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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Josh Taylor and Mostafa Rachwani (earlier)

Pressure mounts on federal government to cut fuel excise – as it happened

New South Wales Australia Queensland Russia NT Ukraine Labor Victoria ADF Nerlands
Fuel prices in Melbourne
Fuel prices on display in Melbourne. Two Nationals MPs are calling on the federal government to cut the fuel excise as petrol prices continue to climb north of $2 a litre. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

The day that was, Monday 14 March

That’s where we will leave the live blog for Monday. Thanks for tuning in.

Here’s what made the news today:

  • Australia and the Netherlands announced plans to sue Russia in the International Civil Aviation Organization for the downing of MH17 in 2014.
  • There were 26,063 new reported cases of Covid-19: 8,911 in NSW, 5,499 in Victoria, 3,797 in Queensland, 4,037 in Western Australia, 2,099 in South Australia, 923 in Tasmania, 599 in the ACT and 198 in the Northern Territory.
  • Eight Covid-related deaths were also reported across Australia.
  • The NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, has said he is reluctant to bring back in Covid-19 restrictions in response to a surge in cases in the state that the government has blamed on an omicron subvariant.
  • NSW also confirmed a sixth confirmed case of Japanese encephalitis in a man in his 60s.
  • The federal government is under pressure to cut fuel excise to bring down high petrol prices after New Zealand announced its own cut. There is an expectation it will be addressed in the federal budget on 29 March.
  • The NRMA, however, has warned cuts would likely be eaten up by soaring petrol prices.
  • A ban on cruise ships in Australia could be lifted soon for the first time in close to two years.

We will be back again tomorrow. Until then, stay safe.

Payne says the families of those who were killed in the MH17 crash have been consulted prior to today’s announcement:

The families of the victims overwhelmingly believe in the efforts to achieve truth, justice and accountability. Through my department, we have communicated with families in relation to this. We have been supporting families and it has been difficult, through Covid, given the restrictions on travel, to engage in the Dutch national prosecution being formed. But I understand, as I said, that families who’ve seen another extraordinarily egregious example of Russia’s international behaviour in recent weeks in relation to Ukraine, will certainly be deeply disturbed by that.

She says the response from Russia will be a matter for Russia. Submissions will be filed by the Netherlands and Australia in the next few months and then there will be a better idea of how long the case will run for.

Updated

Cash details the evidence Australia and the Netherlands will rely on in the case against Russia in the MH17 case:

As the foreign minister has referred to the legal proceedings that have been initiated, Australia and the Netherlands will rely on overwhelming evidence that, first, MH17 was shot down by a Russian Buk Telar surface-to-air missile system.

Secondly, the missile system was transported from Russia to an agricultural field in the east of Ukraine on the morning of the 17th July, 2014. An area under the control of Russian-backed separatists.

Thirdly, the missile system belonged to the Russian Federation’s 53rd anti-aircraft military brigade and was accompanied by a trained Russian military crew.

Fourthly, the launch site, the Buk Telar, fired the missile, that shot down flight MH17, killing all 298 people on board.

Fifthly, the missile could only have been fired by the trained Russian crew of the Buk Telar or at least by someone acting under their instruction, direction or control.

Finally the Buk Telar missile system was returned to the Russian Federation shortly after the downing of MH17.

Cash says Russia withdrew from negotiations around being held accountable for the downing and has refused to come back to the table. Part of the relief the two countries are seeking is to bring Russia back to negotiations.

Updated

Australia and Netherlands to sue Russian federation over downing of MH-17 in 2014

Foreign minister Marise Payne and attorney general Michaelia Cash are holding a press conference to announce Australia and the Netherlands will jointly sue the Russian Federation in the International Civil Aviation Organization for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Payne said:

This case, our case, is firmly based on findings and evidence from the joint investigation team. Comprised of the investigative agencies of Australia, Belgium Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine, as well as the Dutch safety board. The findings and evidence show that the conduct leading up to and including the firing of the missile that brought down flight MH17 is attributable to the Russian Federation.

The recent invasion of Ukraine which we have consistently condemned in the strongest terms, reinforces the need to hold Russia to account for its egregious international actions. There’s no doubt that Russia’s invasion has been a painful reminder to those who lost loved ones on flight MH17.

We all remember 38 Australian citizens and permanent residents were killed. We can’t take away their grief. The Australian government is committed to pursuing every avenue to ensure that this horrific tragedy is not repeated. And we will continue tirelessly in our efforts with close partners to hold Russia to account for its violations of international law, including the threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty and air space.

You can read our story on the announcement below.

LNP senator Gerard Rennick has filed over 100 questions on notice to the health department about vaccines and other Covid-19 treatments. It’s not too dissimilar to what he posts on Facebook.

I don’t think I’ve seen any member of parliament, let alone a member of the government, ask that many questions out of Senate estimates in one go at one agency on the one topic.

It has been pointed out to me that with the election called in a matter of weeks, it’s quite likely these questions will remain unanswered at least until after the election if they get re-filed.

Labor senator Tony Sheldon has said he has Covid-19.

Looks like the Sydney Metro is experiencing an issue.

A coal mine in the NSW upper Hunter region has had its development approval extended by five years following legal action.

The Dartbrook coal mine is a mothballed mine that had been in care and maintenance for more than a decade.

In 2019, Australian Pacific Coal received consent from the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) to modify the operations from longwall mining methods to bord and pillar mining.

But its request to extend the mining approval from 2022 to 2027 was rejected.

The company appealed the decision in the NSW Land and Environment Court. Australian Pacific Coal and the IPC reached agreement through the court’s conciliation process and after public consultation.

That has resulted in approval of the extension, subject to additional conditions, including for noise and the method of transport for coal from the site.

The court formalised the agreement on Friday.

Updated

Queensland’s integrity commissioner has told the state parliament she was called “a bitch on a witch-hunt” by the chief executive of the Public Service Commission during a phone conversation in 2018.

Chalmers reiterates that whether Labor supports a proposed fuel excise relief would depend on the entirety of the budget, and Labor won’t be drawn on agreeing to a policy that is still ultimately hypothetical at this stage.

Depends what else is in the budget. Depends if there’s other substantial spending in the budget. We don’t know what the government will do with the low and middle income tax offset, beer excise, petrol excise.

I think your viewers would understand, as the alternative government and Labor wants to be very responsible with the people’s budget, is to factor in all of the announcements in the budget to work out what’s affordable, responsible and right in the context of an economy which is precariously balanced between the shocks of the recent past and the opportunities of the future.

We have got a lot of tasks for rebuilding after the floods. Making sure we can grow the economy without adding to these inflationary pressures. That’s why we take those responsibilities so seriously and [balance] what the government proposes against all the other things in the budget.

Updated

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers is up next, and he won’t say whether Labor would support fuel excise relief until the government announces any plan in the budget and what that plan looks like.

The most important thing for us is to make sure, as the alternative government, that we’re doing the right thing by working families but the right thing by the budget and the economy. None of these changes which have been proposed come cheaply. So our responsibility is to weigh up this against all of the other competing priorities. It’s also important to remember and recognise that as Australian families are under these extreme cost of living pressures and their real wages are going backwards and falling further behind, is that there’s more than one way to deal with these cost of living pressures. We have said we want to help people with power bills and make childcare cheaper as well and get wages growing again.

He says the government cannot blame petrol prices on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine alone.

There’s been upward pressure on petrol prices for some time before that and more broadly too, Australian working families have been under extreme cost of living pressures for some time now. The government shouldn’t pretend it’s all Russia-Ukraine. Obviously that is part of the story but it’s not the whole story.

Updated

Agriculture minister David Littleproud tells the ABC that premiers pushing for the federal government to cut fuel excise have their own ways to lower costs for drivers.

Cost of living pressures are significant. Fuel is just but one of them. We have made sure we put downward pressure on interest rates, electricity, and the event in Ukraine has meant we’ve seen a significant spike in international prices and that’s been felt at the bowser.

And I understand there’s been calls from premiers in particular, they can also help. If they were so inclined and so passionate about it they could remove registration. That would help motorists as well and drive down a lot of those living costs that are putting pressure on households. But the prime minister and the treasurer will work through this through the normal process and we’ll be making decisions and understanding this is a challenge for our households out there, putting stress on those budgets and making sure that people and families can put bread and butter on their table.

He wouldn’t be drawn on whether it would be in the budget at the end of this month, nor on whether the reports about a cut in tax on beer is also on the cards.

What we’re trying to do is pull the levers that will continue to make sure that the economy continues to grow, as the RBA chairman and president has said. We’re moving in the right direction and continue to accelerate that and do it responsibly but making sure the levers we pull have impact at a household level so households have the power to use their money the way they want to and that goes back into the economy. They’re the ones that will empower the economy to move forward. That’s why [it’s] not only fuel excise we’re looking at, we’re also looking at other ways we can empower people and reduce taxes.

Updated

New Zealand is cutting fuel taxes and halving public transport fares in response to the “wicked perfect storm” fueling global inflation, AAP reports:

Regular unleaded petrol costs more than $3 a litre in New Zealand, with some economists predicting it could reach $4 this year.

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has produced a “global energy crisis”, and a “shock and a spike in prices at the pump felt by the whole world”.

“The impact of the war sits on top of the pain already caused by the pandemic with global supply chain disruption and increases in consumer demand causing high levels of inflation in many countries,” she said.

“We are in a wicked perfect storm, and it’s a storm that’s affecting people’s lives.”

New Zealanders are feeling the pinch more than most, currently enduring the highest CPI inflation levels since the early 1990s.

Ardern’s response is to cut petrol excise duty and road user charges for the next three months, which will reduce the cost of filling a 60 litre tank of petrol by around $NZ17 ($A16).

The government will fund the shortfall by moving $NZ350 million ($A327 million) from its unallocated Covid-19 response fund.

Energy minister Megan Woods said she had spoken to leaders at petrol companies, seeking assurances they would pass on the discounts to consumers.

For three months beginning 1 April, public transport will also be half price, which will cost approximately $NZ40 millon ($A37 million).

Updated

The head of Emergency Management Australia, Joe Buffone, has defended the federal government’s handling of the response to the floods in NSW and Queensland.

He said the EMA, the ADF and defence department have been working very closely with Queensland and NSW emergency services and recovery agencies.

This weather and flood event was very, very complicated. It was persistent, dynamic and very complicated. It started in Gympie and moved all the way down to Kiama in New South Wales, with many, many communities being affected and some of them re-impacted by the complex system. At one stage it was forecast to push to the Victorian border and parts of Tasmania. In these circumstances, decisions are made very often in difficult circumstances with limited time and with incomplete information.

That is the nature of disasters. They are made at every level, with the best information available at the time and everyone, everyone does their absolute best in these circumstances. So, we continue to work closely with the operational leads in the states, to make sure we are connected, we are co-ordinated, and this has been the case for this disaster, and we will continue to do so.

He said states have the responsibility for coordinating and planning for a response to disasters, and the federal government does not have legal jurisdiction to respond without being requested or tasked by the state.

The Australian Government Disaster Response Plan, known as Com-Dis-Plan, is how these requests are co-ordinated at the commonwealth level. The commonwealth does not have the legal authority to take over or respond without authority from the states. So as the disaster unfolds and escalates, the commonwealth does not become the jurisdiction of responsibility.

How it also works is the commonwealth and the ADF rally troops so they can deploy as quickly as possible. That means we need lead time and what happens is that when there is a statement made that there are 2,000 ADF troops available, that means they have put on reduced notice to move, or basically they can be tasked and deployed within 24 hours. That is how the system works. The state remains in charge and the capability or the ADF are deployed under the tasking and direction.

Updated

Here’s the latest national Covid update via AAP:

  • 26,063 new reported cases: 8,911 in NSW, 5,499 in Victoria, 3,797 in Queensland, 4,037 in Western Australia, 2,099 in South Australia, 923 in Tasmania, 599 in the ACT and 198 in the Northern Territory.
  • The national death toll stands at 5,591 (+4): Victoria 2,645 (+1), NSW 1,981 (+1), Queensland 634 (+2), South Australia 222, ACT 37, NT 31, Tasmania 26 and WA 13. (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states).
  • There have been 55,149,115 vaccine doses administered in the national Covid-19 rollout up to Sunday, including 34,594 recorded in the previous 24 hours.
  • Of that total, 34,764,919 have been administered by commonwealth facilities, an increase of 15,603 in the previous 24 hours.
  • State and territory facilities have administered 20,384,196 vaccines, an increase of 18,991 in the previous 24 hours.
  • 96.55% of people aged 16 and over have had at least one dose of a Coivd-19 vaccine and 94.75% are double vaccinated.
  • A total of 12,209,966 people have received more than two doses - with a booster or top-up shot - an increase of 14,145 in the previous 24 hours.

Updated

New documents reveal the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption has asked detailed questions about a $107,000 grant made by the former deputy premier, John Barilaro, to Monaro Farming Systems, a company linked to the family of federal cabinet minister Angus Taylor.

NSW opposition leader Chris Minns said it looked like the federal and state government were “fighting like schoolkids” while towns were flooding.

“You can’t leave somebody standing on a street corner pointing the finger about who did what,” AAP reports he said on Monday.

“The truth is no one did enough.”

“This squabbling between the federal and state government needs to be put to one side, they need to stop pointing the finger at each other ... these guys are all supposed to be from the same political party.”

The SES has determined 3,396 homes are uninhabitable and 6,708 were inundated as 120 motor homes are sent to the northern rivers region to deal with the shortage of accommodation.

Some 1,100 people are in emergency accommodation and 134 remain in evacuation centres.

Updated

NSW confirms sixth case of Japanese encephalitis

NSW Health has confirmed a sixth case of Japanese encephalitis in the state – a man in his 60s from the Balranald area in the Riverina region. He is being treated in a hospital in Victoria.

NSW Health says:

Several more people in NSW are currently undergoing further testing for JE.

The JE virus is spread by mosquitoes and can infect animals and humans. The virus cannot be transmitted between humans, and it cannot be caught by eating pork or other pig products.

There is no specific treatment for JE, which can cause severe neurological illness with headache, convulsions and reduced consciousness in some cases.

The best thing people throughout the state can do to protect themselves and their families against JE is to take steps to avoid mosquito bites.

Updated

South Australia has reported 2,099 new Covid-19 cases

Updated

Queensland’s pandemic powers are no longer fit for purpose and improving transparency will help protect public confidence in decision makers, a parliamentary committee has been told.

AAP reports a bill to extend “essential public health measures” from 30 April to 31 October has been introduced to parliament and came under scrutiny at a committee hearing on Monday.

Under the bill, the special powers can also be ended sooner if the health minister declares an end to the public health emergency.

But the state’s Human Rights Commission does not support the extension, telling the committee the laws “must be replaced with more transparent, accountable and human rights compatible legislation”.

Much of Queensland’s success in handling the pandemic has relied on the public’s trust in decision making, Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall told the hearing on Monday.

“They’ve accepted extraordinary restrictions on their human rights,” he said.

Decisions made to address the next Covid-19 waves will be tough, and the public’s appetite to forgo their rights will be tested, he says.

“It’s really important that there is an effective transparent model in place that maintains public confidence in public health decision making.”

The bill seeks to extend temporary amendments to the Public Health Act that allow chief health officer John Gerrard to issue directions on restrictions of movement and gatherings, quarantine requirements and physical distancing.

The commission supports “pandemic specific” legislation passed in Victoria that makes the premier and health minister responsible for declaring pandemics and making health orders.

In doing so, the health minister must consult with the chief health officer, but may also take advice from other parties such as the Human Rights Commission, Mr McDougall said.

Advice given by the CHO, a statement of reasons and a statement of compatibility with human rights must be provided.

“That is a really effective and open, transparent model,” he said.

As Queensland enters a “living with Covid-19” phase, the bill notes “some restrictions may still need to be maintained or activated” including masks and vaccination requirements in high risk settings.

“Ongoing Covid-19 responses are likely to be driven by local epidemiological conditions, vaccination rates and health system capacity, as well as any measures needed to respond to the emergence of vaccine resistant variants or other unforeseen circumstances,” explanatory notes state.

The committee is due to table its report on 25 March.

Updated

Australia sanctions Russian oligarchs including Roman Abramovich

The Morrison government has slapped sanctions on the Russian billionaire owner of Chelsea football club following similar action by the UK, AAP reports:

Roman Abramovich was disqualified from running the English Premier League club by the league’s board after the government imposed an asset freeze and travel ban on the oligarch.

Abramovich was one of seven wealthy Russians targeted by the UK government in a further round of sanctions last week, which involved asset freezes, travel bans and an embargo on transactions with UK individuals and businesses.

Australia’s latest round of sanctions also include more than 30 Russian oligarchs, prominent business people and immediate family members.

The new sanctions cover the CEO of multinational energy corporation Gazprom, the chair of Russian defence conglomerate Rostec, the head of state-controlled oil pipeline company Transneft, the chairman of a development bank and the CEO of an investment fund.

“The sanctions reinforce Australia’s commitment to sanction those people who have amassed vast personal wealth and are of economic and strategic significance to Russia,” the foreign minister, Marise Payne said.

“Many of these oligarchs have facilitated, or directly benefited, from the Kremlin’s illegal and indefensible actions in Ukraine since 2014.”

Updated

The executive producer of Four Corners, Sally Neighbour, is leaving the ABC after seven years heading up the flagship investigative program.

Neighbour has had overseas postings in Beijing and Hong Kong, presented Lateline, worked as a senior investigative journalist on Four Corners and was executive producer of 7.30.


ABC managing director David Anderson said Neighbour had led a ground-breaking team of journalists at Four Corners and “under her leadership the program has delivered some of the most important public interest investigations of recent years’”.

Neighbour said:

It’s been an extraordinary honour and privilege to lead this amazing program for the past seven years and to work with the fearless, dedicated team of journalists and program makers who keep it at the forefront of Australian journalism.

I have absolutely loved the role and the people I work with and I want to thank them all for their tireless commitment to holding power to account in this country and abroad.

I know Four Corners is safe and strong in their hands. For me, it’s time for a long holiday and some new adventures.

The Northern Territory has recorded 198 new Covid-19 cases, AAP reports.

Twenty-six people are in hospital, with seven patients requiring oxygen and two in intensive care, NT Health said on Monday

Of the new cases, 124 were recorded in the Top End, 22 in central Australia, five in East Arnhem and 16 were diagnosed in the Big Rivers region, south of Darwin.

About 30 cases are under investigation.

And with that I will hand the blog over to Josh Taylor. Thanks for reading.

And final question for the PM: when will he call the election?

An election is due this year, it’s due [by] the middle of May.

Updated

The PM says reports that national cabinet were not informed of the extent of forecast flooding was “misinformed”.

It was at my instigation. I have seen those reports today. They must have been misinformed because I arranged, as we do before every major season, I arranged for our cabinet to be briefed by the Bureau of Meteorology and the director of emergency management on the upcoming weather conditions, which looks not just at floods but bushfires and cyclones – and the issues we’re going to be facing over this summer were going to be cyclones and floods.

No one was predicting a one in 500 year flood, I should stress, which is what impacted in Lismore and no one in Lismore was predicting a one in 500-year flood. What has occurred there is at a scale that we have never seen before in that part of Australia. So yes, I took the initiative, arranged for that meeting and ensured that national cabinet was briefed on those matters and I was pleased to have done that. That’s what my role was as the chair of national cabinet.

Scott Morrison meets employees during a visit to FMC Australia in Wyong, on the Central Coast.
Scott Morrison meets employees during a visit to FMC Australia in Wyong, on the Central Coast. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Updated

The PM next denies that the government hasn’t learned from past flood events, or even extreme weather events, but does say that government agencies are “learning every single time”:

When the floods hit Brisbane a fortnight ago, we saw the ADF turn out in four times the number and about a week earlier.

Now, that says to me that lessons are learned from one disaster to the next, and evacuation plans, communications, most recently when it comes to the deployment of Australian defence forces in these flood events, what occurs is we have a commander who has embedded ADF members in the state management centres for those crises.

And those state embedded ADF officers are directly tasked by the State Emergency Services so there isn’t a process of having to go around between politicians and all of these sorts of things.

They directly task, and we learnt that and employed that in the Hawkesbury floods a year ago. I was just in the Hawkesbury just the other day. And they have learned more from the response to the floods that they had a year ago.

Updated

Asked what he can actually do to help with increasing cost of living, the PM repeats his line:

I said the budget is in a couple of weeks’ time.

Next, Morrison is asked about the potential to cut the fuel excise and he does not change his line that a decision will be made when the budget is announced.

Nonetheless, the PM continues, saying Australians “understand” that the hike in fuel prices is not in his hands but due to the war in Ukraine:

We are very aware of what is occurring with petrol prices, and Australians understand that this has been caused – and the ACCC has confirmed this only in the last 24 hours – this has been caused by the disruption of the war in Europe and the invasion of Russia into Ukraine.

Now, Australians understand that and we understand it ... these cost of living impacts are real, and the Australian government understands that.

As I said, the budget is in a couple of weeks, and that’s when announcements are made about all matters in relation to the budget and I don’t intend to engage in pre-budget speculation on this matter or any other matter.

Updated

The PM has continued to discuss investment in healthcare, defending his government’s track record on health funding:

Our government has steered Australia through the biggest global pandemic we’ve seen in a century, and we have not only saved more than 40,000 lives, and many of those lives would have been saved here on the Central Coast because of the vulnerabilities of the older population and things of that nature.

And we’ve done that as well as bringing the economy through stronger than all of the G7 economies and getting our vaccination rates up amongst some of the highest in the world, which is critical to dealing with the severity of the virus and its impact on individuals.

Now, healthcare remains central to the government’s agenda but you know how you pay for healthcare? With a strong economy. You’ll hear plenty of people say to you, “We want to spend more on this, more on that, we want to spend more than that.”

Well, we have and the reason we can do is because we know how to manage an economy. If you don’t have a strong economy you cannot fund the essential services that Australians rely on, and most significantly that means health. But it hasn’t just been health we have increased funding for.

Updated

Next, the PM is asked health investment in Dobell, and referred to the 90% vaccination rate there.

What we’ve been doing is investing not only in GPs, particularly when it comes to telehealth, one of the biggest reforms to primary care delivery in this country, which was borne out of the pandemic and we have taken forward as a major reform initiative. But we have continued to increase bulk-billing rates right across the country and that is particularly true here in Dobell.

The bulk-billing rates that we’re achieving here in Dobell are some of the highest in the country, and that’s happening because of the services that are available here on the Central Coast. And we’ll have a bit more to say about these issues as we get into budget in a few more weeks’ time.

But the commitment we have is to ensure we keep those bulk-billing rates where they are. The investments we have made in our hospitals as well far outweigh the increase in funding that we have seen from state governments right around the country.

We have massively increased our investment through the national health reform agreement, which sees us go to 45% now of the hospital funding, and during the Covid period we’ve been funding it at 50% for all Covid-related expenditure.

Updated

The PM has stepped up for his press conference in Wyong, beginning by discussing how important the Hunter region will be to Australia’s “energy future”.

Here and all the way up through the Hunter is a region that will play a big role in Australia’s energy future. I mean, right now we’re seeing the world re-evaluate where it gets its energy from because of the war in Europe and particularly obviously what’s occurring with Russia and Ukraine.

And you’ve got 40% of the world’s gas being taken in Europe – I should say, 40% of Europe’s gas is dependent on Russia – and so major advanced economies in the world today are considering again what their supply chains are.

In addition to that the discussion I had with the German chancellor a few weeks ago, just a week or so ago when I was in isolation. One of the first things he wanted to talk to me about was Australia’s hydrogen production because they know they need to change where they’re getting their energy from in Europe and Australia has great opportunities for that and
the Hunter is central to our plans – the Central Coast and Hunter is central to our plans about developing that capability.

Updated

Anthony Albanese is in Townsville today, announcing a potential future Labor government would invest $22m in the Lansdown Industrial Precinct.

Labor says the project would create over 5,000 jobs in construction, with a further 6,000 permanent ongoing jobs and 9,100 indirect jobs to follow when it is fully operating.

Albanese took the chance to lash the government for its approach to funding, referencing the scrapped plans to spend $65m on four car parks in Josh Frydenberg’s electorate.

You’ve got energy providers here ready to invest their money to make clean energy, which makes then the manufacturing facility that they want to locate at Lansdown there.

And what it needs is for the federal government to step up and show some leadership. This government announced and then withdrew $65 million for commuter car parks in Josh Frydenberg’s own seat as treasurer, three years ago before the last campaign, before they withdrew it a couple of weeks ago.

The combined $65 million for commuter car parks in the middle of Melbourne, where there’s no train station for the commuters to get on! They found the money for that. What they can’t find the money for is to back in jobs and care in North Queensland.

This is a project that stacks up. Unlike what the government does, which is to get out its colour-coded spreadsheet, look at the marginality of seats and to make decisions based upon that colour-code. This is based upon the evidence which is there, the private sector saying we want to get stuck in and create jobs.

Updated

No to Violence, the largest peak body for organisations who work with men to end family violence, has released its pre-election ask.

Chief executive, Jacqui Watt, said the following five funding initiatives are critical “if the government is serious about ending men’s family violence”:

  • Funding for programs that work with men to stop violence, including the national Men’s Referral Service
  • A national evaluation framework to rigorously assess which programs work to stop men using violence
  • A national partnership agreement between the commonwealth, states and territories
  • Training in risk assessment for all employees who work with people impacted by family, domestic and sexual violence to properly identify perpetrators
  • Funding to support the families and children of those enrolled in perpetrator intervention programs

Watt said:

Family and domestic violence is everyone’s problem. But it begins – and ends – with men. ... Terrorised women are fleeing their homes with their children because they are not safe. Others remain in high-risk situations with their children because they are too unsafe to leave. Our sector is doing truly fantastic work by starting men on their journey to change. But chronic underfunding and the way services are commissioned leaves little room for evaluation, innovation, research, and a fit-for-purpose service system capable of supporting every man who needs it.

For too long, victim-survivors have carried the burden of navigating a system that meets their cries for help with disbelief or bureaucracy; a system that requires women to relive their trauma by repeatedly sharing their stories; a system that puts women at risk because it focuses on what women should do to avoid violence, instead of what men should do to stop using violence.

Updated

QLD reports 3,797 new cases, two deaths

And Queensland has reported their overall case numbers, with 3,797 new cases overnight, and two deaths.

Queensland health minister tests positive for Covid

Queensland’s health minister Yvette D’Ath has tested positive for Covid.

D’Ath said she had mild symptoms, and that she was glad she had recieved her vaccine shots.

I am grateful that I have received all of my vaccination shots,” she wrote on social media.

It is a timely reminder for all Queenslanders that Covid is still in our community.

Queensland health minister Yvette D’Ath.
Queensland health minister Yvette D’Ath. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Updated

ACT records 599 new cases

The Australian Capital Territory has reported 599 new cases overnight.

Meanwhile, sticking with our newly launched state coverage, you can read Adeshola Ore’s excellent interview with Melbourne’s lord mayor, Sally Capp, and her quest to make Melbourne a “city of yes”:

Overall, it’s about us being more of a city of ‘yes’ to some of those ideas.

It’s that sense of creativity, it’s the irreverence, it’s the thinking outside the box. It’s a sense of adventure – even misadventure – that the whole creative sector brings to communities, cities and economies that’s so important. So absolutely we’re dedicated to making sure that we remain that cultural capital.

Updated

The PM is touring Wyong, on the NSW central coast today, and will be holding a press conference shortly.

Updated

One hundred critically endangered southern corroboree frogs have returned to their native habitat in Kosciuszko national park to enjoy life in a purpose-built field enclosure designed to protect them, according to the AAP.

Before the intervention, a deadly fungal disease was wiping out the frogs in the NSW Snowy Mountains, with an estimated 30 remaining in the wild.

They were also plagued by the previous drought, habitat degradation from invasive species and badly affected by the 2019-20 east coast bushfires.

The released frogs will have field enclosures with irrigation systems for fire-proofing, as well as remote cameras to monitor their progress.

NSW environment minister James Griffin said the release was “conservation in action, and it’s working”.

The project is a partnership between the NSW government’s Saving our Species program, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Taronga Conservation Society Australia and Zoos Victoria.

Taronga Conservation Society Australia herpetofauna unit supervisor Michael McFadden said its successful breeding program has an ‘insurance population’ of about 400 frogs.

Corroboree frogs’ biology is adapted for cold alpine climates, so the terrariums where they are bred are kept refrigerated to match seasonal temperature variation in their natural habitat.

Timing the release of these frogs is crucial for their survival, allowing them sufficient time to acclimatise and prepare for hibernation ahead of winter.

The Southern Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne corroboree).
The Southern Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne corroboree). Photograph: Zoos Victoria

Updated

NRMA says any fuel excise cuts likely to be 'eaten up' by soaring prices

Peter Khoury from the NRMA has said any changes to the petrol excise would be “eaten up” soon after due to the forecast skyrocketing price of fuel.

Khoury told the ABC that most capital cities are now facing prices of $2 a litre, saying the prices were unlike anything seen in recent times.

Every capital city is now well and truly above $2 a litre.

Adelaide’s an average of $2.20 and every regional town and centre has pretty much broken that $2 a litre anything. In addition to that, diesel is even more expensive. And so, you know, we are really kind of struggling to see any relief. This is coast to coast. And we most certainly have never seen anything quite like it in history.

We can either have a cut to the excise or we can have funding for transport but we can’t have both, and the challenge that we’ve got looking at that excise solution is that the real problem we are facing is that oil prices globally are completely out of control.

Now, the excise lever, if you were to pull it, even if you were to halve the excise and cut the average prices today by 20 cents a litre, the likelihood is that 20 cents will get eaten up and then some in the coming days and weeks.

That’s how bad the forecast for petrol prices are.

Fuel prices at a petrol station in Melbourne, Monday, 14 March 2022.
Fuel prices at a petrol station in Melbourne, Monday, 14 March 2022. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

Updated

So you may have noticed changes to the Guardian front page, as we launch a new section dedicated to state news in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.

You can read a quick explainer on the new sections from Conal Hanna below:

Building on the below report, the former officer in charge of the Queensland police domestic violence unit told Ben Smee decades of “Band-Aid” and “patchwork” reforms have clearly failed to protect vulnerable women.

Retired Insp Regan Carr said she felt “sick” reading how a desperate Logan woman, Doreen Langham, contacted police 20 separate times and was “basically told to go away and don’t come back” in the days before she was killed by her former partner.

It’s the same story, it’s like a broken record to a certain degree.

It’s 2022 and women are still dying horrifically. We have so much research, so much evidence, we have the best of the best equipment, and we’re still not getting it right.

Part of it is asking, ‘What is it that has to change?’

You can read more on the story at the link below:

Updated

Queensland police commissioner says state's domestic violence cases make up 40% of workload

Queensland’s police commissioner says the state’s domestic violence cases are escalating, making up 40% of their work after two more alleged attacks over the weekend, according to AAP.

Katarina Carroll says some of the incidents are “beyond belief”. A man has been charged after fuel was poured over a car with children inside, while another has been charged with attempted murder.

It came after a man died from burns in a suspicious Logan house fire that allegedly involved petrol being thrown by a woman who also died last Thursday night.

Carroll says there are more than 120,000 domestic violence cases in Queensland each year.

I think the system vastly protects the majority of victims.

However, as always you have a minority that is so difficult to deal with. It’s beyond belief as to what perpetrators get up to in terms of wreaking havoc in the community.

I can’t understand how someone can do that.

Carroll wasn’t sure whether domestic violence was more prevalent or people were more comfortable reporting it, but said cases were soaring in Queensland.

Queensland police commissioner Katarina Carroll.
Queensland police commissioner Katarina Carroll. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Certainly the numbers are escalating whichever way you look at it.

There has been an exponential increase in domestic violence over the years – it is 40% of our work currently and in Logan [south of Brisbane] it is about 50%.

Her comments come after police were called to a Toowoomba address on Saturday morning amid reports a man was threatening a woman he knew and pouring fuel over a vehicle containing two children.

A 34-year-old Wilsonton man has been charged with three counts of acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm.

Another Queensland man was charged with attempted murder after he allegedly tried to strangle and suffocate a woman in the outer Brisbane suburb on Kenmore about 2.30am on Saturday.

Carroll says she is confident Queensland police have enough staff to deal with the rising cases.

But she backed the parents of Hannah Clarke – who was burnt to death in a car with her three children in 2020 by her estranged husband – who said education was the key to stamping out domestic violence.

If you listen to Hannah Clarke’s parents, it’s not just about the response.

It’s about education from that very young age, [teaching] about equality and respect.

I know that sounds simple but that needs to be ingrained in our children and society – that’s what it comes down to.

Updated

Victoria’s premier Daniel Andrews is announcing details of a $245.6m trial of paid sick leave for people in insecure employment.

The trial, which will run for two years, will mean eligible casual and contract workers in certain occupations will receive up to five days a year of sick or carer’s pay at the national minimum wage.

Occupations included in the first phase include hospitality workers, food trades workers and preparation assistants such as chefs and kitchen hands, supermarket and supply chain workers, retail and sales assistants, aged and disability care workers, cleaners and laundry workers and security guards.

Andrews says it’s anticipated more than 150,000 workers will be eligible in this first phase.

As reported this morning if the scheme becomes permanent it will be funded by an industry levy.

Former emergency service chiefs blast government's lack of disaster preparedness

Thirty-seven former senior Australian fire and emergency service chiefs have released a statement, slamming the government for not being adequately prepared for “extreme weather events”.

Releasing the statement via the Climate Council, the former chiefs said that while weather disasters are increasing in “both intensity and frequency”, that was not an excuse for being unprepared.

Climate scientists have been warning us for decades of catastrophic disasters, and unfortunately we are experiencing those now – and more often.

Right now, we’re dangerously unprepared for impacts of accelerating climate change.

This was clear in the lead up to the Black Summer bushfires of 2019/2020, and it is still the case today.

The lessons are there – but no one is learning them. If state and federal governments had implemented all the recommendations of the royal commission into natural disaster arrangements this flooding disaster could have unfolded very differently.

In no way should this be read as commentary on the response of emergency services. They work with the resourcing they are provided with at any given time.

This is criticism directed squarely at the Morrison government which is tasked with coordinating our national response and was in a position to begin enacting every recommendation of the royal commission over 500 days ago.

At this point, truly transformative climate action is required. This means reducing greenhouse emissions by 75% by 2030, and reaching net zero emissions by 2035. Both this, and adequate preparation is the job of the federal government.

Updated

NSW emergency services minister Steph Cooke has said there will be an independent review of the response to the floods in northern NSW.

Cooke was speaking to 2GB earlier today, and lamented that the government “can always do better next time”.

I think we can always do better next time.

There’s no question of that. That’s why we’re looking to do an independent review of the immediate response and the immediate aftermath in terms of what was deployed and when and what discussions were had.

Updated

I just wanted to return to Brad Hazzard for a bit, who also was also on the Today show, saying he didn’t think “pointing the blame game”, in reference to discussions on the flood response, was helpful.

[Different agencies] worked together extremely well during this difficult environment and I think that trying to cast blame is not actually helpful.

Earlier, on the ABC, he said something similar, adding that he thought the media was somewhat to blame for making this into a point of discussion:

I am sorry to say it but sometimes the media like to put the point of blame back on various people. There will be a review and no doubt there will be learnings again, as there is in every crisis but it is not helpful to have a blame game going on and all through the two-year pandemic, you wouldn’t have heard me say a word about any other state government’s views and not criticising the federal government was very much at the forefront as well.

Updated

Victoria records 5,499 new Covid cases, one death

Victoria has reported 5,499 new Covid cases and one death overnight.

Updated

NSW records 8,911 new Covid cases, one death

NSW has reported 8,911 new Covid cases and one death overnight.

Updated

Victorians will be able to snap up one of 150,000 travel vouchers this month, as part of a renewed attempt by the Andrews government to kick-start tourism across the state.

The $100m scheme consisting of dining, wining and travel vouchers was unveiled by the Andrews government last month.

On Tuesday, an initial 10,000 vouchers will be available only for seniors. The cohort had previously struggled to access the vouchers that are quickly snapped up online. Registration opens at 11am, with successful recipients chosen by a random ballot.

Eligible Seniors Card holders will receive a $200 reimbursement if they spend $400 or more on paid accommodation, tours or experiences.

From Wednesday 23 March, 140,000 of the vouchers will be made available for the general public. The vouchers will be offered on a first-come-first served basis and close once the limit is reached. Successful applicants must spend a minimum of $400 and stay for at least two nights in paid accommodation such as hotels, caravan parks or camping sites.

Vouchers will be valid for travel between 8 April and 27 May.

Acting tourism minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the voucher program had encouraged Victorians to “explore the best of our state” and support local businesses:

We want people to explore our great state and provide a boost to tourism businesses as the sector continues its recovery from the impact of the pandemic.

Updated

NSW health minister 'not keen' on reintroducing Covid restrictions

NSW health minister Brad Hazzard was up on ABC News earlier, saying he was not keen on reintroducing Covid restrictions because “everybody is over it”.

Hazzard was discussing the BA2 Omicron sub-variant, which he says is reportedly more infectious than the initial Omicron variant, and while he urged people to get their booster shot, he made it clear he was not keen to bring back any restrictions:

Everybody is over it, putting it bluntly.

Still wear masks – my advice and the health team in New South Wales’s advice and generally health teams across the state, particularly in WA where they are seeing a rapid increase, is if you’re near other people, stick to the basics.

The advice I had last week was preliminary advice and you would understand ministers get prelim advice that is not necessarily ready in a final state to go out to a public arena until we have locked it all in, but this piece of advice somehow managed to get out to the media and I am making it clear that I am not keen to go back down the lockdowns and the no singing and dancing and other aspects line. But I understand that there might be some recommendations that are being considered by the epidemiologists, the public health physicians but we have to balance mental health issues, the economic issues, young people having their cognitive development, being able to go to school, all of the things which have been so destructive for two years.

Updated

NSW SES commissioner Carlene York has apologised to flood victims in northern NSW, saying the agency believed the emergency was “well within” their capacity at the time.

York was on Sunrise this morning, and when asked her response to people having to save their neighbours, said she was “sorry that they had to stay on the roofs, I’ll certainly admit that”.

Look, I feel for the people that are there. I am sorry that they had to stay stay on the roofs. Yes, I certainly admit that. But we put as many resources there based on the forecast, based on the history, so a couple of volunteers who have lived in that area know the flooded waters know what should happen.

But this was an unprecedented weather event that just fell so quickly, so strongly, so heavily in that area that you know it just it rose quickly and it rose much bigger than we thought it was forecast in the afternoon of the 28th.

And here we were in the evening of early morning of the 28th with those waters rapidly rising and I must say in areas that have never been flooded before. So you know, it would be nice to have this hindsight. At that time, we were dealing on the information that we had at the time.

Rescue volunteers patrol around the flooded houses next to the old Windsor Bridge along the overflowing Hawkesbury river, 9 March 2022.
Rescue volunteers patrol around the flooded houses next to the old Windsor Bridge along the overflowing Hawkesbury river, 9 March 2022. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce has said he is unbothered by the latest polling results showing the Coalition still lagging behind Labor.

Speaking to Sunrise this morning, Joyce said Australia is going through “precarious times”, adding that “whatever choice the voters make is the right one”.

This is precarious times, there is no doubt about it.

The Australian people have to make a choice of who is more likely to make a nation as strong as possible as quickly as possible.

You can’t always see where [Labor] are going to spend money, I can never understand where they are going to earn it from, and that’s what worries a lot of people.

Asked if he supports a NSW parliamentary inquiry into the delayed response to the flooding crisis in northern NSW, Joyce again shrugged:

The NSW parliament can do whatever it chooses.

It’s its own entity. But I hope the NSW government does start constructing dams and start doing some of the mitigation measures which are so important. Procrastination is not the place of governments. It’s immediate action.

Updated

Cruise ship ban could lift soon

The minister for trade and tourism, Dan Tehan, was on RN Breakfast just now, and indicated that the emergency ban on cruise ships could be lifted soon, saying an announcement will be made “in the next couple of days”.

Asked what health measures will be taken to prevent another Ruby Princess debacle, Tehan said it was down to state health officials:

A lot of work has been done to make sure that the protocols are in place, including making sure that we can collaboratively work between federal government responsibilities and use and state and territory government responsibilities.

Tehan also said he hoped increased fuel prices wouldn’t affect the tourism industry too extensively:

All the research we’re seeing is that the people who want to make a trip and come to Australia ... are prepared to pay to do so ... so our hope is the extra cost won’t dissuade.

The Ruby Princess cruise ship in the waters of Manila Bay, Philippines.
The Ruby Princess cruise ship in the waters of Manila Bay, Philippines. Photograph: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images

Updated

Good morning

Mostafa Rachwani with you this morning, taking you through the day’s news.

We begin with federal politics, with reports this morning that the prime minister, Scott Morrison, is facing pressure from state leaders to cut some of the government’s petrol and diesel excise, as fuel prices skyrocket.

Speaking to Channel Nine yesterday, Morrison did not rule out cutting the excise, repeatedly referring to the federal budget due at the end of the month.

Petrol prices have soared to up to $2.20 a litre, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the US decision to ban importation of Russian oil.

Elsewhere, the opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, has drawn level with the prime minister in the latest Newspoll results for the first time in nearly two years.

The Australian reported the results, which showed Labor maintaining a six-point lead over the Coalition. Albanese yesterday told 60 Minutes he was “hungry” for victory in the upcoming federal election.

In New South Wales, the SMH is reporting that the state government requested Australia Defence Force personnel to aid flood-affected communities in northern NSW up to five days before media reports of troops heading there.

It comes after NewsCorp reported on Sunday that the NSW government had actually rejected offers from the ADF to help, in a sign of escalating tensions between the NSW and federal governments as to why there was a delay in responding to the floods.

Meanwhile, the NSW transport network is still under pressure today, with delays and cancellations due to flood damage to track works. It comes as industrial action by the Electrical Trades Union is due to begin today, preventing members from doing certain maintenance across the network, potentially increasing delays.

We’ll also be keeping an eye on Covid numbers today, and on ongoing discussions around the flood response, as well as everything else happening across the country.

Updated

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