What we learned, Monday 23 March
And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big headlines:
Governments around the world are unprepared for the growing threat of drones being used to carry out terror attacks, the Lowy Institute said. Advances in drone technology, 3D printing and AI-assisted navigation should prompt leaders to rethink anti-extremism strategies.
The Liberal party’s deputy leader, Jane Hume, says the South Australian election result has sent a message to her party: that the public is “looking for a change”. Speaking on RN Breakfast, One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said the South Australian election results show a “corroboration of where the polling is”.
Mark Butler said the government is working with regional partners to secure fuel supplies, and reiterated that of the six oil shipments to Australia that have been cancelled or deferred, in most cases, replacements are “being organised”.
Politicians around the country weighed in on whether workers should be prompted to stay home more, considering the issues with fuel supply. New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns, said asking public servants to work from home in the state “wouldn’t make much of a difference” to shortages caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, addressed the National Press Club, and said the public needs to understand the “depth of the problem” facing the globe. Birol said a list of measures, including encouraging more people to work from home, reducing speed limits and reducing air travel to save fuel, are based on “years of experience”.
A parliamentary committee will examine the level of fraud within the National Disability Insurance Scheme as the federal government continues to look for ways to curb the rising cost of the scheme in the years ahead.
The Brisbane Anglican archbishop, Jeremy Greaves, has apologised to survivor Beth Heinrich for the church’s handling of her abuse complaint, including for comments made by his predecessor and former governor general Peter Hollingworth. Guardian Australia revealed last month that Greaves was poised to make a historic apology to Heinrich, who has fought for justice for decades.
Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We will be back tomorrow to do it all again.
Updated
Ed Husic calls for ‘comprehensive, economy-wide’ laws to manage risks of AI
Labor backbencher Ed Husic has called for national laws to manage the risks of artificial intelligence, after thousands of tech workers lost their jobs to the technology.
The move placed him at odds with the Albanese government’s approach, which recently scrapped plans for stand-alone AI laws.
Husic, who was Labor’s science minister up until the 2025 election, said:
Governments can’t just be cheerleaders for novel uses of AI, they must prepare and dilute the associated risks.
We need a comprehensive, economy-wide national AI act that identifies risks and sets out our expectations for how to manage them and build sorely needed confidence in AI.
We can’t have a hands off, laissez-faire approach to AI, or just respond in a knee-jerk, spasmodic way to the AI risks that only threaten the loudest, or most powerful, voices in society.
Husic’s comments followed the release of a set of “national data centre expectations”, a set of voluntary measures for industry players seeking priority assessment by the federal government.
Updated
Iran has western nations ‘by the balls’ in the strait of Hormuz, Hastie says
Hastie said Australian consumers are getting smashed by the US-Israeli war with Iran, with the US unprepared for the strait of Hormuz to be closed for so long.
He said:
I don’t think anyone expected the Iranians to have us by the balls – as they do – in the strait of Hormuz, and that’s squeezing a lot of countries who are allied to the United States and who are dependent on the importation of hydrocarbons out of the Middle East.
Lives are getting lost and I want to make that point, it is the most important, but for people watching, Australian consumers are getting smashed …
The longer this goes on, the harder it will get. I had $3 on the weekend for a litre of diesel, and are people talking about it going up to $4.
Updated
Hastie says Liberal party will 'become extinct' if it does not respond to housing pressures
Opposition industry spokesperson, Andrew Hastie, has been on Afternoon Briefing, where he said he is open to having a discussion on housing policies.
He said if the Liberal party doesn’t act on housing and helping first home buyers into the market, they will “become extinct”:
People feel like they have no control over their lives and they want to regain control … the housing market, particularly as it is, is rigged against them. There is a policy debate to be had…
Young Australians want tear down the system because it does not work for them, and if we are not responsive, we’ll become extinct. That is the reality.
Updated
Newcastle man charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing musician outside venue
A man has been charged with attempted murder following the alleged stabbing of a musician outside a sports club over an ex-partner.
The 69-year-old musician was stabbed several times in his chest and back near the venue’s entrance in Newcastle, where he had been performing on Sunday night.
Emergency crews were called to Club Merewether at 7.40pm and treated the injured man before he was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Police said the 53-year-old alleged attacker left the scene before officers arrived, but was arrested at a home in Stockton, in Newcastle’s north, early on Monday morning.
He was charged with domestic-violence-related attempted murder and contravening an AVO. He was due to face court on Monday.
– AAP
Updated
Anglican archbishop apologises for former governor general's failures in abuse case
The Brisbane Anglican archbishop, Jeremy Greaves, has apologised to survivor Beth Heinrich for the church’s handling of her abuse complaint, including for comments made by his predecessor and former governor general Peter Hollingworth.
Guardian Australia revealed last month that Greaves was poised to make a historic apology to Heinrich, who has fought for justice for decades.
Heinrich was abused by Reverend Donald Shearman, now dead, and was then subjected to comments in the national media by Hollingworth.
While governor general, Hollingworth appeared on ABC television in 2002 and suggested that Heinrich, 14, had instigated a sexual relationship with Shearman, a married priest. Hollingworth has also been found to have failed to act to remove Shearman after becoming aware of complaints about him.
Greaves spoke at an Evensong service on Sunday evening, which Heinrich attended.
He said:
Most grievously, those in positions of senior leadership within the Brisbane diocese, including former archbishop Peter Hollingworth, failed Beth. Rather than responding with compassion, justice and accountability, the church’s response compounded her suffering, and this was wrong. Too often, as has been the case here, a victim-survivor was blamed, rather than supported, while the person responsible was defended or excused. Beth bore the weight of injustice for many years. We did not act as we should have, and for that we are deeply sorry.
Hollingworth has previously apologised for his failures and said he was “unduly influenced by the advice of lawyers and insurance companies” when handling abuse claims.
“I made mistakes and I cannot undo them,” Hollingworth said previously. “But I committed no crimes. There is no evidence that there was any abuse because of any decisions I made, or did not make.”
Updated
Thank you all for joining me on the blog today, I’ll leave you with the excellent Cait Kelly for the rest of the arvo.
I’ll catch you here bright and early tomorrow morning for another busy sitting day.
TLDR: here’s what happened in question time
Question time was (as expected) completely dominated by fuel uncertainty today with the opposition trying to hammer the government over when it found out the six fuel shipments were cancelled.
Bowen said the shipments were cancelled at different times but would not provide an exact time.
Several members of the crossbench pushed the government on implementing a 25% flat gas export tax, but Labor wouldn’t give anything away.
Speaking following the South Australian election, Richard Marles said One Nation has always been about ‘stunts and the vibe’.
Bowen gave us a rundown of how many petrol stations have closed along the east coast – but couldn’t provide any numbers for the NT, South Australia or Tasmania.
Updated
Question time ends
After a final question to the PM on Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to Canberra tomorrow, Anthony Albanese wraps up question time for the day.
After questions, Albanese pays tribute to Rhoda Roberts, who died aged 66 at the weekend.
Albanese says Roberts was an inspiration and mentor to many, including the minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, and that she “never stopped working to put indigenous culture centre stage.”
Rhoda captivated and entertained. She informed and inspired. She shaped and advised.
She was often the first, including as the first Indigenous host on mainstream Australian TV, but she made sure that she wouldn’t be the last.
Updated
Claim government is forcing fuel to be exported ‘a lie’, Bowen says
Liberal frontbencher Simon Kennedy is up next and asks Bowen whether he’s been briefed over reports in the Daily Telegraph that the NSW government is war-gaming fuel rationing.
Bowen says he “literally” met with state and territory ministers on Friday where they “compared notes”.
There is no Watergate here … There is the national liquid emergency plan agreed by all governments in 2006, and endorsed by all governments since then, as things change.
He then takes a warning shot at Kennedy:
I remind the member for Cook that when he went on social media yesterday and said that Australian government is forcing diesel and petrol to be exported – that is a lie, Mr Speaker.
Updated
Has the government received advice on fuel rationing?
Liberal MP Mary Aldred asks Chris Bowen if he has received any advice from his department on fuel rationing.
Bowen doesn’t rule out advice on fuel rationing, he says he has been working with his department on contingency plans, but believes the country is a “long way” from taking that action.
He adds that states and territories have significant powers under a 2006 Coag (council of Australian governments) liquid fuel emergency response plan.
He says the plan:
Indicates public restraint, public information campaigns and requesting people to save fuel would be the first step, and that only after that, would any further actions be considered.
I made clear Mr Speaker, yesterday, I think we’re a long way from that.
Updated
Chalmers asked about funding for medical research
Back to the crossbench, Monique Ryan asks the government if it will increase funding for health and medical research.
She says every dollar invested in in Australian health and medical research “yields close to $4 for the Australian economy” – and that increasing funding would be good for health and productivity.
Ryan has been on a bit of a warpath to get the government to release more of its $20bn medical research fund.
Chalmers doesn’t commit to anything but says the government are “very substantial investors in research, including medical research”.
He says the government has received a report into the future of research investment and is considering the recommendations.
Our colleague in the other place, minister [Tim] Ayres, has received and now released some good work that we had done when it comes to the future of research and development, and obviously the medical research fund is is part of our thinking in that regard. We’re going to work through the recommendations of that report and make our views known in due course.
Updated
Bowen asked again about cancelled fuel shipments
Shadow frontbencher Melissa McIntosh tries to pin down Chris Bowen on when the government first found out about the cancelled shipments.
Bowen said earlier that the shipments weren’t all cancelled in one go, on one day, so she asks when the government was told about the first.
Bowen doesn’t say:
I refer the honourable member to my previous answers.
He receives a small groan from the opposition benches.
(His previous answers didn’t state exactly when the government was told, but said that the government was in constant communication with the industry).
Updated
Chalmers defends resources tax settings, while crossbench calls for increased gas export tax
The crossbench is continuing to put pressure on the government over gas tax revenue.
Independent MP Zali Steggall says the treasury department has downgraded predicted revenue for the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT), and asks if the government will “admit that you got it wrong”?
Jim Chalmers keeps it brief and defends the current settings of the PRRT, saying “what we’ve been able to ensure is that there is more tax paid sooner than would otherwise been the case.”
When you’re dealing with a volatile commodity that we’re talking about now, then sometimes the numbers come in lower, sometimes they come in higher than is forecast.
Updated
Fertiliser being sourced from other regions amid supply shortage, minister says
The new deputy Nationals leader, Darren Chester, asks the government what it’s doing to secure fertiliser supplies. Fertiliser is one of the key casualties from a fuel crisis.
The agriculture minister, Julie Collins, says the government is monitoring the situation and is aware that “some cargo booked for Australia is delayed in the Persian Gulf.”
She says the government is also talking to farmers and the consumer watchdog is monitoring pricing. Urea - which is a nitrogen fertiliser – is being sourced from other regions:
As a government, we are aware that some cargo booked for Australia is delayed in the Persian Gulf. We continue to monitor it.
We do source urea from other regions and we’re working with industry to seek alternative supplies in the same way that I said that we are working with the ACCC and industry for fuel, we are working with them in relation to fertiliser.
Updated
Crossbench unite to push Labor on gas windfall tax
The crossbench are on more of a unity ticket today by pushing the government on gas taxes. Independent MP Allegra Spender follows Elizabeth Watson-Brown’s question and asks if the government will introduce a windfall tax, which is slightly different to the Greens’ call for a flat 25% gas export tax, “to ensure Australians get a fair share of this war time windfall”.
Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says “we haven’t changed our policy” which isn’t a yes, but also isn’t an absolute no.
But he says that fuel security is the government’s biggest priority.
[We] more than believe it is necessary that Australians receive a fair return from the natural resources that they own.
We have taken some steps in the course of the life of this government to make sure that offshore gas companies, for example, pay more tax sooner.
The rumour mill has been running wild since the ABC revealed that the government has asked for modelling on what impact a flat 25% export tax would have.
Correction note: An earlier version of this post stated Spender was also pushing the government for a 25% export tax, and has been updated to show she is calling for a windfall tax.
Updated
One Nation only about ‘stunts and the vibe’, Marles says
During a dixer, Richard Marles takes aim at One Nation who saw a surge in support during Saturday’s election in South Australia.
In an answer about how the government is delivering the Aukus agreement in South Australia, the deputy prime minister uses the opportunity to go on the attack:
This stands in contrast to One Nation which have really only ever been about stunts and the vibe.
He also uses the opportunity to take a dig at the opposition:
The Coalition declared that Australians, that South Australians, could not even build a canoe.
Indeed, they tried to take the bill for future submarines offshore and then they literally failed to deliver the Attack class program.
Updated
Bowen unable to say how many SA, NT and Tasmanian petrol stations without fuel
Nationals MP Colin Boyce asks Chris Bowen to provide an update for the Northern Territory, South Australia and Tasmania.
Unlike the last answer, Bowen doesn’t have any more numbers for him.
He says he’s working with the states and will be attending a roundtable for Tasmania this afternoon.
He adds that fuel is flowing out to parts of regional Australia.
The release of the minimum stock obligation, which I approved a little over a week ago, was conditional on fuel flowing to regional Australia.
Dan Tehan tries to stand up and make a point of order but Milton Dick shuts it down before he can say anything.
Updated
Dozens of east coast petrol stations experiencing petrol and diesel shortages, Bowen confirms
Liberal frontbencher Zoe McKenzie is next up and asks Chris Bowen to reveal how many petrol stations have been closed across the country.
It’s perhaps the least “question timey” question-and-answer we’ve seen in a while (by which I mean we get a direct question and an actual answer to it – how refreshing).
Bowen gives us a state by state breakdown:
In New South Wales at the moment, 37 out of a total of 2,444 service stations.
In Queensland, it’s 47 outlets with no diesel, 32 with no regular unleaded out of just over 1,800 service stations.
In Victoria, at the end of last week, we saw 109 outlets with one or more grades unavailable, which is how the Victorian government collects that information.
Updated
Australia, Singapore agree “flow of essential goods” will continue
Going back to Anthony Albanese’s statements about an agreement with Singapore on oil, we’ve now got the text of the joint statement, where the two countries pledge to cooperate on energy security.
Singapore is one of the major sources of oil imported into Australia, and there has been growing concern that nations will start keeping oil for their own domestic needs instead of exporting their usual amounts. The joint statement with the Singaporean prime minister, Lawrence Wong, states that the two nations are “longstanding friends” with “intertwined” futures.
“We share a long-standing and deep relationship grounded in strategic trust, open markets, and rules-based trade which underpin the prosperity and security of our people and our region. Reaffirming these shared principles is essential at this time,” the Albanese-Wong statement says.
Australia and Singapore share deep concern over the situation in the Middle East and its consequences for our region, such as the impact on energy supply chains and prices.
In this context, we reaffirm our commitment to strengthen energy security, to support the flow of essential goods including petroleum oils, such as diesel, and liquefied natural gas between our two countries, and to notify and consult each other on any disruptions with ramifications on the trade of energy.
Singapore and Australia have committed to strengthen supply chain resilience, accelerate their renewable energy transition, and address “unjustified import and export restrictions”.
We call on other trading partners to join us in ensuring global energy supply chains are kept open, for the benefit of the security and prosperity of our peoples.
Updated
Bowen says fuel shipments not cancelled ‘on the same day at the same time’
The shadow energy spokesperson, Dan Tehan, is back at the dispatch box and asks when the government was advised that six fuel supply shipments bound for Australia were cancelled.
He’s dropped the second half of the question after Chris Bowen did confirm that the number of cancelled ships is six, and has not increased. Bowen added that several of those shipments have been replaced.
Bowen refers Tehan to “my previous answer”.
Which was that we have been in constant contact every day, usually more than once a day, with the chief executives of energy companies.
Tehan tries to raise a point of order, but Milton Dick says he can’t compel Bowen to reveal exactly what time, on what day he was told about the shipments.
Bowen continues, and confirms that the shipments weren’t all cancelled at the same time and says he has been transparent with the public.
The orders were not all cancelled on the same day at the same time. It’s an iterative process where some are cancelled.
It’s not like the chief executive rings says, ‘hey, hey, we just had six cancelled’.
And I spoke to the Australian people on the total number cancelled over the recent period. That is what transparency looks like.
Bowen adds that fuel flow is increasing in Western Australia and the number of closed stations is decreasing.
Updated
Greens push Labor on introducing a 25% gas export tax
Over to the crossbench, Greens MP, Elizabeth Watson-Brown, asks the government if it will put a 25% flat tax on gas exports, from corporations that “literally take Australian gas for free and make obscene profits from it.”
Resources minister Madeleine King gives little away and says that gas companies contribute $12bn in tax, and that Australia is a “reliable” energy partner in the region.
Earlier today, the International Energy Agency head, Fatih Birol cautioned Australia against suddenly implementing a gas tax.
King says she won’t preempt any budget decisions:
I would clarify that the oil and gas contribute almost $12 billion in taxes in 2023-24. We reformed the petroleum rent tax to deliver a fair return to the Australian community from the natural resources.
We are working to ensure multinationals including gas companies pay their fair share of tax in Australia.
These changes provide industry and investors policy certainty to allow sufficient supply of domestic gas to ensure that Australia remains a reliable international energy supplier and investment partner. As everyone would imagine here, that’s very important and important now more than ever.
Bowen says number of cancelled fuel shipments remains at six, most of which has been replaced
Andrew Hastie (who Milton Dick accidentally calls the leader of the opposition) is up next and asks Chris Bowen the same question – when did the government find out about the six cancelled fuel shipments, and how many shipments in total have been cancelled.
Bowen repeats what the PM said, that the government is in “constant communication” with Ampol and Viva and receives updates several times a day.
He says the companies have been advising the government of uncertainty in fuel supply beyond mid April.
They have also been advising me more recently of the six cancellations, which is still the current number.
And several of those have been replaced with new sources, as I said very transparently on Insiders yesterday in an interview on the ABC, that six out of the 81 expected deliveries over that time have been cancelled or deferred and have now to at least some degree been replaced with new supply.
Updated
It’s question time!
Leader of the opposition, Angus Taylor, starts question time and asks the prime minister to declare when the government was told six ships carrying fuel to Australia were cancelled and how many ships as of today have been cancelled.
Anthony Albanese says the government has been in discussion with suppliers, as well as the head of the International Energy Agency (who just spoke at the National Press Club) and is about to release a joint statement with the Singaporean government, which is one of the main countries in Asia that Australia receives fuel from.
I can inform the house that at 1pm, I had a very good discussion with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong of Singapore, and we are issuing now a joint statement on energy security.
Manager of opposition business, Dan Tehan, makes a point of order, saying his question was specific and that the PM isn’t answering it, but he gets shut down by speaker Milton Dick.
Albanese continues:
We are talking with our partners in Korea, in Japan, in China, in Singapore. We are engaged. We are reliable partners when it comes to energy security and we expect that to be a two-way flow.
Updated
Liberal party in South Australia ‘currently unalive’, says Tony Barry
Never one to mince his words, Tony Barry has some insights into what happened on Saturday night, and what it means now for the Liberal party in South Australia, which he has described as “currently unalive”.
The former Liberal party Victorian state director and co-host of the Back to Back Barries podcast, says “there is a structural realignment under way in Australian politics” with the Liberal party its obvious victim.
But more than that, the non-major party vote has more than doubled since 2006 in the state from 19% two decades ago to 42% now.
You can read his deep dive of the situation here:
New federal inquiry set up to examine NDIS fraud
A parliamentary committee will examine the level of fraud within the National Disability Insurance Scheme as the federal government continues to look for ways to curb the rising cost of the scheme in the years ahead.
In last March’s budget papers, the scheme was forecast to cost $52.3bn this financial year and will grow to $63.6bn by 2028-29. National cabinet agreed to achieve an 8% annual growth rate target by July 2026, which was tracking at 10.3% at the end of 2025.
The NDIS minister, Jenny McAllister, wrote to the joint standing committee on the NDIS today, asking to look into the pervasiveness of fraud within the scheme and consider further measures to increase its integrity.
The committee is due to deliver its report in June.
McAllister said it was about “shining a light on the fraudsters and crooks who think they can get away with stealing from people with a disability, and from Australian taxpayers”:
We are laser focused on cracking down on NDIS fraud. That’s why we have introduced a bill to pass tough new laws that deal with dodgy providers, and we are reviewing more claims, conducting more investigations, referring more matters to police and prosecuting more and more fraudsters in the courts.
The committee has representation from both the House and the Senate. It is exactly the right forum to examine issues that go to the heart of the NDIS’s integrity.
READ MORE:
Updated
Birol warns Australia against ‘sudden abrupt changes to the tax regime’
Asked whether the government should consider implementing a gas export tax or risk Australia’s reputation as a reliable energy supplier to the region, Birol says taxation is up to the government but does issue a word of warning.
He tells us a metaphor, saying that energy investors are like “butterflies” and when they get scared they could fly away – ie Australia should ensure that it’s reliable so investors remain.
It’s up to governments to decide what they are going to do. But for the countries like Australia, which has a reputation for predictability for investments, I would be very careful to implement sudden abrupt changes to the tax regimes.
So we should be careful, a country like Australia, which will hopefully make more of its resources, that those companies feel that the investment framework is predictable for them.
But he does say that ultimately it is important that the public – who are the real owners of those resources – “get their fair share from the profits that those companies are making.”
Updated
Middle East crisis will lead to an ‘acceleration of renewables’, Birol says
Jumping back to his appearance at the National Press Club, Birol says the when the IEA first released 400m barrels of fuel earlier this month, it quickly eased pressure on the market and pushed the oil price down by US$18.
He leaves the door open to releasing more fuel, but won’t give a timeline.
Even if the war ended today, he says 40 energy assets are “severely” or “very severely” damaged across nine countries from the war.
On the longer term impacts of the crisis, he says he believes there will be an “acceleration of renewables” around the world in the aftermath.
I expect again one of the responses to this crisis will be acceleration of renewables, not only because they are helping to reduce the emissions but they are also home-grown domestic energy sources and they will also increase.
Of all power plans installed globally last year – including gas, oil and coal – 85% were renewables. Of those, 75% were solar.
He says one of the biggest drivers of renewables and nuclear energy, which is making a “big comeback”, is not climate change but domestic energy security and national security.
Updated
Labor commissions food supply chain assessment to ‘strengthen preparedness’ for disruptions
The government has commissioned a National Food Supply Chain Assessment, as part of its National Food Security Strategy, as war in the Middle East affects the agriculture sector.
Agriculture minister, Julie Collins, says the assessment will focus on diesel supply changes first, followed by an assessment of crop protection products and fertilisers.
An interim report on diesel supply chains will be handed to the government within the next month, and a final report will be delivered by the end of the year.
In a statement, Collins said the assessment will provide advice to government “on ways we can continue to strengthen preparedness for disruptions to food production and supply chains.”
While Australia is food secure, we recognise the importance of supply chain resilience, including the supply of fuel and fertiliser, which is why we have commissioned this assessment.
Updated
Tips to save fuel by working from home and cutting speed limits based on ‘years of experience’, Birol says
Birol says a list of measures including encouraging more people to work from home, reducing speed limits and reducing air travel to save fuel are based on “years of experience”.
So far the government hasn’t directly encouraged Australians to work from home, and hasn’t made any public statements around dropping speed limits.
Birol tells the Press Club that since the IEA released its report with the measures on Friday, a number of countries, including in the Asia-Pacific region, have adopted some of the ideas, but that “governments have their own priorities”.
These measures we have announced last Friday are based on our years of experience. We look at what works, what doesn’t work and there are real life tests for that, such as after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European countries adopted these measures … it helped them a lot to go through these difficult times.
As soon as I announced them on Friday we heard from many governments in Europe but also this in part of the world, they have already adopted some.
Updated
World losing more barrels of oil a day than in two 1970s crises combined, IEA chief tells Press Club
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, is addressing the National Press Club today, and says the public needs to understand the “depth of the problem” facing the globe.
He starts by saying the situation is now “very serious”, more so than the two oil crises in 1973 and 1979, and more serious than the gas crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At that time, in each [oil] crisis, the world has lost about 5m barrels per day, both of them together 10m barrels per day. And after that we all know that there were major economic problems around the world, and today we lost 11m barrels. So more than two major oil shocks put together.
Plus after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the gas markets, especially in Europe, we lost about 75bn consumer metres, 75BCM. And as of now, as a result of this crisis, we lost about 140BCM, almost twice. So the situation is, if we want to put in a context, this crisis as it stands now, two oil crises and one gas crash put all together.
Birol adds that the crisis is also having a severe impact on other “vital arteries of the global economy” including petrochemicals and fertilisers, which will have lasting impacts.
Updated
Majority of voters support a 25% gas export tax
Two out of three voters in key teal seats and Sussan Ley’s former electorate of Farrer want a 25% tax on gas exports, according to polling done for the Australia Institute.
Polls by uComms in the seats of Kooyong (held by independent MP Monique Ryan), Mackellar (held by independent MP Sophie Scamps), Wentworth (held by independent MP Allegra Spender), and Farrer, formerly held by Ley, found between 68% and 75% of voters agreed gas export corporations should pay a 25% gas export tax.
Separately, a national poll of 1,502 voters conducted by YouGov found 61% of voters supported a gas export tax, while 5% disagreed.
The Australia Institute says voters were told a 25% export tax would raise around $17bn a year. A majority of voters surveyed said that money should be spend on health and aged care services.
The institute presented the polling at parliament earlier today – alongside the Greens and crossbenchers who have been pushing the government to implement a windfall tax.
Richard Denniss, co-CEO of The Australia Institute, said:
It’s clear Australians think that making foreign owned gas companies pay for our gas isn’t an issue of left or right but a simple issue of fairness.
As petrol and electricity prices rise, the idea that gas export companies will make enormous windfall profits while Australians struggle with higher energy prices and interest rates is as untenable as it is unnecessary.
It’s been reported the government has asked the Treasury department to model the effects of placing a flat 25% tax on gas exporters.
Updated
Ursula von der Leyen to become first female foreign leader to address Australian parliament
Australian and European officials are hoping to thrash out the final points of a long-awaited trade deal after progress on a key sticking point of naming products such as cheese and wine, AAP reports.
European Union president Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Sydney today for a three-day visit, during which she will meet the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and become the first female foreign leader to address federal parliament.
Von Der Leyen and Albanese are widely expected to sign an Australia-EU free trade agreement, ending a years-long saga defined by stalled negotiations and previously intractable disputes.
They are also expected to speak about Australia’s world-first social media age ban, which some European countries are planning to emulate.
Updated
One in seven Queensland families have run out of food in the last year, report says
One in seven Queensland families have run out of food in the last 12 months, according to a new report from the state’s council of social services.
There are also 10,511 households with children awaiting housing on the social housing register in the state, more than 90% of them single parents.
The report, commissioned by the Queensland Council of Social Service (Qcoss), suggests Queensland children are worse off than those in other states.
A coalition of 26 frontline social service groups led by Qcoss will launch a campaign today, calling for the state government to develop a families strategy to ensure every family in Queensland has what they need to help their children thrive.
Report author Prof Karen Healy said:
Our research makes it clear that a there needs to be more focused attention on ensuring all families have access to material basics. Access to safe, affordable housing, health and mental health services and education must be enhanced, particularly for families with low incomes.
Updated
Malinauskas wants GST reform
The freshly re-elected South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas told ABC radio this morning that he would use this term to advocate for GST reform. He said:
I thought it was a crying shame, to put it mildly, that … the government before mine did a deal with [former Liberal prime minister] Scott Morrison to see the Western Australians get an extra top up in GST … that was at our expense.
Malinauskas said while there is a temporary guarantee that the state “wouldn’t go backwards” he had to fight to get that extended.
The latest GST carve-up saw WA get an extra $5.5bn, prompting NSW premier Chris Minns to call for a shift to a per capita system, instead of the current system based on states’ ability to raise revenue and its fiscal needs.
Malinauskas said he did not agree with Minns’ proposition.
Updated
All Queensland schools reopened after Tropical Cyclone Narelle
All Queensland schools closed for Tropical Cyclone Narelle have reopened today.
About eight Cape York schools in the path of the cyclone closed on Thursday, with about 780 students affected.
State education minister John-Paul Langbroek said on Monday:
I’m pleased to announce, and it’s quite remarkable, that all schools in north Queensland that were affected in far north Queensland will be open today.
It was affecting a couple of 1000 students overall. But from Cooktown, right across the whole cape, those schools are all open.
There are nine early childhood centres that are not open today.
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ASX plunges as investors weigh up Trump’s ultimatum
The Australian share market plunged this morning, wiping almost $60bn in value from equities in early trading after the US and Iran traded threats to destroy energy infrastructure.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.8% shortly after the market opened.
The index is now down 10% since the Middle East conflict erupted, representing a market correction.
The steep losses come part-way through Donald Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum to Tehran to open the strait of Hormuz, a vital pathway for the world’s oil flows.
The US has threatened to “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants if Iran does not comply.
Chris Weston, the head of research at Pepperstone, said Trump’s ultimatum will define trading conditions.
If we move past the deadline, focus will quickly shift to the scale of any action against Iran and the nature of Iran’s response, particularly toward US bases and its allies.
While investors largely ignored the initial strikes against Iran, sentiment has soured due to concerns the US does not have a clean exit strategy that can guarantee a stable resumption of the oil trade, and other freight, through the crucial strait.
The ASX has been pulled around by sharp moves in the oil price, with rising energy prices fuelling global inflation, which drags down equity markets.
Minns says public servants working from home ‘wouldn’t make much of a difference’ to fuel shortages
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, says asking public servants to work from home in the state “wouldn’t make much of a difference” to fuel shortages caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
At a press conference this morning, the premier was asked what the threshold would be for a statewide work from home order. He said:
The threshold suggestion for the consumers, for mums and dads who don’t work for the public service, we might have more to say about that in the coming weeks. When it comes to the New South Wales public service, our advice is that it wouldn’t make much of a difference in terms of demand, mainly because 85% of our public servants work at the coalface.
They’re not working from home. It’s not possible. Most of our employees are nurses, paramedics, police officers, firefighters. We just can’t issue that order. If we did, it would have a negligible effect in terms of fuel consumption.
Minns said 105 fuel stations were without diesel in the state, while 35 did not have any fuel at all, a slight improvement on last week. He said after the release of federal reserves and the relaxation of sulphur standards there was “more fuel available on the marketplace today than there was four weeks ago” but distribution issues remained.
This morning, he told ABC radio NSW was seeing “a major increase in public transport usage”, which he attributed to the high price of fuel. “The metro numbers are massively up, numbers we haven’t seen before,” he said.
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Government calls immediate division in the Senate
The bells have basically not stopped ringing in the Senate this morning, as the government moves a suspension of standing orders to bring forward a vote on a superannuation bill.
The government’s bill is a grab-bag of measures from “[banning] advertising of certain superannuation products to new employees as part of the onboarding process” to “increasing the maximum amount of wine equalisation tax producer rebate claimable by eligible wine producers to $400,000 each financial year.” Random, I know.
Devoid of much other legislation to debate in either chamber, the government is moving to limit debate on this this bill to just 60 minutes.
The government doesn’t have the numbers in the Senate, and the Coalition is not supporting the suspension. But it looks like Labor has support from the Greens.
Peter Malinauskas says there is ‘no shame’ in being patriotic
After a resounding victory in the state election, South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas says Australians are patriotic and that patriotism shouldn’t be “co-opted” by a political group or ideology.
Speaking to ABC’s RN Breakfast this morning, Malinauskas was asked about his question to voters and other leaders: “Are you for Australia?”
He said he hasn’t met anyone who “isn’t proud of Australia and what we stand for”, but that Australia’s patriotism is “less brash and boastful than our northern hemisphere friends and a little bit more dogged and determined”.
I get frustrated, Sally, at the idea that patriotism or pride in our country can be co-opted by one particular political group or ideology. I just reject that notion … I think when we see One Nation project patriotism in their form, we shouldn’t sneer at it. But rather, I think it opens up an opportunity for others to talk about patriotism in a way that I think reflects our country in a deeper way.
I don’t think patriotism is just waving the flag. I think patriotism comes in other forms, such as sitting down with a stranger and having a cuppa and talking to one another civilly and understanding their journey here and having a welcoming approach … And I think there’s no shame in being honest about that and being patriotic ourselves.
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Almost half of Australians think a foreign military will attack within five years, ANU study says
Nearly half of Australians believe a foreign military will attack the country within five years, as anxiety over national security issues rises sharply, a new study suggests.
The Australian National University’s National Security College report found that two-thirds of those polled in 2026, including an increasing number of teenagers and young adults, were worried about national security issues.
The study was conducted between November 2024 and February 2026. It found that three in five Australians were now worried about national security, with the sharpest increase among 18 to 24-year-olds. 55% of those in that age group said they worry about national security, an increase from 22% in November 2024.
Australians feared AI-enabled attacks, disinformation, critical supply disruptions, climate change impacts, foreign interference and severe economic crises – all of which 85% or more respondents believed were likely by the end of the decade.
Australia’s involvement in a military conflict overseas was a key concern, with 69% of those polled in July 2025 considering the event likely to almost certain within five years.
Read more here:
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Working from home to reduce fuel use is ‘helpful’, Plibersek says
Joining the work from home conversation this morning was the social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, who said that it would be “helpful”, but the most helpful thing that Australians could do is not buy more fuel than they need.
Speaking on Sunrise this morning, Plibersek said many Australians have already made working from home a regular part of their routine.
We’re saying that if you can reduce your fuel use, then that would be a really helpful thing to do. But certainly we’re not telling people that they must work from home.
The most helpful thing people could do is just buy the fuel they need and no more.
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Labor minister says regional partners have a ‘vested interest’ in sending fuel to Australia
Matt Thistlethwaite says the prime minister has been directly negotiating with regional partners to secure fuel supplies, adding that he doesn’t believe nations will withhold fuel supplies from Australia.
Speaking to Sky News earlier, the assistant minister for foreign affairs says Australia gets much of its fuel from South Korea and Singapore, who both rely on Australia’s coal and gas exports.
Government ministers have this morning alluded to Australia’s bargaining position as a key coal and gas exporter in the region, but Thistlethwaite has gone a little further:
The beauty of Australia, Pete [Stefanovic], is that we are one of the largest distributors of LNG anywhere in the world. And South Korea gets almost all of its LNG, it’s liquefied natural gas through Australia. So, they’ve got a vested interest in ensuring that. It’s a two-way street.
I don’t think it will [be withheld]. Both nations need supplies of LNG and fuel. Australia is a very reliable distributor of LNG … So, we’ve got that advantage in that we can work with our neighbours in Asia Pacific to ensure that they have access to their energy needs and we get access to ours.
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Labor ‘doing everything we can’ to secure fuel supply, Mark Butler says
Mark Butler says the government is working with regional partners to secure fuel supplies, and reiterated that of the six oil shipments to Australia that have been cancelled or deferred, in most cases, replacements are “being organised”.
Speaking to Nine earlier this morning, the health minister said it looked likely that the conflict was going to continue “for a little longer”.
He said the government was working to get supplies from “wherever possible”, including from the US where there has been an increase in shipments that “we haven’t seen for many, many years.”
We are working very hard with our regional partners. They receive energy from us, we receive liquid fuels from them. We’re doing everything we can to get supply back into Australia and at the moment those supplies are holding up pretty well.
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Hume says more working from home 'wouldn’t touch the sides' of fuel issues
The pollies have been asked this morning whether people should consider working from home to save fuel, as conflict escalates in the Middle East.
Tehran has said it will “irreversibly destroy” essential infrastructure across the Middle East, including vital water systems, if the US follows through on Donald Trump’s threat to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants unless the strait of Hormuz is fully opened within two days.
Jane Hume, speaking to ABC News Breakfast earlier, said work from home is “terrific” for those who can, but didn’t like the suggestion that more Australians should be encouraged to avoid commuting for work.
Hume was the behind the Coalition’s failed policy to restrict work from home options for public servants at the last election.
She said this morning a few extra people working from home “wouldn’t touch the sides” of fuel supply issues.
This is like Covid style restrictions I think that are potentially being floated. I would not support that in any way, and I don’t think businesses would do so either …
If people can work from home and they want to and it works for their employers, fine, I think that’s terrific, but it doesn’t help small businesses. It certainly doesn’t help the truckers and the fishers and the farmers and the manufacturers and the miners that are relying on fuel supply.
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Joyce defends One Nation’s vetting, saying candidates ‘lie’
Barnaby Joyce tells RN Breakfast that “every party has issues with vetting”, after One Nation had to dump its Adelaide candidate Aoi Baxter a day before the election, amid reports in the ABC that claimed there was a warrant for his arrest in the UK.
Host Sally Sara asks whether One Nation needs to improve its vetting, but Joyce hits back and pins the blame on candidates, saying that they “lie”.
On why the ABC was able to uncover this story instead of One Nation, Joyce says “journalists do a really good job of looking for the problem”.
They [candidates] lie, see? They lie, they don’t tell the truth. If people are suggesting that we deliberately select someone with a warrant, well, that is absurd.
Every party has issues with vetting. You give me a party and just give me 10 minutes, and I’ll give you some problems that they’ve had in the selection of candidates.
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One Nation's Barnaby Joyce says ‘the move is on’ after SA election
The One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce says the South Australian election results show a “corroboration of where the polling is”.
Speaking to ABC’s RN Breakfast, Joyce says there is a global movement which has now reached Australia, claiming the public is rejecting mainstream policies on climate change and migration – two key areas One Nation has attacked.
But Labor – both in South Australia and nationally – has claimed landslide victories while campaigning for stronger climate action and supporting multiculturalism.
While One Nation is the biggest threat to the Liberal party, Joyce says his party is coming for Labor too.
I think the move is on. I think it’s been a move that’s happened globally and it’s arrived in Australia. And it’s premised on the fact that people have been tolerant or accepting of basically sort of a word salad of ideas that never really eventuate into cold hard policies. And when they do, they don’t work on behalf of the Australian people.
The Coalition’s fading. Liberal party’s fading. You’re seeing that. But you’re seeing a peel-off of blue-collar votes. I can assure you [of] that.
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SA election result ‘very grim’ but ‘better than we were expecting’: Liberal senator
It’s very grim, but could have been worse, is the message from South Australian federal Liberal senator Leah Blyth, who tells RN Breakfast this morning that when leader Ashton Hurn was elected 100 days ago, “we were projected to win zero to three seats”.
Blyth says the previous drug conviction against former state leader, David Spiers, “doesn’t help”. She describes the leadership situation as a bit of a “rolling door” – after Spiers, Vincent Tarzia assumed the role for less than four months before Hurn was chosen and took the party to the election.
Blyth, like Hume, is very complimentary of Hurn but quotes former Liberal prime minister John Howard who once said “you can’t fatten the pig on market day. And 100 days was just not enough to get the policy offering out there.”
It’s not the election result we were hoping for, obviously, but I think it is much better than we were expecting.
It’s very grim but we’re sort of looking at it. It could have been worse. So we’ve got to rebuild.
On what the results mean for the federal party, Blyth says:
Discipline and unity. That’s the message that I’m taking. And that we’ve got to make sure that we are putting up policies that are in the interests of Australians at a federal level and that we’ve got to stop talking about ourselves. That is death politically.
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Australians are ‘aggrieved’ with Liberal party and 'looking for a change', Hume says
The Liberal party’s deputy leader, Jane Hume, says the South Australian election result has sent a message to her party: that the public are “looking for a change”.
The state election result over the weekend showed One Nation was able to turn some of its polling into seats in the upper and lower houses. Some within the Liberals have called the polling showing One Nation ahead of the Coalition as a “protest” or “middle finger” voting.
Hume told Sky News earlier this morning her party will “not be responding either to the left, to the right of one party or another”.
She says the Coalition will have to offer up a better policy platform to win back voters at the next election.
I think the biggest message for the federal Coalition is that Australia is looking for change. They are rightly aggrieved right now.
They are looking for solutions to their high energy bills, to an out of control immigration policy where they want sensible settings, and they want their standard of living improved and their way of life restored, I think that that is not an unacceptable or unreasonable request.
Hume says Ashton Hurn, the SA Liberal leader, fought valiantly, “after a scandal-ridden previous Coalition opposition in South Australia”.
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Government announces new green energy rules for datacentres
The government is today announcing some ground rules for companies wanting to build datacentres in Australia – including ensuring they add to clean energy supplies and minimise their water usage.
Australia has the second largest pipeline of datacentre construction in the world – after the US. But datacentres use huge amounts of power and water, and the government anticipates that by 2030, datacentres will consume about 6% of grid supplied energy.
The new rules state that datacentres will have to bring new clean energy, cover their full share of energy connection costs, lift efficiency, and support grid stability, and not increase energy costs for households and businesses.
Companies will also have to support Australian jobs and industry.
Tim Ayres is the minister in charge, and at the end of his ABC interview finally got asked about the announcement. He says the “principles” outline what the government expects from companies and investors to get datacentres built in Australia.
It sends a message to the states and territories, we don’t want to see a race to the bottom on these standards, and it makes it very clear, if you’ve got a datacentre investment for Australia, we want to see you underpin additional electricity through power purchasing agreements that mean you’re contributing to Australian resilience, not undermining it.
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Should Australians work from home to save fuel?
James Glenday then asks Tim Ayres whether he thinks Australians should consider working from home to conserve fuel. Countries like Sri Lanka have moved to a four-day working week and are encouraging public servants to WFH.
Ayres says the government won’t dictate that, and tries to remind everyone that the Coalition tried to “ban” working from home.
Australians will make their own decisions, and work from home is a viable option for many, many people, and they’ll make that call. We’re not going further than that.
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Industry minister quizzed on fuel security
Industry minister Tim Ayres has done his best to avoid directly answering some sticky questions on ABC News Breakfast this morning, including whether Australia will try to leverage our coal and gas exports to secure fuel imports.
Joining the program a little earlier, Ayres said broadly the government is working with international partners to “maximise” fuel supplies, and ensure that fuel in Australia is going to regional areas where it needs to be.
Host James Glenday tries to push Ayres on whether we’re considering a quid pro quo approach, but Ayres won’t bite. He says:
We are an excellent partner on energy security for a range of our partners in the region in terms of refined fuel products and crude oil.
Glenday then asks Ayres if the government will charge a 25% export tax on gas companies if prices begin to soar (as reported last week).
Ayres dodges the question:
We have moved for the first time at the commonwealth level to impose a reservation scheme so that Australian gas is there for Australian households and Australian business. The details of that reservation scheme will be decided in the normal way and a proper cabinet process … We’ll release those details when it’s been properly decided.
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Lowy Institute paper warns of drone terror threat
Governments around the world are unprepared for the growing threat of drones being used to carry out terror attacks, a report warns.
Advances in drone technology, 3D printing and AI-assisted navigation should prompt leaders, including those in Australia, to rethink anti-extremism strategies, the paper from the Lowy Institute says.
The report points to a series of incidents in recent years as “warning signs” of what may be to come if governments don’t crack down.
They include a UK student arrested for using a 3D printer to build “kamikaze” drones for Islamic State, seven people arrested in Queensland who had homemade guns and a drone-mounted improvised explosive device, and two separate US plots involving drone use.
“What was once the exclusive domain of state actors now rests within reach of nearly anyone with a credit card and data signal,” authors James Paterson (not the senator) and Lydia Khalil wrote.
The combination of easy accessibility and payload potential, and the limitations of domestic counter-drone systems, presents a growing challenge.
Drones have also been used to deadly effect in the Russia-Ukraine war and Middle East conflict, where they are loaded with explosives and flown at military personnel or sensitive sites.
The report warns a vast array of civilian and military sites could be targeted, including mass gatherings and major events.
It argues “difficult decisions” will be needed to choose which locations to defend and how to do so.
via AAP
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Good morning
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji with you as the politicians gather in Canberra for another sitting week.
There is plenty on the agenda for today, the government will be under more pressure on global oil supply as the situation escalates in the Middle East.
The Liberal party will continue deal with the fallout of the South Australian election over the weekend, and European Union president Ursula von der Leyen arrives in Sydney today, before addressing the federal parliament later this week. She’ll be the first female foreign leader to do so.
And the government is introducing new rules for datacentres and AI – which will push companies building new developments to add to the clean energy supply and minimise water footprints.
I’ve got my coffee, I hope you’ve got yours – let’s get stuck in!
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