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

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

7.49am GMT

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.

7.48am GMT

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 at 7.51am GMT