announcing several budget items focused on the area, including:
$249m to boost maternity services across the western suburbs, including a new 24-bed postnatal ward at Sunshine hospital, funding for an additional 1,500 sonography appointments and more special care nursery cots at Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s hospital for babies with complex needs
$95m to open the upgraded Werribee Mercy hospital emergency department
$14.8m to boost capacity on the Wyndham Vale line but introducing longer, nine-car trains during peak times.
$7m to fund more police prosecutions at Wyndham law courts
Allan told reporters:
These are investments that Labor governments can make through a strong budget position and using that position to invest in the things that matter most for working people and families – good hospital services, more train services, community safety – that all has that focus on making things easier, making life safer and more affordable for working people and families here in our great growing western suburbs.
Allan denied that the announcements – including Sunday’s $400m commitment to fund another month of free public transport and then halve fares until the end of the year – would risk the state’s credit rating:
We’ve grown the economy faster and larger than any other state in Australia in the last decade. We’re delivering an operating surplus, the only state on the eastern seaboard to do so. Those two things mean that we can continue to reduce the levels of debt and at the same time, and particularly at this time when families and working people are under more pressure than ever before, we can help people.
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AI cameras helped spot more than 1,100 bushfires over the summer
Artificially intelligent cameras detected more than 1,100 bushfires in Australia over summer, including some that would have been missed by humans until they posed a greater risk, AAP reports.
One fire outbreak caused by lightning strikes, for example, could have damaged a pine forest if cameras had not alerted firefighters.
Pano AI revealed the findings on Tuesday after installing more than 100 high-resolution cameras across areas of NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Of the fires discovered, 667 were in NSW.
The detections follow a summer of severe heatwaves in several Australian states, and the fourth warmest January recorded since 1910, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Pano AI’s fire-detecting technology, typically installed on fire towers, uses ultra high-definition cameras to scan for smoke during the day and heat at night. It compares what it finds to a database of more than three billion images and alerts emergency services if it detects fire with a high level of confidence.
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Victorian opposition leader says graffiti on war memorials should cop up to 10 years in jail
The Victorian opposition leader, Jess Wilson, has been in Sorrento this morning ahead of early voting opening for the Nepean byelection tomorrow. Wilson announced that if elected in November, the Coalition will create a new criminal offence for vandals who damage or destroy war memorials and other historically significant landmarks.
Wilson said the offence would cover war memorials and other protected sites, including several cultural, religious and historical places and landmarks of significance, such as statues of Capt James Cook or his cottage in Fitzroy Gardens.
Destroying or marring these sites with paint or graffiti would carry up to 10 years’ jail – up from three months, or a $3,000 fine – and offenders would be ordered by the courts pay for the full cost of cleaning, repairs and restoration.
Speaking at the Sorrento Portsea RSL branch, Wilson said since 2020 at least 18 statues or memorials have been vandalised but “not a single offender has been charged.” She went on:
We’ve seen over recent years, the destruction of war memorials, of cenotaphs. We’ve seen vandals come and attack these significant memorials right across our state in the lead up to important days like Anzac Day, Remembrance Day. That is an attack on the Australian way of life, because these memorials stand there in recognition of those who have sacrificed their own life for our country.
She said not all acts of vandalism would attract the 10-year maximum penalty and that courts would have discretion:
If you’ve got a 14-year-old who’s on a school excursion and you know, he goes up and sticks some chewing gum on a site, or he draws a moustache on a statue, that shouldn’t trigger the 10-year maximum.
Updated
Cocaine exposure in waterways may change salmon behaviour, study finds
Cocaine exposure could lead fish to swim further, raising alarms as the drug’s by-product seeps into the world’s waterways, AAP reports.
A study led by researchers from Griffith University and other international institutions has found salmon exposed to benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite, swam up to 1.9 times further per week and dispersed up to 12.3km further across a body of water than unexposed fish.
While the impact of more mobile fish was unclear, any change in animal behaviour could be a concern, study co-author Marcus Michelangeli said:
If we’re finding exposure to these substances basically causes erratic behaviour – in this case, moving too far or bursting further than they naturally do – that can really mess with the normal ecological functions these species play.
Cocaine and benzoylecgonine end up in waterways when the drug is ingested and broken down by humans, and then released into wastewater through urine. Treatment facilities often cannot fully remove the substances from wastewater, which means they are discharged into lakes and rivers.
At this point, concentrations of cocaine in waterways are not high enough to pose any threat to human health, Michelangeli said.
“The reality is that wildlife is already being exposed to a wide range of human-derived drugs every day,” Michelangeli said.
The unusual part is not the experiment – it’s what’s already happening in our waterways.
Read more here:
Updated
Aussie shares dip as ceasefire nears expiration
The Australian share market has dipped as investors weigh whether a ceasefire in the Middle East will hold, as the US and Iran each try to exert control over a crucial oil transport waterway, AAP reports.
At midday on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 0.14% while the broader All Ordinaries slipped 0.11%.
The two-week ceasefire is set to expire on Thursday morning AEST time.
Near midday on Tuesday, five of the ASX’s 11 sectors were lower, five were higher, while the property sector was little changed. The energy sector was the biggest mover, dropping 0.8% as Brent crude oil traded for $US95 a barrel, about the same level as Monday.
The Australian dollar, meanwhile, was changing hands at 71.74 US cents, up from 71.56 US cents at 5pm on Monday.
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‘We’ve been sold out’: Punters Politics fronts inquiry into gas export tax
Konrad Benjamin, a former school teacher who is behind the social media account Punters Politics, tells a Senate inquiry into taxing gas that the issue has fired up his near million followers.
WA officials notified of crocodile attack in the Kimberley involving ‘large’ animal
Western Australia officials said they were notified of a crocodile attack involving a “large” animal on the state’s coast, near Broome, on Monday.
The attack reportedly took place on Saturday north of the Coulomb Point nature reserve in the Kimberley, on a beach near an area known locally as Hidden Creek, according to WA’s department of biodiversity, conservation and attractions (DBCA).
The injured person was transported from Broome to a hospital in Perth in a stable condition after the incident.
The agency said in a statement:
Parks and Wildlife Service staff have already spoken with a relative of the man who was attacked and intend to discuss the incident further with those involved.
DBCA will also undertake a site visit this week, as part of the investigation.
The DBCA added that crocodiles are common in the region and people should take care anywhere along the Kimberley coast and “all water bodies across northern Australia, including estuaries, tidal rivers, river pools and the waters around offshore islands”.
“Your safety is your responsibility,” DBCA said.
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Sam Neill says he wasn’t prepared for ‘personal abuse’, threats after voicing opposition to New Zealand goldmine
Actor Sam Neill says he has received violent threats over his opposition to a goldmine near his vineyard, condemning criticism from a New Zealand minister and a newspaper columnist.
Neill is opposing the open-cast goldmine, called Bendigo-Ophir, which Australian mining company Santana Minerals is pushing to expedite. You can read more here:
New Zealand’s resources minister, Shane Jones, has dismissed Neill’s environmental concerns, reportedly telling The Post in December:
Very few of us have been born with the privileged professional existence that Sam has had … he should not be allowed to state and run those arguments, unfettered, just because he’s a famous Hollywood actor.
Neill has shared a video update on Instagram, criticising Jones and columnist Damien Grant, whose article, “There’s no reason to listen to millionaires complaining about mining projects”, was published on Tuesday. Neill said:
I stand by those views and I’m glad I voiced them. What I wasn’t prepared for was the personal abuse I would come in for. … [Jones] chose to make this personal and I’m baffled as to why you would do that. … But it wasn’t just him. The amount of personal abuse the came in online, all over the shop, was frankly very shocking and disturbing, including threats of physical violence. …
The fight goes on and we really need to stop this filthy mine. It’ll be the end of everything.
In the caption to the post, he added:
They seem to think that such small success i have enjoyed is somehow to do with being ‘entitled’. In fact I have worked very hard , at both my jobs ( acting, wine ) for the last 50 or so years. That’s not entitlement, that’s hard graft.
Australians becoming an ‘endangered species’, Elon Musk claims
Billionaire Elon Musk weighed in earlier on Australia’s birthrate, responding to a post on his X social media account with a simple message: “Australians are becoming an endangered species”.
The sentiment plays into a trend for populist political parties to point to the fertility rate as a campaign strategy, including the new Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, who said last month he wanted to see Australia welcome “more Australian babies”.
My colleague Krishani Dhanji dug into the phenomenon surrounding pronatalist policies last month:
The Australian Bureau of Statistics put out figures in October that show the total fertility rate is now at 1.481, as of 2024, the most recent year reported. That number declined from 2023 and is well below the 1.795 reported in 2014.
It’s unclear why Musk has suddenly become interested in the figures.
Adam Bandt predicts ‘statues in every town square’ for PM who makes gas companies pay ‘fair share’ of tax
The former Greens leader, Adam Bandt, says statues would be built in honour of the prime minister that forces gas companies to pay “their fair share of tax”, such is the scale of public support for the policy.
Now the chief executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), Bandt is in Canberra to give evidence at the parliamentary inquiry into the tax settings for the gas giants.
The ACF is among a broad coalition of groups calling for a 25% levy on gas exports to replace the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT).
Speaking to reporters before fronting the inquiry, Bandt said the public “have had enough” of the amount of tax revenue generated under the existing regime.
It could be turned around. I’ll tell you what, they would be erecting statues in every town square for the first prime minister that makes the gas corporations pay their fair share of tax and uses it to fund free public transport forever, grow the industries of the future or pay for the clean-up bill after cyclones and floods.
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Minister announces $30m in new drone spending for defence
The defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, has announced two major new drone contracts, part of a $7bn spend over the next decade by the federal government.
Tuesday’s announcement includes $21.3m in spending with AIM Defence and $10.4m for Sypaq Systems, for a high powered counter-drone laser system and new interceptor drone capabilities.
The government says Australia’s geography has driven a focus on larger drones, with new deals to acquire technology able to counter medium‑sized drones and swarms of small drones that Australian personnel could encounter in the field.
Conroy said:
With the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East showing how uncrewed aerial systems are increasingly being employed in conflict, the development of sovereign counter-drone solutions is essential to ensure the Australian defence force can detect, assess and respond to these threats.
Last week the government named drone technology as a key focus of the new national defence strategy.
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If gas export taxes go up, domestic prices come down, Australia Institute tells inquiry
Jumping back into that gas tax inquiry – the Australia Institute says that implementing a gas export tax would reduce domestic gas prices.
Why? Richard Denniss says gas companies would be incentivised to sell more gas at home, and compete on prices – because that would still be cheaper for them than paying the export levy.
He tells the inquiry that before the Australian east coast began exporting gas to the world, it was cheap and abundant.
We had cheap gas in Australia because we didn’t export it from the East Coast … But the minute we hooked it up to the world market the price of gas went up 300% and there was no compensation for households or industry or anything else … Once we put an export tax on those exporters, in order to avoid the export tax, are going to compete with each other to sell it to Australians.
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Advocacy groups ask treasurer to scrap property tax breaks in next budget
The country’s peak advocacy groups are asking the treasurer to scrap the tax breaks for property investors in this year’s May budget.
It has been reported that the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is leaning toward scrapping the Howard-era capital gains tax discount and returning to the pre-1999 inflation indexation method. Every year, the federal government hands $20bn in tax breaks to property investors through negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.
Everybody’s Home, Antipoverty Centre, Better Renting, Think Forward and Tomorrow Movement and House Youse said:
The evidence is clear. These tax breaks inflate property prices, reward hoarding over housing, fuel inequality and drain public revenue that could fund the homes people actually need.
Our organisations reject half-measures, including reducing the CGT discount, limiting negative gearing to one or two investment properties, or grandfathering changes so existing investors continue to unfairly benefit. These are not reforms. They maintain handouts to the wealthy few at the expense of the majority.
We call on treasurer Jim Chalmers to use the 2026 budget to:
• Scrap negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount entirely
• Direct the $20 billion in annual savings towards funding public, high quality homes for the people who need them
Updated
Major trial between ACCC and Woolworths begins in federal court
A landmark trial between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Woolworths has begun in the federal court in Sydney.
The ACCC alleges Woolworths broke Australian consumer law by offering “illusory” discounts on hundreds of everyday products through the misleading use of its “Prices Dropped” promotion programs.
The strategy is known as “is/was” pricing.
The ACCC is up first in court today, with barrister Michael Hodge giving opening submissions.
As in the watchdog’s very similar case against Coles, which wrapped up hearings two months ago, Justice Michael O’Bryan is grilling the ACCC over the specifics of its argument.
He said:
When people are shopping, they’re busy, they want to get it over and done with and quickly as they can, they’re not going to be analysing or intellectualising what these [pricing] tickets mean.
Whether it is true or false that the saving is real … might depend on a range of factors including … how was the “was” price established. We are aware of cases where prices are spiked arbitrarily … in an artificial way [but] there might be commerciality associated with it.
The ACCC alleges that between September 2021 and May 2023, Woolworths temporarily increased the prices of at least 266 products before placing them on “Prices Dropped” promotions to make shoppers think they were getting a discount.
Court documents show the products were sold at their first price for 180 days or longer, before their prices were increased by at least 15% but only for a period of 45 days or less.
Woolworths then reduced the items to their “Prices Dropped” price, which in 265 cases was actually more expensive than the products’ long-term prices before the price spike, and in 11 cases was the same price.
The statement of agreed facts between the ACCC and Woolworths shows the supermarket often negotiated with suppliers to offer “discounts” on products at the same time as it agreed to raise their prices.
We’ll bring you more updates from today’s court hearing shortly.
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NSW gets new RNA research and manufacturing facility
A new RNA facility was officially opened today in NSW at Macquarie University.
Many states have increased funding for RNA research and manufacturing since the Covid-19 pandemic, when mRNA vaccines proved to be critical to the pandemic response, given they can be rapidly designed and developed in the lab using just the genetic code of the virus.
There was a push for increased funding for Australian RNA research and manufacturing to reduce reliance on global supply chains and to speed up production.
RNA technology is also being used to develop new treatments for genetic diseases, cancer and other conditions, as well as improving diagnostics.
The NSW government hopes the new $96m facility will boost domestic RNA manufacturing capability, attract investment, create jobs and improve collaboration. It is the only site in Australia capable of producing a wide range of new and existing RNA therapeutics under one roof.
The NSW innovation, science and technology minister, Anoulack Chanthivong, who also attended the opening, said: “The opening of this facility is a major milestone for NSW and a proud moment for our innovation sector”:
It gives our researchers, clinicians and industry partners a place where ideas can move rapidly from the lab bench to real-world solutions that improve lives. We all saw during Covid-19 how quickly global conditions can change, and how vital it is to have the capability to develop vaccines and treatments here at home.
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Politicians ‘underestimate’ public’s attention on gas tax, inquiry hears
Konrad Benjamin, the former school teacher behind Punters Politics, tells the inquiry that the gas issue has fired up his near million followers across his social media accounts.
Independent senator, David Pocock, who is also at the Greens-led inquiry, asks Benjamin just how much attention is being paid to the issue, and his answer is – a lot.
When you look at social media channels like mine, Instagram reels like you [Pocock] have put up before, when you look at those numbers, there is no other issue that I’ve come across in Australia that gets 8m [views] on your reel, regular 2m, and this is … my audience is solely Australian.
Coming up to a million followers on all of my platforms, that is almost entirely, solely from the energy generated around this issue. And I think senators and politicians underestimate how much we’re watching, how much we understand.
We know there’s appetite among some in the Labor caucus to implement a windfall tax or flat export tax, but the government is facing a heap of external pressure from the industry (who don’t want to take a haircut on their profits) and overseas nations including Japan.
Benjamin warns the parliament that “politicians ignore just how much we’re paying attention to this at their own peril”.
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Viral image of bull shark in Sydney’s inner west was digitally altered
The image of a bull shark in the Cooks River in Sydney’s inner west that went viral over the weekend was digitally manipulated, the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) says.
The picture was posted to a Marrickville community page, showing a large fin of a shark jutting out of the river in Marrickville, around 6km from the nearest open water of Botany Bay. It amassed thousands of likes, comments and shares to other social media groups.
But the DPIRD said in a statement they believed the image was digitally altered.
The CEO of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Brett Fenton, told Guardian Australia bull sharks “do get into weird places” but he felt a “high confidence” that the image is fake.
The morphology of the fin doesn’t look right. It’s too equilateral triangle looking. For the dorsal to be exposed in that way it’s pretty unlikely you wouldn’t see the tail fin.
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Australia Institute says 25% gas export tax would raise $17bn per year
Over in parliament this morning, the Senate inquiry into taxing gas is under way with the Australia Institute giving evidence that on its count, a 25% export tax on gas would raise $17bn a year.
It’s executive director, Richard Denniss, says while Japan has tried to discourage the government from putting in a tax, he says an export tax wouldn’t impact its price, and if it was concerned about price, it could just lower its own import tax.
He says Japan’s import tax on oil, gas and coal (with Australia being the main gas supplier) raises about $8bn a year, adding:
The Japanese government is getting more revenue from taxing Australian gas than the Australian government is … A gas export tax will not increase the price of gas paid by Japan. It will not increase the price of gas paid by Korea or any of our other customers. There’s no Norway premium for Norwegian gas, which is heavily taxed. All of the gas is selling at the same world price. The reason the gas industry is sad is they know the customers won’t pay the higher price.
An export tax is a good idea, because it’s simple, and the only way to avoid it is to sell gas to Australians instead. Win, win.
Alongside Denniss is Konrad Benjamin, behind social media account Punters Politics – who said he shouldn’t even be here – but is because the government has “stopped working for the punters”.
Punters Politics, honestly shouldn’t exist. I shouldn’t really be here. A million Australians following my content online, watching someone explain gas isn’t a success story. It’s a symptom of a government that has stopped working for the punters who elected them.
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Victoria police investigating after YouTuber allegedly posts video inside Dezi Freeman’s hideout
Victoria police are investigating reports of a trespass at a property where Dezi Freeman was shot and killed after a seven-month manhunt.
Police said investigators are aware of a video posted online after a YouTube channel posted footage under the title “I went to Dezi Freeman’s last stand hideout”. Freeman, who was allegedly responsible for the shooting deaths of two officers at Porepunkah, was found at a property in Thologolong in Victoria’s north-east.
He refused to surrender peacefully before he was killed.
Police said in a statement:
Investigators are aware of a video posted online in relation to the trespass and are investigating the circumstances.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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Tim Cook to step down as CEO of Apple
In case you missed it this morning, there has been some major tech news: Apple’s CEO Tim Cook will step down after nearly 15 years at the helm of the Silicon Valley icon.
Cook will stay with the company in the role of executive chair, but will be replaced by Apple’s head of engineering, John Ternus, on 1 September.
Cook said Ternus had “the mind of an engineer and the soul of an innovator”.
Read more here:
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NSW commission proposes heat-safe rentals to help tackle extreme temperature
Heat-safe rentals and tougher workplace safety rules for outdoor workers on scorching hot days have been proposed by a state climate policy advisory body, AAP reports.
Identifying extreme heat as an under-recognised and preventable killer, the NSW Net Zero Commission has called for urgent policy action on planning, housing and workplace protections.
“Unlike floods or bushfires, heat leaves very little visible destruction but it is quietly taking lives,” Net Zero commissioner, Prof Andy Pitman, said.
In recommendations to the state government, the commission calls for heat-resilient urban planning to ensure new development has enough cooling greenery and thermally comfortable buildings.
Landlords presently have no obligation to provide homes that maintain safe indoor temperatures and the commission recommends phasing in mandatory thermal safety rules so that rentals have ceiling insulation and air conditioning, as appropriate.
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Five arrested after alleged kidnapping of Sydney man
Five men have been arrested over the alleged violent abduction of a man in Sydney, AAP reports.
Police were called to a Guilford home, in western Sydney, at 11.30pm on Monday following reports a man had been assaulted and forced into his own car by a group of men.
Shortly after, a partially burnt-out vehicle was found in nearby Villawood, less than a 10-minute drive south of Guildford. Police said they are investigating whether the alleged kidnapping and burnt car are linked.
The victim, aged in his 30s, was found an hour later at a home in Casula and taken to hospital in a stable condition.
Five men were arrested in Casula and were being questioned at Liverpool police station. No charges have been laid.
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Inquiry into gas tax kicks off today
A parliamentary inquiry into the tax regime for gas companies will start on Tuesday as public pressure mounts on the government to use the 12 May budget to extract more revenue from the big multinationals.
The Greens-led inquiry will hear from gas companies, environmentalists, economists and government departments among other witnesses during public hearings in Canberra on Tuesday and Wednesday and in Perth on Friday.
A broad coalition of progressive politicians, trade unions, climate and civil society groups are campaigning for the government to introduce a flat 25% tax on gas export revenue to replace the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT).
The campaign has gained enormous traction online, with independent senator, David Pocock, social media influencer Konrad Benjamin (otherwise known as Punter’s Politics) and the Australia Institute thinktank credited with shifting the public mood on increasing taxes on LNG exports.
Benjamin and the thinktank’s executive director, Richard Denniss, will open the inquiry’s hearings at 9am on Tuesday.
The Treasury, which is due to give evidence on Wednesday, was last month asked to model a windfall profits tax and changes to the PRRT, fuelling optimism among advocates that the Albanese government was actively considering an overhaul.
While the government has not ruled out changes, Guardian Australian understands the appetite for major interventions has diminished inside the government amid the global energy crisis sparked by the Iran war.
The government does not want to create the perception that it is threatening future supplies of liquified natural gas to Asian trading partners at the same time as it is trying to shore up supplies of petrol and diesel from them.
The inquiry will report on 7 May – five days before the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, hands down the budget.
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Wong speaks to counterparts in Pakistan and Lebanon
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, spoke with her counterparts in Pakistan and Lebanon overnight, discussing the Middle East war, peace negotiations with the US and Iran and closure of the strait of Hormuz.
The calls follow similar conversations between Wong and the foreign ministers of Fiji and the Netherlands yesterday.
Wong and Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, discussed his country’s role in advancing de-escalation and ceasefire efforts, including hosting the first round of negotiations between the US and Iran in Islamabad.
With Lebanon’s foreign minister, Youssef Rajji, Wong spoke about the need for the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon to hold, for Hezbollah to be disarmed, and Australia’s support for Lebanon and its people.
“We all want the negotiations to be successful, for an end to the conflict and for the strait of Hormuz to reopen so ships can pass safely and critical supplies can get where they’re needed,” Wong said.
I told Lebanon’s foreign minister that Australia welcomed the US-brokered ceasefire agreed by Israel and Lebanon and that we continue to call on all parties to adhere it. We want a negotiated end to the conflict, Lebanon’s sovereignty respected, and Hezbollah disarmed.
Even with the ceasefire, we know global supply pressures will continue for some time to come.
That’s why the Albanese government is working with regional partners to secure petrol, diesel and fertiliser supplies so that we can shield Australia from the worst impacts of the conflict.
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Shadow minister says Coalition’s new immigration policy doesn’t make it a ‘fringe party’
Andrew Bragg, the shadow minister for housing, said the Coalition’s new immigration policy did not make the opposition a “fringe party”.
Bragg is set to give a speech today, where he will reportedly link low levels of new housing with high migration, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. He was asked about his own comments in November where he said at the time linking the housing crisis to migration was “morally wrong”, and what had changed. He told RN Breakfast today:
Nothing’s changed. As I would have said in November to you, it is an input on the demand side that is migration. And migration has been too high.
Bragg went on to say any potential changes to the capital gains tax discount or negative gearing were a “gimmick” which would not solve any issues with housing supply.
Government discussing ‘range of opportunities’ to boost fuel security: PM
Back to the prime minister, who said last night the government was considering options to boost domestic fuel refining capacity as the Middle East conflict exposes Australia’s vulnerability to international supply chain shocks, but without specifying what the options might be.
Australia imports up to 90% of refined fuel products and has just two operating refineries: Viva Energy’s refinery in Geelong – which caught fire last week – and the Ampol Lytton refinery in Brisbane.
Asked if the government was weighing options to increase on-shore refining capacity, Albanese told 7.30:
We will look at the full range of opportunities which are there. We’re very open to pursuing those. We’re engaging with the private sector in particular, and we’ll engage, of course, with state and territory colleagues.
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Ed Husic say next budget should have 25% tax on gas exports after companies given ‘obscenely sweet deal’ for too long
Labor MP Ed Husic said the government should impose a 25% tax on gas exports as part of the upcoming budget, adding big energy companies had had a “sweet deal” for much too long.
Husic spoke to the ABC this morning:
People think that a lot of these multinational gas companies have had an obscenely sweet deal for way too long and the country has been the poorer for it. And the idea that we would get a better deal on our gas is uniting people across the political spectrum …
If it doesn’t happen in this budget, it’s not a lost opportunity, it’s a missed one.
Husic went on to say that the issue speaks to the average person:
Average Australians are right when they say, we’ve got so much of this resource and yet we’re being told we’re running out. We’re not. We just export so much of it.
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‘We want to see the oil flow,’ Penny Wong adds
Penny Wong also spoke on Sky News about the fuel crisis and the Middle East, saying Australia wanted a negotiated settlement to the war.
Speaking to host Andrew Clennell, she said the government was continuing to work to obtain fuel supplies.
Wong said:
We’re calling for a de-escalation along with the rest of the world and along with the United States seeking a negotiated outcome. We want to see the strait open, we want to see oil flow and we want to see relief for Australians at the bowser.
She was also asked about Donald Trump’s attack on Australia last week for allegedly not doing enough to help the US in the Middle East.
She said there had been no request from the US about helping to keep the strait of Hormuz open or blockaded but said that there had been a request for assistance of the defence of the Gulf countries.
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Albanese warns economic shocks will have a ‘long tail’ due to Middle East conflict
On 7.30 last night, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said he would convene national cabinet in coming days to discuss the fuel crisis, warning of a “long tail” to the economic shocks from the Middle East conflict.
The prime minister stressed there was no plans to move to the next stage of the national fuel strategy, which would involve interventions to preserve supply, but said he wanted to update state and territory leaders to ensure that “we all move together as one nation”.
It will be the third meeting of the national cabinet since the US and Israel started bombing Iran on 28 February, sparking a new regional conflict and global energy crisis.
Albanese reiterated his desire for a permanent resolution to the conflict and resumption of normal shipping through the strait of Hormuz.
He said:
No country is immune from the impact of this conflict, even though it’s happening on the other side of the world, it’s having a massive impact on the global economy. It’s having a human impact on people in the region, and that’s why we want to see a resolution.
Albanese on Friday joined a virtual summit of world leaders – chaired by the UK and France – to discuss a plan to fully reopen the strait.
He said another meeting was planned for later this week.
The prime minister would not be drawn on whether the government would consider sending military assets to help secure the shipping lane but said Australia would “play a constructive role” in negotiations “as we always do in international affairs”.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories. Nick Visser will take the reins shortly.
Anthony Albanese will convene the national cabinet again in coming days to discuss the fuel crisis, he told the ABC’s 7.30 program last night, as the government considers options to boost domestic fuel refining capacity.
Penny Wong has also been speaking about the fuel crisis and the Middle East on Sky News, where she said Australia wanted a negotiated settlement to the war.
