Fuel shortages in NSW almost halve in a week
Fuel shortages have continued to drop in NSW after the reduction in the federal excise.
In an update at a press conference this morning, the deputy premier, Prue Car, said there were 34 petrol stations without any fuel type as of this morning, while 125 were out of diesel or premium diesel. That’s down slightly from yesterday when 39 service stations in NSW were without fuel of all types, and 142 were out of diesel.
On Tuesday last week, 61 stations were without fuel of any kind, while 247 stations were out of diesel. Last week, the premier, Chris Minns, attributed the drop to people waiting for the excise to kick in before filling up. The federal cut, as well as an additional reduction from states agreeing to forgo increased GST from fuel sales, kicked in last Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
As we reported earlier, major fuel companies have complied with a NSW government order, made under emergency powers, to provide information about their distribution of fuel.
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Australians buying more electric vehicles than ever before
Australians are racing to secure electric vehicles during the war-driven fuel crisis, nearly doubling sales to set a national record.
AAP reports motorists bought more than 15,800 new electric cars during March, according to figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries on Tuesday, while sales of petrol and diesel vehicles stalled.
Pure electric cars represented 14.6% of all new-car sales during the month, growing from 7.5% in March 2025.
The tally was the highest number of EVs sold in Australia in a month.
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Accused Pinochet agent turned Bondi nanny Adriana Rivas to be extradited to Chile
A former Sydney nanny and cleaner accused by Chile of being a torturer and kidnapper for Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship in the 1970s will be extradited to Chile to face court over kidnapping allegations after losing her seven-year battle to remain in Australia, AAP reports.
Adriana Elcira Rivas, now in her 70s, is accused of participating in the disappearances of seven people in 1976 – including a woman who was five months pregnant – while working for Pinochet’s secret police force.
Rivas emigrated to Australia in 1978 and worked as a nanny in Bondi before she was arrested by New South Wales police in 2019 at the request of the Chilean government.
She has been in custody for seven years as she resisted attempts to extradite her to the South American nation to face trial for seven counts of aggravated kidnapping.
She denies the allegations and has argued that her extradition to Chile should be blocked because it would result in her being tried for crimes against humanity.
Read more here:
Police rescue cyclist stranded in Victoria’s Snowy River for four hours
Victoria police rescued a cyclist stranded in the Snowy River for four hours last night.
Police said the experienced rider was cycling through the Suggan Buggan area when they began to cross the river around 8pm. The water level, however, had risen higher than they expected, and they became stranded with their bike halfway across the waterway.
The rider activated a satellite beacon and was rescued by an air wing crew. The 31-year-old was brought to safety just after midnight and taken to hospital for assessment, but they were uninjured.
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Barnett added that “the situation in Afghanistan has only deteriorated over time”.
It’s only made our job more difficult. And we don’t see that changing in the immediate future.
‘A lot of practical challenges’ led to long investigation timeline
Ross Barnett, director of investigations at the Office of the Special Investigator, said there were many challenges which led to a long investigation timeline, noting the effort has been ongoing since 2021.
Barnett told reporters:
The challenge for investigators is that … we are 9,000km [away].
So the challenge for investigators is that because we can’t go to the country, we don’t have access to the crime scene. So we don’t have photographs, site plans, measurements, the recovery of projectiles – blood spatter analysis.
All of the things that we would normally get at a crime scene. There’s no postmortem. Therefore, there’s no official cause of death.
So there are a lot of practical challenges that confront the investigators who are doing all of these jobs.
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Roberts-Smith expected to be charged with five murders relating to three incidents
According to a media release from the AFP, he is expected to be charged with:
The war crime of murder, in that he intentionally caused the death of a person, on or about 12 April 2009, at Kakarak, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan;
The war crime of murder, in that he aided, abetted, counselled or procured another person to intentionally cause the death of a person, on or about 12 April 2009, at Kakarak, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan;
The war crime of murder, in that he aided, abetted, counselled or procured another person to intentionally cause the death of a person, on or about 11 September 2012, at Darwan, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan;
The war crime of murder, with another person, in that they intentionally caused the death of a person, on or about 20 October 2012, in Syahchow, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan; and,
The war crime of murder, in that he aided, abetted, counselled or procured another person to intentionally cause the death of a person, on or about 20 October 2012, at Syahchow, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.
Guardian Australia understands that Roberts-Smith has been charged with the deaths of two Afghan males at Whiskey 108 in 2009, the death of Ali Jan, as well as the deaths of two civilians at Syahchow in 2012.
The federal court found to the civil standard of probabilities that Roberts-Smith kicked Ali Jan in the chest, sending him falling backwards over the cliff, his face hitting the cliff as he fell, before he landed on the ground below. The Syawchow deaths were mentioned documents filed as part of the defamation case, but it is understood they were not part of the media’s defence because of issues with a witness.
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AFP commissioner provides further details on Roberts-Smith arrest
The AFP are holding a press conference after the reported arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith.
AFP commissioner, Krissy Barrett, said a former soldier was arrested at Sydney’s domestic airport this morning and will face court in New South Wales later today. She went on:
It will be alleged the man was a member of the ADF when he was involved in the death of Afghan nationals between 2009 and 2012 in circumstances that constitute war crimes.
It will be alleged the victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder in Afghanistan.
It will be alleged the victims were detained, unarmed and were under the control of ADF members when they were killed.
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Albanese confirms he will discuss fuel with Singapore this week
Albanese said:
When I spoke with prime minister Wong, we agreed it would be good for us to have a discussion.
There are further discussions that we’re having on a regular basis while I’m in Canberra on the phone, but nothing beats a face-to-face engagement.
This week, on Thursday, I will head to Singapore for the annual leaders meeting with prime minister Lawrence Wong …
That will take place on Friday, this will be important and we’ll continue discussions on securing trade in petrol, diesel, and LNG …
The visit follows Australia and Singapore’s joint commitment to keep fuel between both countries and to work together to strengthen energy supply-chain resilience.
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Bowen also said:
That’s a total of 241 service stations without diesel across Australia today. That’s 3% of our service stations …
So we have 39 days worth of petrol – that’s 1.7bn litres, 30 days worth of jet fuel – that’s 847m litres, and 29 days worth of diesel – that’s 2.7bn litres.
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Bowen confirms decrease in service station fuel outages
Energy minister, Chris Bowen, provided an update on Australia’s fuel after the long weekend.
Bowen said:
Despite the fact that demand for petrol and diesel was 30% higher this Easter than last Easter, we continue to see, each day, the service station outages fall.
In New South Wales, we had 125 service stations without diesel – that’s 5% of service stations. That’s down 17 on yesterday, 34 with no fuel – that’s down 5 on yesterday.
Victoria – we have 40 without down 11. So, that’s 2% of Victorian service stations, 29 with no unleaded petrol.
In Queensland, 34 without diesel – that’s also 2% – And 30 without unleaded petrol.
South Australia – 7 with no diesel, 5 with no unleaded petrol.
Western Australia – 20 without diesel and 32 without unleaded petrol.
Tasmania – 7 without diesel, 6 with no unleaded petrol.
Northern Territory – 4 each – no diesel, no unleaded.
ACT – 4 with no diesel and 1 without unleaded petrol.
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PM has ‘no intention of commenting’ on Ben Roberts-Smith arrest
Prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is now speaking to the media.
When first asked about the arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith, Albanese said: “I have no intention of commenting on a matter that’s clearly before the courts.”
Asked for a second time about the arrest of Roberts-Smith, the prime minister said: “I have no intention of prejudicing a matter that clearly is a legal matter and that’s before the courts and any comment would do so.”
A reporter asked Albanese whether attorney-general, Michelle Rowland, was consulted on the laying of the charges and whether she consulted with the prime minister. Albanese said:
I’m not going to confirm anything to do with the legal matter. That is a matter that is very important that there not be political engagement in what is a matter that is now the subject of legal proceedings, so I don’t intend to comment.
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Roberts-Smith, once lionised as Australia’s most decorated Afghanistan veteran, attempted to sue three newspapers over allegations he committed war crimes, murdered unarmed civilians and bullied his comrades.
In a long-running, expensive defamation trial, a judge finding to the civil standard of the ‘balance of probabilities’ that he committed four murders while serving in the Australian military.
Roberts-Smith appealed to the full bench of the federal court, but lost, and the high court refused to hear a further appeal.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is also expected to address the media soon.
Krissy Barrett, the Australian federal police commissioner, and Ross Barnett, the Office of the Special Investigator’s director of investigations, will speak at a press conference later on Tuesday.
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Ben Roberts-Smith arrested for alleged war crimes
Ben Roberts-Smith, the former Victoria Cross winner and Australian soldier, has been arrested for alleged war crimes.
The Australian federal police and Office of the Special Investigator are set to speak in Sydney shortly after midday about the arrest of the 47-year-old at Sydney airport on Tuesday morning.
The arrest of Roberts-Smith was first reported by the Nine Newspapers
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ASX adds $70bn in an hour and surpasses 9,000 points
Australian sharemarkets are rebounding, with the all ordinaries hitting 9,000 points and the ASX200 hitting 8,800 points each for the first time in nearly a month.
Markets had steadily fallen from 3 March to 23 March. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had slipped from 9,200 to 8,365 points over the period, returning to 8,579 by last Thursday.
It’s now leapt 2.6% higher this morning, briefly surpassing 8.80 points and now trading around 8,785 – adding nearly $70bn in value in an hour.
The big banks are all up close to 3%, as is major miner BHP, with Rio Tinto up 2.4%.
Markets are hoping ceasefire efforts will soon bring an end to Donald Trump’s war on Iran. Japan’s Nikkei is also rising, and overseas stock markets picked up overnight.
Yet hopes the war’s end will bring down oil prices are fading. The benchmark West Texas Intermediate price has mostly been above US$110 a barrel since last Thursday and is now US$113.
The prospect of persistent higher energy prices is supporting oil and gas giants Woodside and Fortescue, while weighing on tollroad operator Transurban, down 1.2%.
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As we reported earlier, an 11-year-old boy was killed after a collision with a vehicle in Western Australia yesterday.
Police initially reported that the boy was riding an escooter during the fatal incident, but have since corrected their earlier release to say he was riding a push scooter.
Canavan says Australia is ‘right’ to stay out of Middle East conflict
Nationals leader Matt Canavan said the Australian government had made the right call staying out of the war in Iran.
Canavan spoke to Sky News this morning saying he, like many in Australia, wanted the war to end for the good of those in the region and the world economy. He said:
I think the Australian government is right … I just want this conflict to end and we have seen the president make a number of statements in the last few days, some of them been a little bit weird and wild, but I don’t care about that.
I just would like to see the conflict end because it’s having a horrific impact on human lives and the world economy. Australia has done things to help, and I think we should help our friends in the region.
But this is not a conflict we started.
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Australian army reservist charged for allegedly working as a drone operator for Ukraine
An Australian army reservist has been charged after allegedly working as a drone operator for Ukraine in the war with Russia in a rare use of anti-foreign fighter laws, AAP reports.
The 25-year-old man from Adelaide was charged by Australian federal police with working for a foreign military without authorisation. It is the first time someone has been charged with the offence, with the man facing up to two decades in jail if found guilty.
Australian laws limit the work defence personnel can perform with a foreign military, government or company without authorisation.
The man allegedly travelled to Ukraine in May 2025 and returned to Australia in January 2026. The man is due to face Adelaide magistrates court on Tuesday on one count of a restricted individual working for a foreign military organisation or government body.
The maximum penalty for the offence is 20 years in jail.
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Petrol prices could rise again as wholesale price stops falling
Petrol prices at the terminal have stopped falling after nearly two weeks of declines, suggesting prices at the service station will soon follow.
The wholesale price paid by fuel companies had been declining since 26 March and plummeted on 1 April after the government cut the fuel excise, giving companies room to cut the retail price paid by motorists.
The wholesale price of unleaded fell 40 cents over the fortnight, reflecting the excise cut and broader market conditions.
Today’s wholesale price is no lower than yesterday’s in most Australian capitals, for the first time in nearly two weeks. That suggests service stations will not be getting any more room to cut prices.
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Take a look as the Artemis II astronauts reach a new milestone for humanity
The Artemis II astronauts have now travelled farther from Earth than any human, ever
Artemis II astronauts broke Apollo 13’s distance record at 1.57pm eastern time on Monday, hugging each other in the cramped capsule as they made history for being the first four humans to travel the farthest from Earth than anyone before them.
Before hitting the record, the quartet dimmed the lights in their capsule and positioned themselves by the windows in preparation to set the long-distance record as they fly by the moon without stopping – with plans to ultimately swing around for planet Earth.
“It is blowing my mind what you can see with the naked eye from the moon right now,” Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen radioed ahead of the flyby. “It is just unbelievable.”
He challenged “this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived”.
Read more here:
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Boy, 11, riding escooter dies after collision with car in Western Australia
An 11-year-old boy died yesterday after a fatal crash between an escooter and a sedan in Western Australia.
WA police said the boy was riding the escooter around 5pm before the collision with a blue station wagon in Mandurah. The child sustained critical injuries and was taken to an area hospital by ambulance crews, where he later died.
The driver of the vehicle is assisting police with their inquiries. No charges have been laid.
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Specialist police unit to begin 24-hour operation amid uptick in theft in busy Melbourne retail precinct
A specialist public order police unit will start round-the-clock patrols in one of the nation’s busiest inner-city areas as part of a three-week blitz to curb thefts and antisocial behaviour, AAP reports.
Operation Embrace will ramp up policing on Chapel Street in Prahran, one of Melbourne’s busiest retail and nightlife strips, Victoria police said on Tuesday.
The blitz comes as the state grapples with rising crime rates, which prompted the Allan Labor government to tighten bail laws in 2025, with a focus on serious youth offenders.
The operation will include 24-hour patrols from the public order response team, police dogs, police on horseback and uniformed officers.
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Trump lashes out at Australia, Japan and South Korea for not helping in Iran war
As we reported earlier, Donald Trump lashed out at Australia for what he said was a claimed lack of support during the war in Iran. Take a look:
NSW government rolls out free nasal spray flu vaccine for kids two to four years old
The NSW government is rolling out a free nasal spray flu vaccine for children two to four years old.
The vaccine, which is sprayed into the nose with one spray in each nostril, will be available for children throughout the state via GPs, community pharmacies and Aboriginal medical services.
Just under a quarter of NSW children under five were vaccinated against the flu in 2025, well below the 40% target. Last year was the worst flu season on record, with a more than 40% increase in presentations and admissions compared with 2024.
The flu vaccine is recommended yearly for everyone six months of age and older and offers the best protection against serious illness, officials said. Dr Rebekah Hoffman, the NSW/ACT chair for the Royal Australian College of GPs, said:
Having needle-free vaccines for children aged two to four, at no cost to parents, is a gamechanging policy.
Two-thirds of kids, and about a quarter of adults, have a strong fear of needles. As GPs, we know that’s a big barrier to achieving the immunity our young patients need.
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Easter road deaths spark call for national leadership
Road safety must be better embedded in school curriculums, advocates say, as Australia reels from another tragic Easter period, Australian Associated Press reports.
By 12pm AEST yesterday, at least 14 people had been killed in road incidents, with data from Western Australia not yet processed.
Some 110 people had been killed in the previous five Easter long weekends including 21 in 2025, the Australian Automobile Association said.
And more than 1,336 people died on Australia’s roads in the 12 months to February, according to federal figures, marking a 4.4% increase from the same time the previous year.
The impact went far beyond the crashes, with devastated families left to bear the devastating consequences, Australian Road Safety Foundation founder and chair Russell White said.
Death at any time is horrific, but just the swiftness – one minute everything seems normal then suddenly, sometimes through no fault of that person, they are taken away.
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Rohan Dennis accuses media of creating ‘false narrative’ after Melissa Hoskins’ death
Olympic cyclist Rohan Dennis, the man given a 17-month suspended sentence after his car fatally struck his wife and fellow cyclist, Melissa Hoskins, accused the media of creating a “false narrative” about him “for clicks” in new comments posted to social media.
Dennis published a defence overnight after uploading a social media post last month describing a Porsche as an “absolute weapon”, which prompted renewed criticism after his court case.
Dennis took to Instagram, saying the media had run with a narrative that was “clear they wanted me to look like the husband who abused his wife”. He said journalists had met him at the airport less than a day after his wife’s funeral with distressing questions.
I simply want to tell not just my experience but my kids’ experience with the media. … Then there is the clear twisting of any words I use. They know I never intentionally or unintentionally used a vehicle as a weapon … Yet again they come after me for cheap clicks. Pathetic journalism.
He said it was time for “so-called journalists and media outlets to back off and leave my family alone”.
Dennis pleaded guilty to committing an aggravated act likely to cause harm, but was not held criminally responsible for his wife’s death.
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Fuel companies comply with NSW order for information
Major fuel companies have complied with an order to provide information about their distribution of fuel under emergency powers in NSW, the state government has announced.
The companies had until late last week to respond to information notices issued under an emergency power, or face a non-compliance penalty of $220,000. The government says the responses will be now used to support planning for “for further potential actions if required, such as maintaining supply to regional communities”.
Under the state’s energy act, the government has wide-ranging powers to control the distribution of fuel in a supply emergency, including rationing.
The NSW energy minister, Penny Sharpe, says:
I issued these information notices to get a clear picture of how fuel is moving across NSW. This information puts us in a strong position to work with industry and keep supply flowing where it is needed most.
As of the latest update yesterday, 39 service stations in NSW were without fuel of all types, while 260 were out of at least one type, and 142 were out of diesel or premium diesel. The government says sales during the early stages of the fuel shock were as much as five times higher than normal levels for some distributors.
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Attorney general says government remains committed to gun buyback scheme
Rowland said the federal government would continue to press ahead with its gun buyback scheme, despite some resistance from state and territory leaders.
The New South Wales government is so far the only clear supporter for the gun reforms, with Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory all ruling out their support. The federal government recently said those localities are “standing in the way” of an effort to remove dangerous weapons from the streets.
Rowland maintained it is up for those leaders “to explain to their constituency why that is the case”.
But the fact remains that we will continue to prosecute this case through our national cabinet processes. The government’s committed to it.
She said it is supposed to be a “national” buyback scheme, and states and territories should recognise it won’t work without a national buy-in.
Attorney general says Australia should continue to call for de-escalation in Iran amid Trump critiques
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, was asked about Trump’s remarks on RN Breakfast this morning.
She said Australia’s position remains calling for “an urgent de-escalation of this conflict”, adding:
Australians and innocent people right around the world and in the region are being impacted by events that they didn’t cause, but it is having lasting impacts. It’s having impacts on our supply chains and causing real anxiety for Australians.
Rowland said the best thing Australia could do would be to continue those calls, saying it’s not the first time Trump had made inflammatory remarks.
I think ultimately the United States will need to answer for itself.
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Nick Visser here to grab the reins. Let’s get to it.
'Increasing' chance Topical Cyclone Maila will hit Queensland at weekend
Tropical Cyclone Maila could hit the coast of far north Queensland this weekend, three weeks after the same area was smashed by Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle, the Bureau of Meteorology said last night.
It was tracking halfway between Solomon Islands and Papua New Gunea at 10.45pm last night, according to the latest update from the bureau.
The BoM said:
Maila is expected to remain well away from the Queensland coast during the next few days, but confidence is increasing in Maila moving towards the far north Queensland coast later in the week, potentially crossing the coast on the weekend.
The storm is classed as a category three, with sustained winds near the centre at 150km/h and wind gusts up to 205km/h.
Read our full story here:
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Australia ‘didn’t help us’, Trump says of US effort in Iran
The US president, Donald Trump, has criticised Australia for what he said was a lack of help during the ongoing war in Iran.
At a media conference, Trump continued to take a hard line against Iran, saying he believes the US military is doing “unbelievably well” in the Middle East while threatening that Iran could be “taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night”.
He added that he remained frustrated with Nato, calling the bloc a “paper tiger” the US “didn’t need”.
“They haven’t helped at all,” he said, adding:
It’s not just Nato. You know who else didn’t help us? South Korea didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Australia didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Japan.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Nick Visser with the main action.
Road safety advocates say the subject must be better embedded in school curriculums after another deadly Easter period in which at least 14 people have been killed on the nation’s roads. Deaths on Australia’s roads rose 4.4% in the year to February. More coming up.
Tropical Cyclone Maila could hit the coast of far north Queensland this weekend three weeks after the same area was smashed by Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle, the Bureau of Meteorology said last night. More coming up.
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