What we learned today, Thursday 16 April
We’re going to close the live blog now, thank you for joining us.
Here are today’s top headlines:
An explosive fire at a Geelong oil refinery – which supplies half of Victoria’s fuel and 10% of the nation’s – has been extinguished, though petrol production continues to be affected and authorities warn the full extent of the damage is still unknown.
New South Wales’ highest court has struck down an anti-protest law brought in after the Bondi beach terror attack which gave police the power to restrict marches, including at the anti-Herzog rally earlier this year.
One Nation’s claim to the seat of Narungga has hit a snag weeks after the South Australian election. Uncounted ballot papers were discovered on Thursday, forcing a recount in the Yorke Peninsula seat, which One Nation’s Chantelle Thomas won by just 58 votes.
A former New South Wales minister found by Icac to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct has been feted as one of the “esteemed luminaries of the Liberal party” at an election fundraiser headlined by the state opposition leader, Kellie Sloane.
Victorian motorists are being warned to brace for a spike in petrol prices of up to 20c a litre due to a huge blaze at Viva Energy’s oil refinery in Geelong, but oil and supply chain experts say the effects should be short-lived.
The federal court of Australia has warned the legal profession about the dangers of using generative artificial intelligence in legal proceedings, issuing new rules for its use, with potential financial or legal consequences if AI errors frustrate court cases.
See you tomorrow for another day of breaking news.
Updated
Cathy Freeman presented with nation’s highest civilian honour
Gold medallist Cathy Freeman has been heralded for her social impact in advancing reconciliation and her glittering athletic career at an investiture ceremony in Canberra, AAP reports.
The governor-general, Sam Mostyn, presented Freeman with a medal as a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), the nation’s highest civilian honour, at the ceremony at Government House on Thursday.
Freeman, who won the Australian of the Year award in 1998, is famously known for securing gold in the 400-metre final at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Since hanging up her running shoes in 2003, Freeman has established a foundation that boosts educational outcomes for remote First Nations children and their families.
Updated
Before their meeting, Albanese received a formal welcome outside Anwar’s office, AAP reports.
Rows of dark-suited dignitaries stood for the national anthems of Australia and Malaysia when the leaders arrived on the stone forecourt, the massive pink granite dome and gold spire of the Putra mosque looming opposite.
White-and-green clad soldiers holding ceremonial rifles stood to attention as Albanese inspected the guard of honour while Anwar stayed seated.
The talks follow a 24-hour visit to Brunei during which Albanese received a guarantee the tiny sultanate was not considering restricting the amount of fuel or fertiliser shipped to Australia.
In exchange, Australia – which is Brunei’s largest trading partner – will continue to provide crucial food shipments.
Updated
CFMEU phoned safety boss over toilet spray, probe told
The former head of a state’s workplace safety regulator has told an inquiry he was intimidated by a long-time CFMEU leader after not immediately taking the construction union’s phone calls, AAP reports.
The CFMEU demanded one of Queensland’s most senior public servants take direct calls about complaints as minor as toilet air freshener cans not being registered as hazardous worksite chemicals.
Queensland’s Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU this week heard claims the union had a “hotline” to the mobile phone of then Office of Industrial Relations director-general Peter McKay.
Union officials refused to use a public 1-300 phone number to report workplace safety concerns and said “we only call the top dog”, Commissioner Stuart Wood heard.
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‘I don’t want this job’: Prince Harry on losing his mother
Prince Harry said he felt “lost, betrayed, or completely powerless” at times in his life during his keynote speech at a mental health summit in Melbourne.
On day three of the “faux-royal tour”, Harry told the crowd he did not want to be a working royal, to do the job that “killed his mum”.
“After my mum died just before my 13th birthday – I was like: ‘I don’t want this job. I don’t want this role – wherever this is headed, I don’t like it,” he said.
It has been reported that the Prince did not receive a fee for the speech to business leaders, some of whom had forked out more than $2,000 to attend the two-day InterEdge Summit.
The prince spoke about his own mental health, and times that he had felt overwhelmed with the duties and expectations. He said there were times when he felt “overwhelmed”:
Times when the pressure – externally and internally – felt constant.
And times when, despite everything going on, I still had to show up pretending everything was OK, so as not to let anyone down.
Updated
Asked whether the government would be open to oil drilling, Bowen said:
We’d support it if it stacks up environmentally, economically and in engineering fashion.
Obviously, if there’s sensible proposals to drill in Australia which would replace imports, great.
We used about 150m litres a day, so Australian production isn’t going to match that.
Updated
Bowen says Geelong fire appears to be accidental with 'no evidence' of sabotage
Quickly going back to Chris Bowen’s press conference this afternoon.
The energy minister pushed back on questions about whether the fire was a coincidence, given its timing during a national fuel crisis.
Bowen was firm that the conclusion of the fire authorities was “equipment failure” and said: “Let’s let the inquiry and reviews and fire safety investigations take their course.”
I was asked this morning was it sabotage, there’s no evidence of that …
It appears to have been very accidental and equipment failure … That’s pretty self-evident …
It works safely 99.99% of the time. On this occasion, it’s bad timing. It didn’t work safely on this occasion.
I don’t accept the premise of the question that there’s been delays in maintenance in Geelong …
If there’s a suggestion that somehow there’s been corners cut, that’s just not right.
Updated
‘Not asking for anything radical’: CHF calls on government to treat dental care like healthcare
Asking for dental care to be treated like healthcare is not radical and should be in the upcoming budget, Consumers Health Forum of Australia CEO Dr Elizabeth Deveny says.
Support for government action was near-unanimous with 94% of respondents supporting increased federal funding for public dental services. Deveny says:
Australians are not asking for anything radical. They are asking for dental care to be treated like healthcare, at a minimum.
The upcoming budget is an opportunity to act on what consumers have been saying clearly for years.
CHF is calling on the federal government to fund priority oral health access schemes for older people, First Nations people and people on low incomes, and increase public dental service capacity as a first step towards universal oral healthcare – an investment of $15.7bn over four years.
Updated
Most Australians are financially stressed by dental costs, report finds
Most Australians – four in five – are financially stressed by dental costs, with pensioners, carers and regional communities hit hardest, a new survey has found.
The survey of 910 health consumers across the country, conducted by the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF), found one in eight (12.5%) experienced serious strain – enough to affect their ability to pay for food and rent.
Many (14%) drew on savings or superannuation to cover dental costs, with one respondent flying to Thailand for implants and oral surgery because, even factoring in flights, it was cheaper than an Australian dentist. Another relied on charity food for several fortnights after paying for a tooth extraction.
More than one in four adults (28%) aged 60 and over had not seen a dentist in more than a year.
More than half (60%) of those eligible for public dental care delayed or cancelled treatment due to long wait times, and more than a quarter of all respondents didn’t know whether they were even eligible for public services.
The survey is reflective of the problems of the mouth being left out of Australia’s universal healthcare scheme, which Guardian Australia wrote about last year in our broken smiles series.
Updated
Bowen is asked if Geelong fire necessitates moving to stage 3 or 4 of fuel security plan
Asked whether the government will need to move to stage three or four of the emergency plan due to the Geelong fire, Bowen said: “not directly”.
As I’ve said, this is not a good development … but we’re managing this in and of itself, because Viva have told us that they’re very confident they can replace the petrol with imports …
We don’t know exactly what the impact on petrol production will be … To be fair to everyone, we’re still assessing the damage.
Updated
Bowen confirmed he will be convening an “energy ministers meeting” next week. He said it will include the Energy and Climate Ministerial Council, state and territory ministers, together with New Zealand “to assess the latest updates since we last met”.
He clarified this meeting was not planned in response to the fire, but “it is a timely meeting.”
Updated
Bowen on PM’s visit to Malaysia and diesel secured from Brunei and Korea
Bowen:
The prime minister has just announced from Malaysia we have successfully secured the first cargoes under the Export Finance Australia arrangements from Brunei, where the prime minister was yesterday, and also from Korea …
Two ships, 50m litres of diesel on each ship, 100m litres of diesel extra secured for Australia …
The government and Viva, working together to get those ships locked in, ordered, they will arrive in Australia during May.
This is a good development and the first of many I expect [with] the EFA being able to work with companies.
Updated
Chris Bowen gives update on service station outages around the country
Bowen provided an update on the number of service station outages around the country. Nationally 136 service stations are without diesel.
In New South Wales, 56 service stations are without diesel and 13 have no petrol.
In Queensland, 35 are without diesel, 17 have no regular unleaded petrol.
Updated
‘This is not good timing’: Bowen speaks live about Geelong refinery fire
Energy minister, Chris Bowen, spoke to media this afternoon, acknowledging the Geelong refinery fire is “not a positive development”.
Bowen said he has been speaking with the chief executive of Viva, assessing the impact of this fire. Viva advised him gasoline or petrol and aviation gasoline supply is most likely to be affected.
Production at the refinery is reduced for now, the minister said:
This is not a positive development, this is not good timing, and this is a setback …
I can say that Viva has advised me the likely impact is primarily on gasoline and aviation gasoline.
Gasoline is what we would mainly call petrol, and aviation gasoline, it’s important to note, is not jet fuel. They are separate and different things …
They’re confident at this point that any petrol, or the petrol production that has been impacted and will be impacted, can be replaced by imports of petrol and extra cargo that they intend to order.
Obviously we’ll continue to work over the weekend with Viva and I will provide, as Viva will, full updates to the Australian people as soon as more information and clarity comes to hand.
Updated
Viva refinery fire hasn’t produced ‘very large impact at this stage’, executive GM says
Back to updates on the Viva refinery fire, Bill Patterson, executive general manager of Viva Energy, is also at the press conference.
He says the affected area is part of the refinery responsible for combining LPG into gasoline-type molecules, which are later used in fuel blending and specialty products:
That’s what’s been damaged by the events of last night. Obviously, we’ve still got to look into the full extent of the damage as we get better and better access to the scene, and that’s definitely very much work in progress.
He said rather than shutting down operations entirely, production rates have been reduced in other parts of the site:
We’re still making petrol, diesel and jet fuel at pretty decent rates, so it hasn’t been a very large impact at this stage.
When asked if the affected unit was operating at increased capacity at the time of the blaze, Patterson said it wasn’t:
The specific part of the refinery where we had the issue last night wasn’t running in any sort of abnormal conditions that we’ve determined. Obviously, we still need to investigate the exact sequence of events last night. But in terms of how we were had been running it in the weeks running into this issue, and since the disruptions in the Middle East, there hasn’t been anything unusual or extraordinary.
Updated
Pro-Palestine group: ‘These laws were terrible’
Lees goes on to describe the Public Assembly Restriction Declaration (Pard) laws which have now been struck down as unconstitutional.
These laws were terrible. They were so wide ranging, and that is what the court has found today, is that they were totally unconstitutional on multiple grounds, in the fact that they unfairly and disproportionately burden our right to political communication in this state. These were laws, of course, which deemed that the police could be given, effectively, the powers to ban all street demonstrations and many other protests about whatever cause for up to three months at a time, which was, as our wonderful barristers argued, this was like using a sledge hammer to crack a walnut.
Lees references the Town Hall protest in February, during which the Pard laws were in place. He has called for all protesters charged at the protest for their charges to be dropped, and for the premier, Chris Minns to resign.
Updated
Palestine Action Group welcomes ‘resounding win’ in challenge to protest laws
The Palestine Action Group (PAG) has celebrated a “resounding win” , after the NSW supreme court ruled laws restricting the right to protest enacted after the Bondi terror attack were constitutionally invalid.
PAG was one of three groups that challenged the constitutionality of the Public Assembly Restriction Declaration (Pard) laws, which were in place during a protest against the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, in February which saw violent clashes between police and protestors.
The outcome, which was read out in a matter of seconds in the NSW supreme court a moment ago, was greeted by smiles and embraces in the courtroom by PAG and its legal team, followed by woops and cheers outside the court.
Speaking outside court, PAG organiser Josh Lees, said:
Today we’ve had a really resounding win in the court of appeal to strike down Chris Minns’s latest batch of anti-protest laws as unconstitutional. This is a big win for everyone who cares about the right to protest, who cares about democracy in New South Wales and, of course, who cares about a free Palestine.
Updated
Highest court in NSW strikes down anti-protest law brought in after Bondi terror attack
New South Wales’ highest court has struck down an anti-protest law brought in after the Bondi beach terror attack which gave police the power to restrict marches, including at the anti-Herzog rally earlier this year.
The court of appeal handed down its findings on Thursday after three activist groups – the Blak Caucus, the Palestine Action Group and Jews Against the Occupation ’48 – filed a constitutional challenge in early January against the legislation.
The law, known as the Public Assembly Restriction Declaration or Pard, was passed in the wake of the Bondi beach terror attack in which 15 people were killed. It meant protesters could not use the form 1 system in areas designated by police for up to three months after a terrorist attack, effectively meaning protesters could not march without the risk of arrest.
In a major loss for the Minns government, the law will be struck down after the court found the law does impermissibly burden the implied constitutional right to freedom of communication on government and political matters.
It is the second time in six months an anti-protest law passed by the Minns government has been found to be unconstitutional by a court.
More on this story here:
Updated
‘Leak of gas from mechanical component’ at Viva refinery, incident controller says
When asked what caused the blaze, Pearce said:
The actual mechanisms that caused it, we’re still investigating but there was a leak of gas from a mechanical component in the system. The gases there appeared to have ignited, but the details of the investigation will come to light in further in further days to come.
Updated
Update on Viva refinery fire
Anthony Pearce, incident controller from Fire Rescue Victoria, has provided an update at the scene of the Viva Energy refinery blaze. He began by thanking the Viva Energy firefighters, who he said did an “amazing job” late last night to contain the fire.
Pearce said:
The work they’ve done to be able to isolate the fuel supply to the area affected has been amazing, and I cannot [overstate] how much the crews have done an amazing job in the early stages of the fire. It was very, very dangerous and there were explosions occurring.
He said the emergency planning provisions in place made it easier to bring the incident under control today. Pearce said there is still “a lot of work to go” to make the area safe:
There is still a lot of flammable materials in the area that’s affected by fire, and we’re working with Viva to ensure that is isolated and there are no further ignitions. The remainder of the plant is still functioning.
Updated
Professional foster carers to be paid $100,000 per year under new scheme in Queensland
Foster carers will be paid $100,000 per year to care for some of Queensland’s “most vulnerable” children, under a new state government scheme.
The minister for child safety, Amanda Camm, launched a pilot of the state government’s professional foster care scheme on Thursday.
The pilot scheme will cover up to 100 carers in Townsville and South East Queensland. They will care for children with disabilities and other complex needs, moving them out of the state’s residential care system.
The state has far more children in residential care than any other, with between 2,200 to 2,388 in the system. The system costs about $420,000 per child per year and is meant to be a last resort.
The pilot is budgeted to cost $27m.
“Every child deserves the opportunity to thrive in a safe, supportive and loving environment, and that’s what this initiative will deliver for children with high needs,” Camm said.
Camm said the state government would also establish a new secure care facility for children by 2028 and will create a dual carer system for the residential care system allowing it to operate 24 hours a day.
Paul Keating takes aim at Liberals’ new ‘ICE-style’ immigration policy
The 24th prime minister of Australia takes aim at the current alternative (and number 25 on the way through), accompanied by a scattergun name-check of Liberal party (male) figures of history.
Paul Keating has issued the following statement:
The Liberal party, battling an extreme version of itself – One Nation – has again fallen back to its default political policy: racism.
Angus Taylor, announcing a policy at primary odds with an immigrant nation, says a Liberal government under his leadership will adopt Trump ICE-style policies to weed and ‘boot out’ people who fail to adhere to ‘national values’ and who are responsible for the erosion of national culture including the Balkanisation of communities.
And, to hammer the point, sitting beside Taylor at his policy launch was Mr Racial Opportunism himself; John Winston Howard, late of anti-Asian migration in 1988 – the picket fence suburban racism of his first round as Liberal leader, and the wilful anti-humanitarianism of his electorally-driven Tampa atrocity of 2001.
Angus Taylor, for base political reasons, has elected to walk away from the best instincts of the Liberal party – the party of Robert Menzies, of Harold Holt, of Malcolm Fraser, of Andrew Peacock, of Brendan Nelson, of Malcolm Turnbull.
Angus Taylor came to the Liberal leadership with a reputation of being mainstream Liberal; that is, a keeper of the Liberal party’s best longer-term instincts both in social and economic policy. And many people, myself included, wished him well in consolidating the Liberal base and in fighting One Nation with a conservatism anchored in principles. If not righteous, decent.
Updated
That’s all from me. Ima Caldwell will take things from here. Take care.
Not the time for ‘unfounded speculation’ about possible move to stage 3 fuel restrictions, Jacinta Allan says
Earlier today, Victoria premier Jacinta Allan said it’s not the time to add to “stress and uncertainty” by speculating about a possible move to stage 3 fuel restrictions due to the Corio refinery blaze.
She told reporters:
People are already worried enough about the consequences of Donald Trump’s war in Iran. People are already worried enough about how it’s pushing up the price of everything – your groceries, your fuel, the pressure it’s putting on particular sectors like agriculture, construction.
Now’s not the time to add to that stress and uncertainty with speculation that’s unfounded. There’s work going on right now to get the site under control from an emergency management point of view, and enable those assessments to be undertaken as to understand what is the cause of this incident.
She said the advice from the national fuel coordinator and the federal government continues to be that “supply is sufficient to meet our current demand”.
Updated
Motoring groups push for EV road user charge to fund national charging network
A coalition of Australia’s peak transport and infrastructure bodies has called on the federal government to introduce a national, distance-based road user charge for electric vehicles.
The Keep Australia Moving campaign, spearheaded by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA), says that taxing EV drivers for the distance they travel is needed to fund a national charging network.
According to research from the motoring body, 60% of Australians who want an EV are holding back from purchasing one due to “range anxiety”.
AAA Managing Director Michael Bradley says the country needs both the chargers and the tax to pay for them, and that “the two cannot be separated”. He said:
Right now there is no alternative funding plan on the table to fix it: not from the Commonwealth, not from the states, not from the market.
Anyone who says they support a national re-charging network... but oppose a Road User Charge needs to ask themselves: ‘where else will the money come from?’
Bradley framed the proposal not as “a new tax” but as a “modernisation of the fuel excise” that pays for road upkeep.
The campaign is backed by major industry players including Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, the Australian Automotive Dealer Association, and state motoring clubs, including the NRMA, RACV and RACQ.
Albanese says 100m litres of diesel secured by Viva under fuel purchase program
Anthony Albanese announced Viva Energy has secured two new shipments of diesel, a total of 100m litres, with assistance of the federal government’s program to underwrite fuel purchases.
Albanese confirmed the news during a press conference in Malaysia. The shipments will come from Brunei, where Albanese visited yesterday, and South Korea.
The government had extended help through Export Finance Australia, to major refineries Viva and Ampol to help them secure new shipments of fuel and fertiliser.
Albanese said Viva had secured 570,000 barrels of additional diesel through the arrangement. Viva’s refinery at Geelong suffered a major fire this morning, with Albanese saying the damage was still being assessed.
“Additional fuel can be directed to where it is needed most, including to our farmers, to our regional communities, and to the services that all Australians rely on,” the government said in a statement.
Speaking in Malaysia, Albanese said the two new shipments were “the first of many expected” to be secured.
Updated
Albanese says Geelong refinery fire ‘distressing’ and warns of fuel impacts
Anthony Albanese says the fire at the Viva refinery in Geelong is “distressing”, warning there would be “consequences for fuel supply” after the plant was damaged.
Speaking from Malaysia just now, at a press conference with the country’s prime minister, Albanese was asked about the fire this morning.
“They’re very distressing scenes. On a positive note, it is good that there were no workers harmed and no human impact of this fire,” he said.
I can report that the fire, I’m advised, has now been put out and I certainly thank Fire Rescue Victoria and the Country Fire Authority for the work that they have done.
Albanese said there would need to be a damage assessment, particularly around the consequences of the fire on fuel supply.
Clearly there will be consequences for it, but there’ll be a proper assessment taking place over the coming short period as well. We think that we’ll continue to work with the company to do what we can to make sure that anything that is offline is brought online as soon as possible.
Updated
Dan Duggan’s wife speaks after extradition loss
Further to the federal court decision on Dan Duggan’s extradition. In Canberra this morning, Justice James Stellios dismissed Duggan’s appeal against the decision to surrender him for extradition to the US.
His wife, Saffrine Duggan, spoke outside court:
It has been 1,273 days of our family suffering terrible trauma since Dan was arrested in a supermarket car park after dropping our kids at school.
Since that day Dan has been locked up in maximum security.
He spent 19 months in solitary confinement. He has missed so much – first and last days of school, sporting events, birthdays, Christmases and wedding anniversaries.
We are an Aussie family who had our husband, father, son-in-law, our property and our feeling of safety stripped away from us.
Today does not end our search for justice, for fairness and for the sovereignty that the Australian public expects.
We are very disappointed by this ruling, and we will consider our options carefully.
But make no mistake – we will not give up.
We will continue to advocate for Dan, especially with our government, asking them to protect Australians from US overreach and malicious prosecution.
Dan was an ordinary Australian, lawfully going about his business in Australia when he was arrested by a foreign power.
This has gone on long enough – enough is enough.
Updated
‘From one heart to the heart of Lebanon’: Sydney community gathers for peace vigil
A candlelight vigil calling for peace in Lebanon took place at Sydney’s Town Hall last night
Organised by the Lebanon Action Group, the vigil was described as a space to “honour those killed in Lebanon and call for peace and justice in Lebanon”.
Attendees were invited to share a few words: “Not a call to political action... just a message from one heart to the heart of Lebanon.”
Mohammed Abbas, from the southern Lebanese village of Aitaroun, gave an impromptu speech about the “guilt” of being away during the current escalation:
My village borders the Israeli occupation... This is a situation that dates back for years...
I had the opportunity in 2019 to come back to Australia and a part of me wishes I never left because I always feel this guilt for leaving my family and friends in the south and in Lebanon.
Words are escaping me. My heart goes to all families who have lost a someone in Lebanon.
The event concluded with attendees laying their candles around a Lebanese flag.
Read more here:
Updated
NSW nurses and midwives win landmark pay rise
Nurses and midwives in Australia’s largest health system will benefit from a landmark pay bump after an industrial umpire’s ruling, AAP reports.
The independent Industrial Relations Commission of NSW found the nearly 70,000 employees were entitled to a pay rise over three years, with a significant hike in the first year backdated to July 2025.
Over a three year period, registered nurses and midwives are set to receive 16%, 18% for enrolled nurses, and a whopping 28% for nursing assistants.
Updated
‘Big conflict’ not inevitable, Marles adds
Marles said the increase in defence funding is about meeting the moment and being prepared for any eventuality, but that he was not forecasting a major conflict.
He said:
I’m not standing here saying that some big conflict is inevitable. I don’t think that that is the case at all.
We are in a much more contested environment and one we need to be ready for.
And we’re trying to calibrate the defence force that we build and where the Australian people … I guess where government needs to be at in terms of meeting that moment. And I think we are doing that.
‘The world feels less safe’, Marles says
Marles was asked how the world has changed since the war in the Middle East began. He had this to say:
The whole of Australia and the whole of the world is watching what’s unfolding in the Middle East. It greatly complicates the global strategic landscape. But the world feels less safe, and we understand that.
The defence minister maintained that Australia wants to see Iran denied a nuclear weapon, saying the world would be “very much less safe” were it to obtain one.
To the extent that this conflict has made progress in denying Iran’s ability to do that – you know, that is important. But we very much continue to focus on the importance of the Indo-Pacific to Australia’s strategic landscape.
But what this conflict bears out, but Ukraine does as well, is that we live in a really interconnected world.
Fire at Geelong refinery fully extinguished
The fire at the Viva Energy oil refinery in Corio has been extinguished. An update on the EmergencyVic website reads:
There has been a factory fire in Refinery Road, Corio. The fire has been extinguished. Fire crews will be remaining in attendance.
Updated
By how much does Labor plan to increase defence spending?
Marles, speaking to reporters at the National Press Club, says semantics around how the government is calculating what percentage of GDP is being allocated to the defence budget are just that, reiterating that Australia will see the biggest peacetime increase in spending in our nation’s history.
He said:
Since we came to government, budget on budget, we have been increasing defence spending, up to the point now where we have $117bn additional in the budget relative to what we inherited from the Coalition.
The government is using calculations based on Nato figures to showcase the 3% of GDP by 2033 figure, while Guardian Australia’s calculations put the number closer to 2.3% to 2.4% of GDP by 2033 under the new plans.
Read more here:
Updated
Victoria premier says it’s still ‘too soon’ to know impact of refinery fire
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has been holding a press conference to announce the start of construction on a new hospital in Melton. She also spoke about the fire at the Corio refinery:
It was obviously a concern for all of us to wake up this morning to the news that there had been a very serious fire overnight at one of Australia’s two oil refineries.
She said it was still “too soon” to know the impact of the blaze as it continues to be an active fire site:
It will take some time to manage this site and then move to assessing the impact it will have. There is a huge amount of work going to get to that point, whilst at the same time, the advice remains in the federal government, and that our overall levels of supply coming into the country continue to support the level of activity that we need.
Australia faces most ‘complex and threatening’ geopolitical situation since second world war, Marles says
The defence minister, Richard Marles, is speaking before the National Press Club in Canberra. He’s speaking about the current geopolitical situation, saying more countries are engaged in conflict today than at anytime since the end of the second world war.
Australia faces its most complex and threatening strategic circumstances since the end of world war two …
In the face of this, the Albanese government is pursuing every avenue of increasing defence capability quickly – mostly through bigger defence appropriations.
He says Australia is seeing the biggest peacetime increase in our defence spending in the country’s history.
Updated
Environment Victoria blames ageing infrastructure for refinery blaze
Joy Toose, climate campaign manager for Environment Victoria, has blamed ageing infrastructure for the refinery blaze. In a statement, Toose said:
In the midst of a global fuel and worsening climate crisis, this incident gives another clear demonstration of why we need to accelerate the transition to renewable energy that is already well under way in Victoria.
We are again witnessing the impact of the ageing infrastructure of Victoria’s fossil fuel industry, which is still in 2026 posing unacceptable risks to workers, local communities, nature and our climate.
Updated
Brisbane to sign sister city agreement with LA
Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner and Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass have agreed to become sister cities.
With 3.88 million residents of the city proper, and an estimated 12.9 million in its metropolitan area, Los Angeles is California’s largest city and boasts one of the world’s largest single-city economies.
It will host the Olympics in 2028. Brisbane will host in 2032.
Under the arrangement the two cities will share information and agree to collaborate as Olympics hosts.
Brisbane already has nine sister cities, including Kobe, signed in 1985, Shenzhen, 1992, Abu Dhabi, 2009. The most recent was Hyderabad, signed in 2010. Brisbane will become Los Angeles’ first Australian sister city.
Schrinner said “learning from other Olympic cities like Los Angeles is absolutely critical”.
Bass said the city is “leading on sustainability, housing, and economic development, setting a standard for how host cities can collaborate and innovate together”.
The mayors signed a preliminary agreement on Wednesday, ahead of the finalisation of a formal agreement.
Daniel Duggan loses appeal, continued
The US is seeking the extradition of Duggan on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering arising from his alleged training of Chinese fighter pilots more than a decade ago. The allegations have not been tested in court.
A US indictment alleges he taught Chinese fighter pilots to land jets on aircraft carriers – known as “carrier-arrested landings” – in defiance of arms trafficking laws. The indictment details payments Duggan allegedly received in 2011 and 2012 for training Chinese fighter pilots at a test flight academy “based in South Africa, with a presence in the People’s Republic of China”.
The father of six – whose wife and children are all Australian citizens – faces a potential 60-year prison term if convicted in the US.
Duggan, who has no criminal history anywhere in the world, has faced significant isolation in prison, having been classified as a high-risk inmate. He has consistently denied the allegations against him as politically motivated, and has claimed the indictment is filled with “half-truths, falsehoods and gross embellishments”.
Updated
Recount in South Australian seat of Narungga after uncounted votes found
The Electoral Commission of South Australia has uncovered ballot papers that were not counted in a seat that was declared for One Nation on a margin of just 58 votes.
It has ordered the votes be counted again in the electorate of Narungga on the state’s Yorke Peninsula, where One Nation’s Chantelle Thomas secured a seat in last month’s state election.
In a press conference a short time ago, the acting commissioner, Leah McLay, said:
The commission has identified a number of unopened absent ordinary ballot papers and declaration ballot papers that were returned from the district of Stuart.
Following the discovery of the ballot papers, I secured the unopened ballot papers and have ordered a further count for the district of Nurungga.
She said the recount would be carried out tomorrow.
We are investigating the circumstances that led to them not having been included in the initial count.
Updated
Former marine pilot Daniel Duggan loses appeal against deportation
Daniel Duggan, an Australian citizen and former US marine pilot wanted by the United States department of justice over allegations he trained Chinese fighter pilots, has lost an appeal against his impending deportation.
Australia’s former attorney general has already approved the deportation of Duggan to the US, where he faces a raft of charges, including arms trafficking and money laundering, that could see him sentenced to decades in prison.
In the federal court on Thursday, Justice James Stellios dismissed Duggan’s appeal against the attorney general’s decision to consent to his extradition.
Duggan’s deportation is not imminent, and he does have further appeals available to him.
Outside court, Duggan’s wife Saffrine said his family had suffered a “terrible trauma” since his arrest in 2022.
She said:
Dan has been locked up in maximum security, an ordinary Australian going about his business who broke no Australian law.
We thank thousands of Australians who have continued our support for our fight for justice.
He spent 19 months in solitary confinement, he’s missed so much in our family, in our children’s lives.
Saffrine said she was disappointed by the federal court ruling:
We will consider our options carefully, but make no mistake: we will not give up.
Then attorney general Mark Dreyfus consented to Duggan’s extradition in December 2024. In 2025, the international cooperation unit of the Attorney-General’s Department wrote to the Duggan family that Dreyfus’s replacement, Michelle Rowland, could not reverse that decision:
The attorney general does not have the power to overturn the decision to surrender Mr Duggan to the United States to face prosecution for the offences for which he is accused.
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Australia’s jobless rate steady at 4.3%
Unemployment was steady at 4.3% in March, as a big lift in full-time jobs suggested Australia’s labour markets remained robust heading into the latest global upheaval.
The number of employed Australians lifted by 18,000 in the month, with a 53,000 jump in full-time employment offset by a 35,000 fall in part-time workers, the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.
The jobs numbers come as CBA card spending data revealed Australians spent 45% more on fuel in March than in the month before.
There is mounting evidence that households are beginning to cut back in other areas to make room for soaring fuel costs, but the card data from Australia’s largest retail bank show that spending held up last month thanks to big events like the women’s Asian Cup and the Formula One grand prix.
Belinda Allen, CBA’s head of Australian economics, said climbing prices will drag on household budgets, and that this “should help bring the economy back into balance and help moderate inflation”.
Still, Allen believes the RBA will hike again on 5 May “in a line-ball decision”.
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Petrol station owner ‘stunned’ by refinery blaze
Peter Anderson is the director of APCO Service Stations, which operates about 30 service stations in regional Victoria. He told ABC Radio Melbourne he was “just stunned” when he heard of the fire at the refinery this morning:
With what’s going on over in the Middle East and then this situation here in Geelong – I live in Geelong and Viva supply me with 60% of my supply.
But he said it was not the first time that production at the refinery had been affected:
I’ve been through planned shutdowns where Viva has shut the refinery down for maintenance issues. I’ve been through situations where they’ve shut it down because something else has broken down the cracker, they’ve had problems with the cracker and those things.
And they’ve always been able to come through with other suppliers from elsewhere, just bring it in by ship. And that’s what will be happening now. That’s what they’ll be planning for.
Victoria fire official says blaze now ‘well under control’, valve failure likely cause
Michelle Cowling, with Fire Rescue Victoria, said the fire is “well under control now” and is contained to a small area of the refinery.
She told ABC the cause was likely a small leak related to a failure in some of the valves of some mechanical equipment. A significant plume of LNG ignited due to “several ignition sources” around the refinery area.
“It looks like a valve has given way, which started a small leak,” she said.
Firefighters are using effectively large hoses and large amounts of water on the area to reduce the flames and keep vapours down in the area.
Nothing is being fed into the fire at the moment, with all combustion sources cut off by Viva as the firefighting continues.
Smoke has dissipated a lot in the area, Cowling added. People in the area should still keep their windows and doors closed for now.
Taylor says Albanese government has ‘not taken defence of our country seriously’
Taylor is speaking about the news, reported earlier, that Labor will spend an extra $53bn on defence over the next decade. That would bring total spending to about 2.3% to 2.4% of GDP by 2033.
The opposition leader said the Albanese government was actually underfunding the defence force:
This is a government not taken defence of our country seriously. And creative accounting does not defend Australia.
Taylor was asked what he would do differently, saying simply the Coalition would up spending to 3% of GDP. That 3% figure is based on the number US president, Donald Trump, has pushed. Taylor said:
We need to make sure we sustain and maintain our core capabilities. We need to make sure we have the people, war fighters we need and numbers we need.
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Opposition leader, Angus Taylor, is speaking in the Gold Coast
Taylor said today’s fire at the refinery showed that there will be a clear impact on fuel supply, saying the government had to work even harder “to get more shipments” into the country.
Taylor said the energy minister, Chris Bowen, needed to provide more details about shipments of fuel coming into Australia. Bowen has, in fact, been holding daily pressers on that issue, running through the number of ships coming in and the number of diesel and petrol shortages at some service station around the country.
“We just don’t have the transparency and we don’t have the answers,” Taylor said.
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No more smoke from Geelong refinery
There is no longer any sign of smoke coming from the refinery, nor indication other than several road closures that anything is amiss.
Emergency services cannot be seen battling the blaze from cordons set up by police.
Transport services are operating as normal from stations bordering the refinery.
Nearby Geelong Grammar – one of Australia’s most prestigious private schools – appeared to be functioning as normal, albeit without classes given it’s currently holidays.
There’s no sign of people wearing masks or taking other precautions that would indicate they are concerned about the fire, despite warnings about air quality issued early on Thursday morning.
Those warnings related to areas south of the refinery, though there are few houses in this region until the town of Lara, about seven kilometres away.
An Environment Protection Authority pollution response unit could be seen arriving at the refinery shortly before 10.30am.
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Federal court publishes practice note on use of AI
After a growing number of cases where courts in Australia and across the globe have discovered evidence presented to court has included false citations generated by AI, the federal court has issued a new practice note on how AI can be used in court cases.
Chief justice Debra Mortimer said in the note that users should be cautious in the use of AI in pleadings, written submissions and other documents lodged with the court noting that it may generate fictitious cases, citations, quotes and factual errors.
Mortimer said:
The presentation of false or inaccurate information to the court is unacceptable. It is inconsistent with the responsibility on all persons to not mislead the court or other parties.
It is also likely to frustrate the just resolution of proceedings according to law and as quickly, inexpensively and efficiently as possible.
People should confirm that – where AI has been used in the preparation of documents – that the legal authorities cited exist and support the proposition made, among other checks required, Mortimer said.
For affidavits and expert reports, if generative AI is used, it should still reflect their recollection, knowledge or experience.
Use of AI must be disclosed where tools are used to summarise or analyse information; make images, videos or sound recordings presented to the court; and in any other manner that might affect the admissibility of that evidence. The disclosure should be at the start of the document, Mortimer said.
Mortimer said the court had consulted with the community, the profession, academics, legal service providers and technology companies in the development of the note.
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Fertiliser imports streamlined amid impasse at strait of Hormuz
Farmers will receive fertiliser faster as border processes for imports will be streamlined just as sowing season begins, AAP has reported.
The federal government announced the measure, in consultation with Fertilizer Australia. Of Australia’s supply of urea for fertiliser, 60% travels through the strait of Hormuz, which has remained closed since US-Israeli strikes launched on Iran in February.
The agriculture minister, Julie Collins, said the changes would reduce costs, reduce port clearance times, lower administrative burdens and ensure the safety of fertiliser prior to shipping.
She said strict biosecurity standards will not be affected.
“There’s enough fertiliser in Australia today and on its way on the water in terms of the initial planting season,” Collins told Sky News on Thursday.
But this is about longer-term supplies because of the unpredictability and we don’t know how long this is going to go.
The changes include certification from an authorised inspector offshore that the goods are free of biosecurity risk for all imports and a requirement for importers using higher-risk pathways to provide a bagged sample for prior inspection.
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Victoria energy minister says no ‘immediate’ impact on fuel supply
The Victorian energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, has told ABC Radio Melbourne that the government has been assured by Viva Energy that there is “no immediate impact on fuel supply”.
She went on:
This has occurred in an area that is to do with the gasoline and petrol production and that it has not impacted directly the diesel or jet fuel. Now, of course, there’s been a ramping down of the other units for safety reasons … but the latest information is that the fire is now contained. So that’s a positive.
She said Viva Energy told her and the premier that they sourced additional crude oil shipments from overseas amid the war in Iran:
They have done a really good job in sourcing additional shipments to what they normally order from overseas in terms of crude oil and the like. Those additional shipments of supply really have gone back a couple weeks now. So they’re very confident that there shouldn’t be any immediate impact on fuel supply. They also have said that petrol or gasoline, of all of the fuel types that are under global pressure right now, is the most easiest fuel to be able to source either globally or indeed from within Australia.
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Albanese talks fuel supply with Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim
Talks with the head of a major global oil giant and the Malaysian prime minister will fill the final official day of Anthony Albanese’s south-east Asian fuel security tour, after he touched down in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday night.
Malaysia is one of Australia’s top suppliers of both crude oil and refined fuels like petrol and diesel, and the prime minister will be seeking similar assurances about ongoing shipments to those received in Singapore and Brunei over the past week.
Albanese and his counterpart, Anwar Ibrahim, are scheduled to hold formal talks today. The prime minister will also speak with the head of Petronas, one of Asia’s biggest oil producers and refiners.
But Malaysia imports hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Russian oil and fuel each year, some of which is sold on to Australia. Ukraine has called for a total ban on the use of Russian oil.
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Hanson says she only sacked Sean Black because of 'pile on'
Pauline Hanson says her sacking of Sean Black, a former staffer and convicted rapist who worked with One Nation after his jail sentence until Sunday, was “an agreement”, but the populist leader insists it was only because of a “political bloody witch-hunt”.
The Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price fuelled the story on Tuesday night when she said that, speaking as an advocate and survivor of sexual assault, no one would “want to be confronted with the idea of working in the same workspace as an individual such as that”.
Hanson was asked again by Sky News commentator Chris Kenny last night why she fired Black if she didn’t believe he should be let go.
The One Nation leader, who admitted she’d hired him back personally, said it was a “pile-on”:
This is just a political bloody witch-hunt. And I’m shocked by Jacinta Nampijinpa Price [jumping] on the bandwagon with Garth Hamilton … everyone has a chance, a second chance, and he’s been given a chance …
He agreed … to leave. He knew this. He’s worked for the Liberal party. He’s also worked for the Labor party. He’s been a councillor. OK, so he knows politics … it was an agreement between both of us, Chris, and I feel sorry for the poor man and his wife and his kids, and that’s why I said to your producer today, Chris, I didn’t want to discuss this any more about this today on the air, because I think it’s disrespectful to him and his family to keep this going and going.
Read more here:
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Equipment failure cause of refinery blaze, fire official says
Fire Rescue Victoria deputy commissioner, Michelle Cowling, confirmed the cause of the Corio refinery blaze was equipment failure.
In an update on ABC Radio Melbourne, she said the fire is still not under control but is well contained within a section of the plant:
The part of the plant it’s in is actually a transfer. So, in a bit of good news for you, it’s not impacting diesel or gasoline and petroleum production. So that won’t add to the already stressed fuel issues that we’re having. There’s about 50 firefighters on site from FRV and CFA, as well as Viva has some of their own firefighters. So it’s very well contained. It was an equipment failure in the refinery, Viva is looking into that. So there’ll be a thorough investigation into the failure of how this fire started.
Cowling explained why controlling the fire has been so difficult:
Because of the size of the tower that contains LPG, and there’s no physical way to get in to actually turn the valve off. As you can imagine, it’s quite hot. A significant fire has been burning since about 11pm last night. So until we can really cool that area down, that open valve where that leak has been is still just draining that tank. And at the moment, we’ve got the smartest minds, the engineers working on how to drain that remotely if they can – until we can get someone in.
She said due to the extreme heat, “there’s no human involvement in the extinguishment at the moment. It’s all remote”.
At the moment, they’re just using monitors. So they’re basically hose lines that are not held by any humans.
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Shares in refinery owner suspended pending damage announcement
Trading in shares of Viva Energy, the company that owns the now-damaged Geelong refinery, have been suspended this morning.
The ASX said that the trading halt will continue until the company makes an announcement to the market regarding the impact of the fire, or until trading resumes on Monday.
Trading halts are typically requested by companies when significant, market-moving events are developing quickly.
The Victorian refinery, which is on fire, represents one of Viva’s main physical assets.
The company’s most recent financial results indicate that a five-year maintenance program on the refinery had recently been completed.
New Victorian health minister says no health risk from refinery blaze
Harriet Shing, sworn in as Victorian health minister yesterday, spoke earlier on ABC Radio Melbourne. She thanked the firefighters battling the blaze and noted that watch and act warnings issued overnight due to air quality concerns had been downgraded this morning.
Shing went on:
The most up-to-date advice we’ve got from the department of health is that there are no known health risks or warnings from the refinery fire. The first point here is that nobody was injured, the workforce has been accounted for, [and] there will obviously be an investigation.
Shing said warnings and updates are being provided through the VicEmergency app:
We have had ongoing information and rolling updates provided this morning … in terms of looking at likely impact for people … there was a large presence of smoke in and around the area at the time and we will continue to monitor the situation, but again, the starting point is no one was hurt. And obviously, the investigation will be necessary from here while operations continue at the refinery.
Energy analyst says it’s time to move to stage three of fuel restrictions
Gero Farruggio, an analyst at Rystad Energy, told ABC AM he believes the government will need to move to stage three fuel restrictions as a result of the Corio refinery blaze.
He said:
The first thing I thought of when I saw that [fire] is that we can’t avoid stage three now. We’re currently at stage two, which is just keep the country running and that’s why the prime minister’s overseas trying to secure supplies. But on seeing refinery burning again, any supplies are crucial right now, and this is about 10% of our domestic one. In particular, for the Victoria region, you just thought this we can’t avoid moving to stage three.
He said even if there is a ceasefire between the US and Iran there will still be “a couple months of disruption”:
We’re planning for this de-escalation and things to resume to normal … that’s the best case scenario, but we maybe don’t have to plan for the worst case scenario, which is, I think you saw the IMF this week looking at the conflict continuing till the end of the year but certainly something in between. And under that situation, then this stage three should come in sooner rather than later, just to secure our supplies and manage demand and ensure we have enough reserves to get through this period.
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Petrol production at refinery will be affected during ‘disappointing’ incident for everyone, CEO of Viva Energy says
Scott Wyatt, the CEO of Viva Energy, which owns the refinery, spoke earlier as well.
Wyatt said safety and recovery would be the immediate priority, not production. He told reporters:
I’ve been very proud of the way everyone’s worked together to deal with a very challenging time … This incident is so disappointing for everyone.
Production is not our primary priority today. Today is getting the site safe … We’ll only start increasing production again once we’re confident we can do that safely.
He said the refinery would eventually get to the highest level of production it can while recovery continues. He said the fire was in the petrol area of the plant, which means “naturally” petrol products would be affected.
Updated
‘Several explosions’ at refinery overnight as blaze became ferocious
Mick McGuinness, with Fire Rescue Victoria, added in a media conference this morning that it has been a dangerous fire to fight, involving highly flammable materials, both liquids and gases.
He said it wasn’t clear how long the fire will burn, but said the intensity has started to lower. When it began, however, the blaze was “quite ferocious”. McGuinness said:
The fire went from a small fire, through several explosions, to being quite a large intense fire.
It’s still too soon to determine the cause of the fire. McGuinness said the refinery was “well regulated” and subject to a lot of testing and ongoing maintenance.
Updated
Fire officer says officials haven’t detected any contaminants spreading from blaze
Earlier this morning, Fire Rescue Victoria assistant chief fire officer, Mick McGuinness, provided an update to ABC Radio Melbourne. Shortly before 7am, he said about 50 firefighting vehicles were continuing to fight the blaze in the Mogas (motor gasoline) plant section of the refinery.
This fire has been quite large overnight. It is still burning at the moment, and we would still declare it as not yet under control … And the fire is mainly being fed by various types of hydrocarbon fuels. So predominantly liquid petrol … and also some gas and vapours that are feeding this fire at the moment.
McGuinness said firefighters there was no contaminants being spread as a result of the blaze:
We were concerned with the smoke that was coming off this fire, so our initial reactions were to get an alert message out to the community. We’ve since been able to have our specialist hazardous materials teams come in from locally Geelong and also in Melbourne and set up some atmospheric monitoring equipment and do a lot of sensing and sampling of not only the atmosphere but also the fire water runoff that we’re using to contain the fire. We’ve been able to determine … that we haven’t detected any sort of contaminants there.
He said the refinery’s sensors were damaged so it was unclear how much fuel remained to keep the fire burning:
We’re predicting that this still could burn for another three or four hours, if not longer. But we are starting to see a reduction in the intensity of the fire, which is an indication that the depressurising of the systems and the pipe work is occurring and that we will see a lesser amount of fuel being available to feed the fire. And of course, that allows us to continue to cool that area more rapidly and then be able to get crews in there to look at how we can start to isolate pipe work and valve systems.
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Geelong mayor says refinery fire shows how ‘very fragile’ energy security is
The mayor of Geelong, Stretch Kontelj, said the intensity of the fire at the refinery has subsided “significantly”, but the blaze will still be burning for a “couple more hours”.
Kontelj said the refinery was a significant part of Australia’s fuel supply, and the incident would now be a “national event”. He told RN Breakfast:
It shows that we have very fragile, very thin energy security platform when it comes to refinery, only the two refineries left. And as mayor, I’ve been calling this out since being elected back in 2024, that Viva is not only a significant employer and corporate citizen for Geelong, but it has a significance for Victoria and Australia.
And it just shows that we, as a country, need to invest more in this type of capability.
Union says all workers safe and evacuation from refinery ‘went to plan’
Ronnie Hayden, the state secretary of the Victorian branch of the Australian Workers’ Union spoke to ABC Radio Melbourne about the Corio refinery blaze. He said between 50 and 100 workers were on site when the fire broke out about 11pm last night.
Hayden said the evacuation “went to plan”:
These guys have been highly trained in emergency response and emergency evacuation, and I think that’s the main reason why there were no fatalities.
He said while the fire is still burning it “should be out within the next couple of hours”. Once it is, workers and authorities will be able to better understand the impact:
We don’t know until we actually get in. We’re just speculating. I’d be surprised if we weren’t shut down for a few days, but it could be a lot longer. It could get it done quicker. We just need to get in and have a look.
Hayden added its a “70-year-old facility” that has always required regular maintenance:
Our health and safety rep so members are out there, and they identify the issues, and most of them get fixed up pretty quickly.
Updated
Coalition unimpressed with defence spending promises
The Coalition has responded to the news that Labor will spend an extra $53bn on defence over the next decade, bringing total spending to about 2.3% to 2.4% of GDP by 2033.
The defence minister, Richard Marles, will outline the plans and release a new national defence strategy on Thursday.
But his shadow minister, James Paterson, is unimpressed.
“The Coalition will carefully review the full details of the new National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program once it is released,” Paterson said.
But one thing is already clear: accounting tricks don’t make Australians safer. Counting money we’ve always spent on things like military pensions as defence spending is a desperate attempt by the Albanese government to pretend they are finally taking our strategic circumstances seriously when they are not.
Australia needs real increases in actual defence spending today to put tangible capability into the hands of war fighters to protect our country. Anything less is an insult to our men and women in uniform and fails to heed the lessons of Ukraine and Iran.
Updated
Energy minister says Geelong refinery fire ‘not great timing’, but facility still producing some fuel
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, is speaking about the refinery blaze. He said the refinery is still producing diesel and jet fuel, at reduced capacities. Bowen told ABC News this morning:
Obviously, the fire is still burning so we can’t make any final conclusions about the impact. It’s not a positive development. It will have an impact. I’m sure that petrol production will continue but it may be impacted for some time.
He said the fire was “not great timing”, adding it remained important that people only buy the fuel they need, “no more, no less”, in light of the incident.
Bowen added that it appeared to be an accident at this point.
Look, this is not a positive development in Geelong. Let’s not pretend somehow that this won’t have some sort of impact.
But as I said, we will carefully, methodically, manage it with the refinery and I and Viva will update Australians with the very best and latest information as and when we determine the full impact.
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Geelong refinery supplies 50% of Victoria’s fuel, and 10% of Australia’s in total
Viva Energy’s refinery in Geelong supplies about 50% of Victoria’s fuel, and 10% of Australia’s in total, according to the company’s website.
The refinery is just one of two remaining in Australia, and employs more than 1,100 people. The other is Ampol’s Lytton refinery in Brisbane. Both rely on government support to stay open.
Viva Energy says on it’s website:
The refinery can process up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day, manufacturing petrol, diesel, LPG, jet fuel, avgas and Low Aromatic Fuel to support the Federal Government’s petrol-sniffing prevention program.
These include being Australia’s only manufacturer of hydrocarbon solvents, marine fuel oil, low aromatic fuel, avgas, bitumen and high-quality plastic feedstock used to create food packaging, medical equipment and polymer banknotes.
Good morning, Nick Visser here to take things over. Let’s get to it.
Matt Canavan defends Coalition’s migration policy
The Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, defended the Coalition’s planned crack down on immigrations as “fair and reasonable” and that migrants would understand the policy.
Asked on 7.30 last night how Australia’s migrant communities would see the plan, Canavan referred to the “rigour” of the naturalisation process his Italian grandparents went through in the 1950s and his own publicised section 44 high court citizenship saga (which he said ultimately proved him to be a “dinky-di Aussie”). He said:
It’s fair and reasonable that we set high standards to join the club of Australians and I’m sure migrants here today want to see that …
We have a Government that has put its head in the sand now and has not listened to the Australian people that clearly want change.
Canavan claimed support for Australia’s migration program is “falling off a cliff.”
When the show’s host, Sarah Ferguson, asked again about the specific wording of a policy described as “discriminatory”, Canavan said:
I think we should discriminate on values …
We shouldn’t discriminate on colour, religion, sexuality, gender, but surely … we should discriminate on people who don’t support democracy, who profess support for terrorism or violence, who don’t believe in equality between male and female genders. People who have those views I don’t want them in our country.
Canavan reached for a literary quote: “Having good fences make for good neighbours”.
Ferguson noted:
I’ll comment that the Robert Frost line in that poem was delivered in irony.
But we’ll return to that another day along with many other questions, thank you for joining us …
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'Unprecedented' fire at oil refinery in Geelong
Fire crews continue to battle an out-of-control blaze at a Geelong refinery that broke out late last night.
Residents in areas south of the Viva oil refinery in Corio – one of Australia’s two remaining refineries – have been warned to stay inside to avoid smoke.
Geelong’s mayor, Stretch Kontelj, told ABC Melbourne radio this morning that the fire was “unprecedented”.
“Speaking to the management, no one can recall an incident of this magnitude either,” he said shortly before 6am on Thursday. “But from reports, it is coming under control.”
The refinery said no one had been reported injured so far, and that there was no immediate impact on fuel supplies.
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories and then Nick will take over.
Matt Canavan has defended the Coalition’s planned immigration shake-up as “reasonable and fair” and said it would be accepted as such by migrants already in Australia. More coming up.
Residents in parts of Geelong have been warned to take shelter due to smoke from an out-of-control fire at the Viva oil refinery in Corio – we’ll be bringing you more details soon.
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