What we learned: Thursday 19 March
That’s where we’ll leave it for today on the blog. Here are Thursday’s main stories:
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle forecast to hit far north Queensland three hours earlier than expected, with wind gusts up to 285km/h and daily rainfalls of 500mm possible.
The cyclone is also expected to hit the Northern Territory on Saturday, where several waterways are already flooding.
Treasury has downgraded Australia’s growth prospects over the coming few years, compounding the near-term damage from a global energy shock that Jim Chalmers says will be “a defining influence” on the May budget.
Anthea Harris is appointed to head a national fuel supply taskforce, as the prime minister says national cabinet acknowledged that the longer the Middle East conflict goes, “the more significant impact will be for the global supply chain, fuel prices and the wider economy”.
The unemployment rate lifted to 4.3% in February, from 4.1% the month before, despite a solid 48,900 increase in the number of employed Australians.
Six cases of legionnaires’ disease have been detected in Melbourne’s outer north, prompting a warning from Victoria’s chief health officer.
Australia’s competition watchdog is investigating each of the nation’s major fuel suppliers over allegations of anti-competitive conduct.
Notorious outback killer Bradley John Murdoch yelled at police to “get out” as he lay dying in hospital, refusing to the last to reveal where he hid a backpacker he shot dead on a remote highway, an inquest heard.
We will see you here again for more news tomorrow.
Updated
Malinauskas steps up One Nation attack ahead of SA election
A day after an awkward run-in, the South Australian premier has dismissed Pauline Hanson as a hypocrite and pretender in response to One Nation’s “remarkable” surge ahead of the state election, AAP reports.
Peter Malinauskas on Thursday stepped up his criticism of Hanson, accusing her of flying around the country on the nation’s richest person’s plane while advocating for battlers.
The premier took aim at the One Nation leader ahead of Saturday’s SA election barely 24 hours after Hanson appeared to ambush him.
She confronted Malinauskas over his recent One Nation comments as he headed to the final leaders’ debate in Adelaide on Wednesday before their uncomfortable meeting ended with a handshake.
However the premier wasn’t as civil on Thursday as One Nation maintained its surge before the weekend poll.
“These hypocrites flying around on private planes … that’s one thing, but having no plan or policy for the future of the state … that’s unforgivable,” he said.
Updated
Falconio killer told police to leave when they made deathbed visit, NT inquest hears
Notorious outback killer Bradley John Murdoch yelled at police to “get out” as he lay dying in hospital, refusing to the last to reveal where he hid a backpacker he shot dead on a remote highway, AAP reports.
Northern Territory coroner Elisabeth Armitage on Thursday wrapped up an inquest into the 66-year-old’s death from throat cancer on 16 July 2025 at the palliative care unit of Alice Springs hospital.
Murdoch was serving a life sentence for murdering 28-year-old British backpacker Peter Falconio, and the assault and attempted kidnapping of his girlfriend Joanne Lees, now 52, on the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek in July 2001.
The court heard that police visited Murdoch twice in the weeks before he died, in a final bid to uncover where Murdoch dumped Falconio’s body.
On one occasion, they hoped to show him a video from Falconio’s parents.
Murdoch was arrested in November 2003 over Falconio’s disappearance after a South Australian jury acquitted him of raping and falsely imprisoning a 12-year-old girl.
The SA case allowed NT police to obtain his DNA, which was later found on the makeshift handcuffs worn by Lees, as well as on her T-shirt, leading to his arrest.
Murdoch maintained his innocence and refused to divulge where he hid Falconio’s body.
Counsel assisting Chrissy McConnel told the inquest in Alice Springs on Thursday Supt Bill Carroll and two other officers visited Murdoch in jail just weeks before he died.
They hoped to show Murdoch a video Falconio’s parents made with the help of UK police.
“When the officers attended at the prison to speak with Mr Murdoch, he stated his innocence and refused to watch the video,” McConnel said.
Police again visited Murdoch days before he died in the palliative care unit, watched by prison guards 24 hours a day.
But the officers were only at his bedside for about 30 seconds.
“Mr Murdoch did not speak with the officers, instead yelling for them to ‘get out’,” McConnel said.
Updated
Broome plane crash: light plane carrying seven people crashes in WA
Seven people have escaped serious injury after a light plane crashed in Western Australia.
In a statement, the WA police said two pilots and five passengers were on board when the plane crashed in shallow waters in Roebuck about 11.25am WA time. One person suffered minor head injuries. Police said:
Police were notified of a light plane crash in shallow waters at Fisherman Bend in Roebuck.
Emergency services, including Police, DFES, St John WA and Marine Rescue, responded to the incident.
An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash is now underway.
Updated
Teenage boy in custody after allegedly firing BB gun at Rose Bay school
A 15-year-old boy is in police custody after allegedly firing a BB gun at the back of another student at a high school in Sydney’s east.
NSW police said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that officers were called to the school in Rose Bay just after 1.45pm today after reports of a teenager with a firearm.
Police have been told a 15-year-old boy fired a pellet at the back of another student with what’s been described as a ‘BB’ gun.
Police say there were no injuries and the weapon has been seized:
The 15-year-old boy was arrested at the scene pending further inquiries.
Updated
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle remains as a huge category 5 storm off the Queensland coast this afternoon and has picked up pace, now moving at about 28km/h.
The latest track map of the storm, just released by the Bureau of Meteorology, has Narelle 410km east of the small town of Coen on the Cape York peninsular. Wind gusts are at an incredible 295km/h.
The latest map also shows an earlier time for the storm to make landfall which is now estimated at 7am on Friday morning – three hours earlier than forecasts this morning.
Earlier this morning, there were fears Narelle could cross the coast as a category 5 system, but the last two updates from the bureau (they are coming every four hours now) has a crossing as a category 4 very close to Coen.
That still means an incredibly dangerous storm with wind gusts between 225km/h and 279km/h.
According to the bureau, winds like that can cause significant roofing loss and structural damage” and can blow away caravans, cause dangerous airborne debris, cause extensive damage to vegetation and cause widespread power failures.
Updated
Tropical Cyclone Narelle update
There’s an update on the severe tropical cyclone Narelle set to hit Queensland early Friday, and the Northern Territory on Saturday.
It’s expected to hit between Lockhart River and Cape Melville, with winds of up to 285km/h and rainfalls up to 500mm a day.
It is expected to downgrade to a category 3 by the time it reaches the NT, but could still have 150-200mm of rain per day.
Those parts of the country are already sodden, with several NT catchments already in flood, increasing the risk of flash flooding.
Kristy McBain, the minister for regional development, said there’s no request for military assistance in Queensland, but there has been a request in the NT.
Updated
Energy minister confident in Australia’s fuel supply, but ‘more uncertainty’ ahead
Chris Bowen, the minister for energy and climate change, is giving a press conference in Brisbane.
There’s plenty of questions about energy supply, as you’d expect, but not much in the way of new details.
He said that 519m litres of unleaded and diesel fuel had been released from the country’s reserves, and much of that would be sent to regional and rural areas.
It may take some time to reach these areas, he said.
As to whether supply could be guaranteed beyond the end of next month, Bowen said:
Ships are arriving, the refineries are working full pelt, but beyond the second part of April, is where there’s more uncertainty.
On reports that gas fields in the Middle East were being targeted, he said “obviously anything like that is a negative development”. But there was little current impact on gas prices.
Updated
Really wish someone had taken it to the counter and tried to buy it:
ACF welcome NSW coalmine announcement, urge further action
The Australian Conservation Foundation say the NSW government ban on coalmines at greenfield sites is a good step, but a full transition away from the sector should be accelerated.
In a statement, ACF campaigner Freja Leonard said:
Today’s announcement is recognition that the coal industry is already in decline.
The NSW government should now plan for the orderly phase out of coal mining and support for coal workers.The Minns Government’s continued acceptance of massive coal extensions or expansions, such as the Hunter Valley Operations Continuation project, runs contrary to the urgency that is required to meet the state’s own emission reduction targets.
Updated
NSW to ban new coalmines on greenfield sites
The New South Wales government will bring an end to the development of new coalmines on unexplored sites in the state under a policy change announced today.
This afternoon, the Minns government released its coal industry statement for the years 2026-50, the first since the former Coalition government’s own framework in 2020, which committed to “significantly” scaling back where mining could occur.
But new sites have continued to be approved, including at least eight since the Minns government was elected in 2023. Last year, the government was warned it could not continue to approve sites after the NSW net zero commission said expansions were “not consistent” with the state’s legal emissions reductions commitments.
The change, under which the government will no longer consider proposals for “new standalone greenfield coalmines”, does not rule out the expansion of existing sites. The government has said it will “continue to support coal production where it is already occurring, while placing strong guardrails around future development”.
NSW’s coal industry generated $23.4bn in exports during 2025, directly employing 23,800 people at more than 30 operational coal sites across the Gunnedah, Hunter, Newcastle, southern and western regions, but demand is expected to decline as the energy transition progresses.
The finance minister, Courtney Houssos, says:
Coal has powered NSW for more than a century, and it will continue to support our economy for decades to come.
We’ve engaged with communities, industry, consent authorities, environment groups and trading partners. Their feedback has shaped a direction that gives certainty, sets firm expectations and keeps NSW a reliable supplier where market demand exists.
Updated
That’s all from me. Nino Bucci will be your guide from here. Take care.
Reader callout: are you feeling the petrol pinch in Australia, and how is it affecting you?
We’d like to speak with Australians feeling the petrol pinch.
Are you consciously cutting back on fuel use? Have you cancelled a holiday? Are you working from home more? Are you taking fewer journeys? Are you limiting your use of energy for other things like air conditioning or cooking? Have you found a way to conserve fuel?
Let us know about your experiences here:
Updated
Boats being moored in Cooktown in far north Queensland as Cyclone Narelle approaches – video
‘People in the Top End should begin to prepare now’, BoM says as Narelle takes aim
Shenagh Gamble with the Bureau of Meteorology just provided an update for the NT and the impacts Narelle will have on the territory.
She said during a press conference:
People in the Top End should begin to prepare now and stay informed as our warnings will be issued and updated frequently over this next period.
Our current forecast is that cyclone Narelle will cross the NT coast as a category 3 severe tropical cyclone during Saturday, with the earliest impacts to Groote Eylandt Saturday afternoon.
The BoM will issue a tropical cyclone watch for communities in the eastern Top End and the surrounding areas. Rain from the cyclone will cause local creeks and rivers to rise again, including those that have already been affected by recent flood waters.
Gamble said:
It is very important that the community across the Top End stays aware of the current situation and stays alert to updated and new warnings as they are issued.
Updated
Cargo to remote Cape York communities disrupted by Tropical Cyclone Narelle
A cargo shipping company which delivers food, fuel and other essential goods to several remote communities across Cape York has halted operations for the rest of the week, with Tropical Cyclone Narelle expected to make landfall on Friday morning.
In a statement on Thursday, shipping and logistics company, Sea Swift said due to the “significant safety risk”, deliveries would not recommence until next week.
There will be no delivery to Cape York communities this week. These communities include Weipa, Skardon River, Lockhart River, and Aurukun. The Marine Team are working to minimise the disruption to the regular schedule as our depots prepare for TC Narelle to make landfall on Friday 20 March.
Over the coming days and remaining storm season we will maintain our commitment to safety and reliability in service for our crew and the communities of Northern Australia.
We will be taking guidance from authorities and disaster management teams in the Cape regarding the safe reopening of the ramps once the storm has passed.
The mayor of Lockhart River, Wayne Butcher, said his community was already prepared.
Our infrastructure is in pretty good condition, mainly water and sewerage, and we’ve got plenty of food and fuel left in the community.
Updated
Pauline Hanson says bill for using Rinehart’s plane is for SA One Nation leader Cory Benardi
Over in South Australia, Pauline Hanson has claimed the minor party’s state leader, Cory Bernardi, will pay to use a private plane registered to Gina Rinehart’s agricultural company S Kidman and Co to travel the state during their election campaign.
The One Nation leader has used a Pilatus PC-12 registered to Kidman and Co to travel the state in the lead up to his weekend’s election.
On Thursday afternoon, Hanson was asked who would be footing the bill and whether she considered the flights a political donation. The senator responded she had “nothing to do with it” and that Bernardi would pay for the costs.
She said:
No, I have nothing to do with it, actually. So my understanding is the bill’s going to Cory Bernardi, who’s paying for it. So it’s nothing to do with me … I was a passenger on the plane. It’s got nothing to do with me … I think you better go and ask Cory [Bernardi].
Hanson updated her register of interests this week to thank Kidman and Co chief executive, Adam Giles, for the flights, which have visited mostly regional areas of South Australia including Mount Gambier, Port Lincoln and Whyalla.
Hanson wrote: “It’s also wonderful catching a flight that doesn’t try and welcome me to my own country each time it touches down.”
Guardian Australia reporter, Sarah Martin, reported on Tuesday the senator had failed to properly declare more free flights on Rinehart’s planes, including a Tamworth to Brisbane flight in December last year on the day the former Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce announced his defection to One Nation. It follows a series of reports about Hanson’s failure to declare flights within the proper timelines, including Hanson’s trip to and from Florida last year with her chief of staff, James Ashby, provided by Rinehart’s company Hancock Prospecting, where they also stayed at Rinehart’s $66m Palm Beach mansion.
Read more here:
Updated
Iran war a ‘defining influence’ on May budget, Chalmers says
Treasury has downgraded Australia’s growth prospects over the coming few years, compounding the near-term damage from a global energy shock which Jim Chalmers says will be “a defining influence” on the May budget.
In a speech to the Australian Business Economists in Melbourne, the treasurer revealed that officials expect productivity growth to recover towards a more normal level over the coming five years, instead of two.
Alongside some changes to population growth forecasts to include a slower fall in net overseas migration, “GDP is now likely to be a quarter to half a percentage point weaker in the middle years of the forward estimates,” he said.
Chalmers flagged yesterday that the Middle East conflict could deliver a multi-billion dollar blow to the economy while also pushing inflation above 5% in a worst-case scenario.
The treasurer in today’s speech said the country was already struggling with high inflation, weak productivity growth, and a highly volatile global environment:
This conflict is not the only major challenge we face in our economy, but it exacerbates the others.
It’s adding to inflation when it is already too high, intensifying uncertainty when it is already elevated, and straining our productive capacity when it is already close to its limit.
As flagged earlier, Chalmers promised that his fifth budget would deliver a trio of “ambitious reform packages” to rebuild fiscal buffers, make the tax system fairer, and lift the nation’s lagging productivity performance.
Updated
David Crisafulli says planning is already under way for expected recovery efforts.
I want communities to know that we’ll be there before, during and after the event. There can’t be daylight between that.
I know these communities are resilient and they’ve been here before and they know what wind and a lot of rain looks like.
This is a serious system though, and I’m asking people to take it seriously. Because it is the kind of event that doesn’t happen all that often.
To put it in perspective, not since the late 1800s in the far north of this state has a category five system crossed. Category five systems don’t cross the coast that frequently. It’s a serious event, but I can assure you we can get through it.
Updated
Window is closing to prepare for Narelle, Queensland premier says
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, is addressing the media ahead of the expected arrival of Tropical Cyclone Narelle. Crisafulli says:
This system will provide the following challenges: strong winds, the potential for storm surge, heavy rainfall, and flash flooding.
All of those things are in play for a number of reasons including the intensity of the cyclone and the already flooded catchments.
Crisafulli says current modelling shows Narelle crossing the coast in conjunction with the high tide on Friday. That would create “added complexity” for the response.
A large system like this crossing on a high tide does come with the prospect of storm surges does add a layer of complexity and we’re planning for that …
There are challenges in this system, big challenges. But we have prepared for them. This is the last window that people have [to prepare] and people have to respond accordingly
Updated
Watkins says Wednesday brought unseasonable weather in Coen.
“Yesterday was very eerie,” she says. “It was bright, beautiful sunshine – like it could have been the dry season.”
Now, she says, a light breeze has picked up, some clouds have moved in.
“It is just like a standard wet season day today now,” she says. “It’s a day that you’d spend going fishing.”
Watkins says she hopes to reopen the shop on Sunday.
“I’ve got a whole bunch of hotdog rolls and sausages,” she says. “So, if it’s safe, we’ll do a sausage sizzle at the shop.”
Updated
‘Everybody is anxious’, Coen shopkeeper says as remote Queensland community stocks up
A shopkeeper in Coen says she is selling gas stoves, canned meals and hardy vegetables as people in the remote Aboriginal community in far north Queensland prepare to feel the brunt of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle – and the days of isolation it could bring.
Sara Watkins runs one of two fuel and grocery shops in town, which she says will close at the end of today – or sooner, should the rains hit.
Watkins, originally from the UK, says the community was preparing for days without power, mobile coverage or access in and out of the landlocked town.
“The town is prepared. Everyone has been pulling together, cleaning up yards together,” she says. “Both shops have been preparing, taking down signage, sandbagging and everything else to reduce the damage. It’s been a really great community effort.”
“Of course”, she says, “everybody is anxious”.
“There are really old properties here that might not necessarily be cyclone-proof,” Watkins says. “[But] the town is incredibly resilient. We deal with isolation every single wet season. Coen is a very resilient place”.
Updated
Aussie shares plunge, oil price spikes as Iran war escalates
The Australian share market has fallen sharply after oil prices rose and gold prices plunged amid more geopolitical turmoil, AAP reports.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had dropped 134.7 points, or 1.53%, at midday on Thursday, while the All Ordinaries had fallen 145.2 points, or 1.64%.
The losses left the S&P/ASX200 at its lowest level since late November and down 2.5% since the start of the year.
Meanwhile, the US central bank left interest rates on hold, as expected, but comments made by chair Jerome Powell diminished hopes for a rate cut later in the year.
Eight of the ASX’s 11 sectors were lower at midday and three were higher.
Updated
Possum found in Hobart airport gift shop’s toy section
We have an important video to break up the day:
Wind gusts up to 250km/h expected at remote Aboriginal community
More than 700 people are preparing to hunker down in the remote Aboriginal community of Lockhart River in far-north Queensland, where tropical Cyclone Narelle, an expected category five system is expected to hit early on Friday morning.
The community, about 600km north-west from Cooktown, issued an alert just before midday on Wednesday of destructive wind gusts that could exceed 230km/h to 250 km/h.
On Thursday, Mayor Wayne Butcher said council workers had been cleaning up debris from homes and public places, and that his office had been encouraging people to take shelter in concrete homes.
“The debris is our main concern because buildings and houses can withstand the wind but they can’t withstand any debris smashing into it during such an event,” he said.
We’re getting all of the community residents to place all of their loose items or debris out on the footpath and then the council team is going around with a truck and loading it all up.
We’re trying to make sure that everyone stays indoors, because the worst part is we’ve got overhead power lines and we’ll most likely get a few that will go down which always happens in the wet season.
We’ll just wait for the weather now and see what mother nature brings us.
Updated
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle has intensified to a Category 5 storm
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle has now intensified to a Category Five storm – the highest category available – as it moves swiftly west towards the Queensland coast.
In the latest update from the Bureau of Meteorology, the storm is now about 500km east of Coen and is expected to make landfall on Friday morning.
But a change from the bureau’s earlier map now suggests Narelle will cross as a category four storm rather than a category five, as was being forecast earlier today.
A cat 4 storm is still very destructive and can cause “significant roofing loss and structural damage” with typical wind gusts between 225 km/h and 279 km/h.
Don’t be surprised if the outlook changes again as the storm gets closer to the coast.
Updated
Impact of Tropical Cyclone Narelle still felt farther south
Rain and “bullets” of wind are buffeting far north Queensland’s Cooktown, as the harbour evacuates ahead of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle.
Cooktown Coast Guard deputy commander Nick Davidson says Thursday morning is the last window for boats to enter the designated safe havens.
“Most northern ports have cyclone plans,” he says.
And it’s an exercise in getting your boats up into the creeks and dropping a bow anchor and a stern anchor, running heavy lines port and starboard, securing the vessel mid stream, ideally, up in a creek.
And then you scratch your head and work out whether you are prepared to stay with the boat, or whether you are going to have to jump in a tender and head back to town and find a nice solid house to hide in – which is always my preferred option.
Davidson says the full brunt of the cyclone’s landfall would probably be felt hundreds of kilometres to the north, but that Cooktown was “very much in cyclone prep mode”.
The police have got a boat on the water door-knocking liveaboards, trying to track down vessel owners to find out what their plan is,” he says.
The swift-water rescue is in town, SES, firies, police are all very active on the ground.
Unlike areas farther north, where the eye of the storm is forecast to hit and conditions are still and calm, Davidson says Cooktown is overcast, rainy and feeling the first heavy winds.
The rain began with some pretty heavy rainfall last night,” he says. “There are a few gusts and bullets across the harbour, where if you’ve got a boat on mooring, it knocks sideways … and we expect those conditions to worsen over the next 24 hours.
Despite his preference to weather out the storm on land, the Coast Guard boat will be the last to be hunkered down, so it can be the first to hit the water again.
Updated
Some borrowers will soon have expenses beyond their incomes, RBA warns
More households will soon be spending more than they earn as interest rates and petrol prices rise, the Reserve Bank has warned.
The share of mortgage holders spending more than they earned had been falling steadily from about 4.5% owner-occupiers in 2023 to about 1.3% as interest rates and inflation eased, the RBA’s checkup of the Australian financial system showed.
That will now rise to at least 1.6% by the end of 2026, mostly due to rising interest rates, worsened by a slight rise in unemployment. With inflation set for an unpredictable surge, the share is likely to be higher.
However, those people whose expenses start outweighing their incomes this year will not likely default on their mortgages thanks to their strong savings buffers, the RBA said.
Borrowers are increasingly making extra mortgage repayments and generally have enough of a savings buffer to keep paying debts even if a recession or higher inflation and interest rates crunches their disposable income, the review found.
Even if a severe financial shock sent house prices crashing 40%, the recent surge in home values has been so strong that only one in five mortgage-holders would go underwater with loans bigger than their home values. The rest would be able to make the “difficult and disruptive” decision to sell their home, the review found.
Updated
Unemployment rate rises to 4.3% as full-time losses offset part-time boom
The unemployment rate has lifted to 4.3% in February, from 4.1% the month before, despite a solid 48,900 increase in the number of employed Australians.
The mixed picture of solid jobs growth and a higher unemployment rate is a result of a lift in the workforce participation rate, the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.
Employment growth was thanks to a 79,400 jump in part-time workers, offset by a 30,500 fall in full-time employment, the seasonally adjusted figures revealed.
Underemployment – which adds in those with work but who can’t get the hours they want – was steady at 5.9%.
The Reserve Bank has repeatedly pointed to a tight-ish labour market as part of its concerns around returning inflation back to its target range of 2-3%.
The jobless rate has been in the low fours for the past two years.
Updated
Victorian chief health officer warns of legionnaires outbreak in Melbourne's north
Six cases of legionnaires’ disease have been detected in Melbourne’s outer north, prompting a warning from Victoria’s chief health officer.
Dr Caroline McElnay said in the CHO warning issued on Thursday that the department of health was investigating the outbreak in Craigieburn and surrounding suburbs.
People who have been in Craigieburn or the surrounding suburbs of Mickleham, Greenvale and Roxburgh Park from late February and who develop flu-like illness should seek urgent medical care, the warning said.
Updated
AI and super funds adding to Australia’s financial vulnerabilities, RBA says
Heavy investment in AI and superannuation funds’ growing clout are adding to risks of sudden turns in Australia’s financial system, the Reserve Bank says.
AI investment has surged and companies have started propping each other up, adding to risks a re-evaluation of AI’s potential could destabilise the world economy, the RBA warned, in its financial stability review. Companies that earn more than 20% of their revenue from AI projects now account for huge proportions of market values, at about a third of the US S&P 500.
Investors are demanding relatively low returns for their high-risk exposure, increasing the chance of share prices suddenly plummeting if things went wrong, putting the whole financial system at risk, the review read.
In the event of a shock from overseas conflict or an AI market meltdown, superannuation funds’ response would be crucial, the RBA said. Super funds have historically helped stabilise Australia’s financial system but could accidentally turn a shock from global to domestic if they all tried to sell assets and free up cash at the same time, the review found.
‘High and rising’ risk of severe shock to world economy amid Iran war, RBA warns
Conflict in the Middle East could trigger a shock that sends the world economy into a tailspin, the Reserve Bank has warned.
Risks to financial systems rose in recent weeks and an extended disruption to oil and other markets will increase the chance of a major shock, the RBA has said in its twice-yearly check-up of the Australian financial system.
Oil prices surged to US$110 a barrel this morning after Iran and Israel attacked energy infrastructure. The review was finalised yesterday but said Australians should prepare for “a more shock-prone international environment”.
Australia has a “good degree of resilience” and banks are not heavily invested in the Middle East but international markets’ reaction to a major shock could still force global interest rates up and slash asset value RBA analysts wrote.
Brad Jones, the RBA’s assistant governor for the financial system, said:
We see international risks as high and rising. In terms of financial risk, volatility has risen sharply … and further shocks could lead to markets becoming somewhat disorderly.
Updated
Albanese says he’s ‘hopeful’ Iran conflict nearing an ‘endpoint’
The prime minister was asked about how long the conflict in the Middle East will last. He said:
We are not participants in the conflict. So what we will say, though, is we will continue to argue for de-escalation.
It is not certain, that is the truth, how long this will last.
But I am hopeful you can see an endpoint. The objectives of denying Iran the opportunity to have a development of a nuclear weapon have been secured.
Updated
Albanese alludes to ‘more measures’ on fuel supply in coming days
The prime minister added that while the government had taken steps to ensure the fuel supply remained stable, he would announce “more measures to prepare the nation” for any challenges in the coming days and weeks.
He maintained that fuel supply commitments had been met thus far:
Every single ship that was due to land here has landed here. There is not less supply, this is an issue that has been an issue of increased demand.
Updated
PM appoints Anthea Harris to head national fuel supply taskforce
The prime minister said national cabinet had acknowledged that the longer the conflict goes, “the more significant impact will be for the global supply chain, fuel prices and the wider economy”.
Still, he said, there “was a good feeling of common purpose expressed during that meeting”.
He has appointed Anthea Harris as a national fuel supply taskforce coordinator. She will work across government and the private sector, and every state and territory will appoint someone in a similar capacity to work with her. Albanese said:
I cannot think of anyone better with more experience, more knowledge, as well as that experience in a state government, to be able to coordinate these efforts.
Updated
Albanese repeats call for Australians to only buy fuel they need
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is up in Hobart after a meeting of national cabinet.
He said:
I want to assure Australians at this time that Australia is well prepared. Our fuel supply is currently secure, however I want us to be over prepared.
I reiterate today my message to Australians is please do not take more fuel than you need.
That is how you can help. That is the Australian way.
Updated
ACCC investigating fuel suppliers over alleged anti-competitive conduct
Australia’s competition watchdog is investigating each of the nation’s major fuel suppliers over allegations of anti-competitive conduct.
In a press release on Thursday morning the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it had “launched an enforcement investigation into allegations of anti-competitive conduct by each of the major fuel suppliers, Ampol Ltd, BP Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, and Viva Energy Australia Pty Ltd”.
It said it had received reports concerning diesel availability to independent wholesalers and distributors servicing regional and rural Australia.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said:
The ACCC is closely scrutinising all fuel markets during this period, and we have received reports of alleged anti-competitive behaviour. We are therefore investigating these matters urgently.
It is not our usual practice to publicly announce investigations, but given the significance of the issue, the ACCC is confirming this enforcement investigation. We recognise the widespread concerns held by consumers, businesses and farmers about fuel pricing and supply issues arising during the Middle Eastern conflict.
It is important that fuel market participants and the community know that we are closely watching market conduct in relation to all fuels and we will not hesitate to act swiftly to enforce Australia’s competition and consumer laws.
Updated
Eerie calm in Coen as remote Aborignal community prepares for category 5 Narelle
An eerie quiet has descended upon Coen, as the remote Aboriginal community prepares to bear the brunt of what has the potential to be a category five cyclone – and could be its worst in living memory.
Wind and rain began buffeting areas farther south overnight, but there were patches of blue sky in Coen on Thursday morning. The trees in town stood unruffled. A crow cawed and a few birds cheeped in the streets but the bush, normally raucous, was largely silent.
The Coen Regional Aboriginal Corporation general manager, Lucretia Huen, says the town had no official cyclone shelter, was low on fuel and had already not had a food truck come for several months.
People from surrounding outstations and homesteads have been evacuated, she says, some moving into the town of approximately 400 people, others fleeing further afield.
“They are on high alert,” she says. “They are not panicking. But they are concerned. They are worried about how this will impact them and, obviously, long term issues – if houses get damaged.”
But they are also quite happy how the community has come together.
Huen herself was in Brisbane, saying it was highly stressful to think of what her family and community was about to go through, not just in coming hours, but the potential weeks of isolation to follow.
“They say it’s very calm and still,” she says. “Very eerie. It’s eerily silent. They can’t hear birds.
We anticipate that this is the calm before the storm.
Updated
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is due to speak any moment on the country’s fuel supply. We’ll bring you live updates shortly.
Updated
Victoria crime rate up 2.3% in 2025
The state of Victoria released new crime figures, which show the crime incident rate per 100,000 people increased by 2.3% in 2025.
The criminal incident rate was up in Melbourne by 2.1%, in Latrobe by 5.9%, in Yarra by 0.9% and in Port Phillip by 5.9%.
Overall, the number of criminal incidents recorded by Victoria police in the year to 31 December 2025 was 473,262, or a 4% increase from 2024.
You can see full data for your area here.
Updated
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle could cross coast as a category 5 storm as it barrels to Queensland coast, latest tracking shows
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued an updated tracking map for severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle which, as expected, has intensified to a category 4 storm overnight.
The bad news: the latest projections are showing Narelle will cross the coast not as a category 4 storm, as was the expectation yesterday, but as a category 5 storm – the most severe category available that can deliver maximum winds speeds of more than 200km/h and gusts upwards of 250km/h.
These storms are “extremely dangerous” and can bring “widespread destruction of buildings and vegetation”, according to the bureau.
Narelle is now about 600km east of Coen with a current projected landfall just north of the town sometime on Friday morning.
Then the storm is projected to keep tracking west and the Top End is on alert for a crossing as a category 3 storm on Saturday night. Communities in the Top End are still reeling from recent record flooding.
The next tracking map for Queensland is scheduled for release at about 11am Queensland time. The NT will get its own update in about two hours.
Updated
PM criticises ‘divisive’ One Nation party amid surge in support
One Nation is a “divisive political party” but reflects voters expressing frustration, Anthony Albanese says.
The prime minister was asked on ABC radio this morning about the minor rightwing party’s surge in the polls since the federal election, which has mostly affected the Coalition’s vote but is starting to shave off support for Labor as well.
Albanese avoided describing One Nation supporters in a negative light but conceded they support the minor party’s ability to mirror the frustration they feel.
My concern with the rise of One Nation is that they’re a divisive political party. Pauline Hanson is a Queenslander who has sought to divide Australians in her approach to politics. What I want is solutions, and I’d rather see people from parties of government elected, whether that be in a state election or in a federal election.
Updated
ASX to fall after Iran conflict escalates
Australian shares are set to fall sharply this morning after an attack against the heart of Iran’s gas infrastructure, and threats of reprisal, marked another escalation in the Middle East conflict.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is expected to open about 1.7% lower, according to futures pricing, which would push the index below 8,500 points.
The anticipated fall comes after Iran threatened to attack energy infrastructure across the Gulf region in retaliation for Israeli strikes on its largest gasfield.
Iran has warned regional energy assets are now “direct and legitimate targets”.
The escalation in the conflict has sent the price of oil soaring towards $US110 a barrel, adding costs to goods and services across the global economy. This has added to global inflation which is now weighing on equities.
While investors largely ignored the initial strikes against Iran, sentiment has soured due to concerns the US does not have a clean exit strategy that can guarantee a stable resumption of the oil trade, and other freight, through the crucial strait of Hormuz.
Updated
Victorian premier dismisses leadership whispers as gossip ‘from a few scallywags’
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, just held a press conference in Melbourne to announce the introduction of new planning rules for mid size apartments.
But the majority of questions have centred on reports in News Corp papers that her own Socialist Left faction is in talks with the right about a possible leadership spill.
Asked whether she was concerned about the report, she said she was focused on Victorians and dismissed it as “anonymous gossip”. Allan said:
I’m focused on heading off very shortly to a really important national cabinet meeting where we are working through as a nation, the consequence of the ongoing conflict and crisis around Iran and I’m focused on these things because this is what’s worrying families and households … not anonymous gossip that could be from a few scallywags out there that might need a bit of a cuddle.
I have this strong support of my Labor team.
Asked if she was concerned the anonymous sourcing was coming from within her own party room, she said:
I said to the earlier question, this is, this is anonymous gossip. It’s from a few scallywags. And I’m much more focused on the important matters important to the Victorian community.
Updated
PM not ruling out negative gearing and CGT changes in upcoming budget
Anthony Albanese says the upcoming budget will focus on previously announced tax cuts for lower- and middle-income earners but hasn’t ruled out changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax discount.
On ABC radio this morning, he said:
Look, our policy at the moment is of course for tax cuts this July and another tax cut the following July, because that is lowering that first rate, that is aimed specifically at benefiting low- and middle-income earners and young people in particular … we’ll announce our tax policies when we’ve determined them but the only one we’ve determined at this point in time is tax cuts for all 14 million taxpayers.
Updated
National cabinet to address fuel distribution amid shortages in regions
Anthony Albanese says he will coordinate with states and territories to get fuel where it’s needed, acknowledging there are shortages in some areas.
The prime minister will convene a national cabinet meeting today to address the spike in petrol demand as the US and Israeli war on Iran continues into its third week.
Albanese said there hadn’t been a reduction in fuel supply yet within Australia but there had been a “massive surge” in demand.
Speaking to ABC radio this morning, he said:
The key here is to make sure that we get the fuel to where it is needed, because in some parts of Australia, of course it’s available, but in other parts there are shortages. So, we know there’s more to do. And one of the things that I’m doing is bringing together states and territories today to make sure that we take up every practical option there is to shield Australian households from the impact, which is a global effect.
Updated
BoM image shows scale of Cyclone Narelle off the coast of far north Queensland
Updated
Sydney’s supersized driveways eating into yards, study finds
Sydney’s increasingly supersized driveways are shrinking suburban front yards as residential redevelopment accelerates, a research paper has found.
The research, which details the loss of private tree space due to knock-down-rebuilds, lays bare the gaps in the planning system for minimum private green space standards.
The paper, due to be published in the Cities journal in the coming months, took a sample of 375 homes in Sydney’s suburban ring and found that in areas where older low-density homes have been replaced by modern, larger houses, the average front garden declined by 46% between 2018/19 and 2023.
Tree canopy coverage was reduced by 62% as older houses were demolished and rebuilt.
Read more:
Updated
Home resale profits go through the roof
Australian homeowners are in their strongest financial position, with median resale profits at all-time highs, AAP reports.
In the second half of 2025, 97.5% of house resales and 88.3% of unit resales across Australia turned a profit, according to Domain’s latest profit and loss report.
The median gain on a house in an Australian capital city was $530,000, up 14.7% annually, comparing with $330,000 across the regions, up 15.8%.
Homeowners were holding on to their properties for longer and realising higher sales prices, while supply and demand continued to pressure values, Domain said.
The median profit for a home sold in Sydney was $750,000, compared with $580,000 in Brisbane, $539,500 in Adelaide, $528,000 in Perth and $390,000 in Melbourne.
Updated
Agriculture minister says government monitoring any price gouging of fertiliser
Julie Collins, the federal minister for agriculture, said the government is monitoring any price gouging for fertiliser amid the turmoil in the Middle East.
Much of the world’s fertiliser is made in the region, which is then shipped around the world via the strait of Hormuz. The shipping channel is effectively blocked as the war continues.
Collins said the government is in the process of making sure price gouging is addressed, urging Australians to act in the national interest. She told RN Breakfast:
I think our government has been very clear that this should not be seen as a commercial opportunity for anybody. This is about what is in the national interest. This is a conflict that is impacting globally, and what we need Australians to do is to act in the national interest, and that includes everybody along that supply chain.
Updated
The team, who flew into Istanbul on Tuesday, took a flight to Iğdır in eastern Turkey on Wednesday morning local time.
The players emerged from Iğdır airport pulling their luggage and chatted in front of the terminal before boarding a bus to the border. One of them briefly smiled and waved at a TV camera before the bus departed.
After a trip of around two hours to the frontier, they went through passport control at the Gürbulak border gate before crossing over into Iran.
The team’s Asian Cup campaign began just as the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated from the tournament more than a week ago.
Five of those who had sought asylum in Australia subsequently changed their minds and decided to return home, with the latest withdrawal on Monday.
They rejoined the rest of the squad in Kuala Lumpur, where the team had been staying since leaving Sydney last week.
The Iranian Football Association said last week those who had changed their minds would travel home with the rest of the team “to once again be embraced by their families and homeland”.
Two players are still in Australia and have been pictured training with a local A-League club.
Updated
Iranian women’s footballers arrive home
The Iranian women’s football team crossed the Turkish border into Iran overnight to complete a fraught return journey from Australia, after five members withdrew asylum claims they had lodged there, Reuters reports.
Australia had granted humanitarian visas to six players and one support staff member after they sought asylum, saying they feared possible persecution if they returned to Iran.
دختران فوتبالیست تیم ملی و کادر فنی، فرزندان عزیز این آب و خاک هستند و مردم ایران آنان را در آغوش میکشند.
— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) March 18, 2026
دختران ما، علیرغم تمام خباثتهای دشمنان این کشور آنان را از خود ناامید کردند و تسلیم اغواگری و ارعاب ایرانستیزان نشدند و با افتخار به خانهٔ همیشگی خود ایران بازخواهند گشت.
In a post on X, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the players were Iran’s “dear daughters” and praised them for resisting the “temptations” of life in Australia:
The female footballers of the national team and the technical staff are the dear daughters of this land and water, and the people of Iran embrace them.
Our daughters, despite all the malice of the enemies of this country, have not become disillusioned with themselves; they have not surrendered to the temptations and intimidation of the Iran-haters, and they will return with pride to their eternal home, Iran.
Concerns over their safety surfaced when several players failed to sing the national anthem at a Women’s Asian Cup match earlier this month after the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran.
Iranian state television had labelled them “wartime traitors”.
People welcoming Iran’s women’s national football team as they returned to the country by land. Seven players had applied for asylum in Australia after the war began, but five of them later withdrew their applications and returned to Iran. pic.twitter.com/ZP9aP6pUiN
— IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) (@iribnews_irib) March 18, 2026
Updated
Cyclone Narelle builds to category four storm as it nears Queensland coast
Northern Australia is braced for what could be the biggest cyclone “in living memory” as tropical cyclone Narelle heads toward far north Queensland.
Narelle is now a category 4 system, with a severe impact likely on Friday.
Severe Tropical #CycloneNarelle, currently a category 4 system, will approach the far northeast #Queensland coast between #LockhartRiver and #Cooktown. A severe impact is likely during Friday.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) March 18, 2026
Latest Track Map: https://t.co/LsQiHnV8bH pic.twitter.com/KBtddFbOfG
The huge system is expected to cross near Coen, north of Cairns, triggering evacuations, with warnings it could tear off roofs and propel debris at deadly speeds.
Read our full report here:
Updated
Good morning, and happy Thursday. Nick Visser here to tackle the day’s news. Let’s get to it.
Australia and other counties denounce Iran’s obstructing of shipping channel
Australia last night co-sponsored an emergency declaration condemning Iran’s attacks on seafarers and merchant vessels in the strait of Hormuz.
The declaration was moved at the International Maritime Council.
Drafted by the United Arab Emirates, the declaration demands that Iran immediately refrain from “actions aimed at closing or obstructing the Strait, which have triggered severe global energy shocks, causing oil and fuel prices to surge”.
As part of the move, Australia will join international partners in calling for coordinated measures to prioritise the safe passage of stranded seafarers.
The emergency special session of the IMC was convened at the request of the UAE, with the support of Australia and other countries, in response to Iran’s attacks in and around the key strategic waterway, which have transformed one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes into a theatre of coercion and conflict.
A spokesperson for the transport minister, Catherine King, said Australia was working with partners to reinforce the importance of the safety and security of seafarers.
This is just one of the measures our government has taken since the beginning of the conflict to protect our fuel supply and defend our national interests.
This government will continue working constructively with industry, unions and our international partners to keep people and goods moving freely.
Updated
Dan Tehan says government should consider Covid-style support for trucking sector
The shadow energy minister, Dan Tehan, says national cabinet should consider Covid-style government support for the Australia’s trucking industry amid the fuel crisis.
Anthony Albanese will meet state premiers and chief ministers today to discuss fuel supply concerns linked to the Middle East conflict. The government is also expected to name a supply chain coordination tsar.
Speaking to the ABC’s 7.30 last night, Tehan said national cabinet should consider financial support for the nation’s trucking sector:
That’s one of the things I would hope that the prime minister will be looking at. These are all the questions that need to be answered.
If that support is needed to make sure that we can get the fuel to where the shortages are, that’s something that absolutely should be looked at.
Tehan said the government also needed to ensure it had identified areas hit by fuel shortages.
Updated
Economists predict interest rate rise in May
The treasurer’s fifth budget comes amid a global energy shock that Treasury officials say, if persistent, could drive inflation above 5% and slash $16.5bn from the economy by 2027.
As petrol prices soar, the Reserve Bank is on track to deliver a third interest rate hike at its next meeting in early May, economists predict, in a move that would ratchet up the pressure on the Albanese government to deliver an inflation-busting budget amid a global energy shock.
Chalmers will say:
We’re working on substantial savings options for this budget.
This will build on the savings we’ve made to date, addressing some of the fastest growing structural spending pressures and making difficult decisions in other areas.
Experts warn that Australia’s lacklustre productivity performance has undermined future prosperity and made it harder to grow the economy without sparking inflationary pressures.
Chalmers said the next wave of reforms “will have a sharper focus on unlocking productive investment, better regulation, even faster approvals, more open trade, skills, and ensuring Australia captures the upsides of AI”.
Analysts at all four major banks maintained their rate rise calls for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s next monetary policy board meeting on 4-5 May.
Independent economist Chris Richardson said the prospect of another rate hike days out from the 12 May budget sent a stern message to the treasurer that the inflation threat “is serious and we really need to do something”.
The government had a historical opportunity to pursue serious reforms across tax policies and spending measures to boost the country’s productive capacity, alleviate inflationary pressures, and shore up the fiscal position, he said.
“Good policy is needed and it’s more possible than it has been true for multiple decades.”
Updated
Treasurer to pledge 'ambitious tax reform' in pre-budget speech
Jim Chalmers will today promise to deliver a trio of “ambitious reform packages” in the May budget that will rebuild fiscal buffers, make the tax system fairer, and lift the nation’s lagging productivity performance.
In a major speech in Melbourne today, the treasurer will commit to “make hard decisions” in the upcoming budget, amid an ongoing US-Israel war on Iran that “is adding to inflation risks, weighing on growth and increasing already elevated uncertainty”.
In extracts from the address to the Australian Business Economists, Chalmers spruiked Labor’s existing tax policies – including upcoming income tax cuts – but flagged no final decisions had been made on future changes.
We are working on more tax reform in the budget – how much we can do in May depends on fiscal considerations, international developments and cabinet deliberations.
There is a broad expectation the budget will include a plan to scale back the 50% capital gains tax discount but the treasurer cautioned that no final decision had been made.
He said tax reform “would be guided by some clear principles”.
They included addressing intergenerational equity, incentivising productive business investment – “if we can afford to” – and making the system “simpler and more sustainable”.
We recognise an outdated tax system is weighing on the opportunities faced by younger Australians and future generations.
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
Jim Chalmers will today promise to deliver a trio of “ambitious reform packages” in the May budget that will rebuild fiscal buffers, make the tax system fairer and lift the nation’s lagging productivity performance. The treasurer will be speaking at an event in Melbourne at 12.30pm. More coming up.
The background to Chalmers’ speech is the global energy crunch brought on by the US-Israeli war on Iran, which Treasury models suggest could push inflation past 5%. Anthony Albanese will today hold a virtual meeting of the national cabinet from Tasmania to discuss how to respond to the crisis, which has seen panic-buying of petrol and fears about shortages. We’ll have more when it happens.
Tropical Cyclone Narelle could be one of the biggest storms ever to hit northern Australia when it makes expected landfall tomorrow. We’ll have regular updates on what’s happening.
