News live: Albanese outlines agreement to bring more fuel into Australia; $1m reward in NSW cold case
Albanese details new agreement to bring more fuel to Australia
The prime minister, Anthony Albaneseis speaking in Brisbane before his trip to Singapore, where he will discuss the country’s access to fuel supplies.
In a new announcement, Albanese said Export Finance Australia has agreed to terms with Ampol and Viva Energy to enable the companies to bring more fuel to Australia. The prime minister said:
This is not business as usual. This is additional supply here in Australia that they will be able to source.
He said the government will be able to direct where that supply goes, which should alleviate shortages in regional Australia and areas that are under supply pressures.
Key events
Albanese says the relationship between Australia and Singapore remains strong, and success reflects the fact that he is traveling there at such short notice to shore up fuel supplies.
The fact we are welcomed at relatively short notice to Singapore speaks about the strength of the relationship.
Albanese says Australia ‘firmly believes’ Lebanon should be included in ceasefire
Albanese said Australia “firmly believes” Lebanon should be included in the ceasefire. He said:
We want to see peace in this region and it will make a difference and I know that many Australians are concerned about the events that are occurring in Lebanon.
He added he is looking forward to a “productive” conversation with Singapore’s prime minister tomorrow about Australia’s fuel supplies.
Albanese details new agreement to bring more fuel to Australia
The prime minister, Anthony Albaneseis speaking in Brisbane before his trip to Singapore, where he will discuss the country’s access to fuel supplies.
In a new announcement, Albanese said Export Finance Australia has agreed to terms with Ampol and Viva Energy to enable the companies to bring more fuel to Australia. The prime minister said:
This is not business as usual. This is additional supply here in Australia that they will be able to source.
He said the government will be able to direct where that supply goes, which should alleviate shortages in regional Australia and areas that are under supply pressures.
Chalmers says criticism of renewables investment amid fuel crisis ‘bizarre’
The treasurer, Jim Chalmerssaid earlier this morning Australia should focus on diversifying its energy sources and investing in “cleaner and cheaper energy” amid the fuel crisis.
Chalmers spoke to reporters in Melbourne, where he was asked about criticism from the opposition about investment in renewables. The treasurer said:
I find it bizarre, frankly, that in the context of what we have seen in the last month and a half that anyone would conclude from that that we should continue to have all of our eggs in one basket.
We need cleaner and cheaper energy, more diverse sources and more reliable and robust supply chains.
Chalmers went on to say the federal government remained steadfast in its effort to ensure energy comes from “a number of sources”, including both traditional fossil fuels and development of “cleaner, cheaper, sovereign capacity.”
Catie McLeod
Sydney light rail trialled pedestrian sensors after death but scrapped project due to cost, whistleblower claims
The company that operates Sydney’s light rail investigated safety upgrades after a death in 2023 but cancelled the project due to its cost before a second person died, a whistleblower alleges.
After the first death, Transdev successfully trialled sensors that would detect a person entering the coupling area between two joined trams, according to the former employee who requested anonymity. But the project was stopped before another death in 2025, they said.
Transdev this week rejected “any assertion that the assessment of sensor technology has at any point been ‘shelved’ or put on hold”.
Read more of Guardian Australia’s exclusive here:
Police investigate shooting that left man dead in Melbourne
Victoria police are investigating what they believe is a targeted shooting this morning in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill.
Police said emergency services had responded to reports of an altercation in the area just before 2am. A man, who is yet to be identified, died at the scene.
Homicide detectives are investigating and a crime scene has been established.
Josh Butler
Albanese heads to Singapore to shore up fuel supply
Anthony Albanese heads to Singapore today, for meetings tomorrow with the country’s prime minister, Lawrence Wong, which are expected to focus on fuel. Singapore is Australia’s largest source of refined fuels.
On the way, Albanese has stopped in Brisbane, where he will soon hold a press conference. We’ll expect to get some updates on Australia’s petrol supplies and the government’s actions in addressing the fuel crisis.
We’ll bring you updates from that press conference this morning.
ASX to slide as Iran ceasefire tested
Jonathan Barrett
Australian shares are expected to drop this morning as the hours-old ceasefire in the Middle East gets tested.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is forecast to slide by about 0.25% when the market opens, to trade at the 8,930 point mark.
The anticipated drop comes after yesterday’s huge rally, which marked the single biggest day increase on the ASX in a year in response to the Iran war ceasefire announcement.
The National Australia Bank markets team says there is “residual uncertainty and fragile confidence in the ceasefire”. NAB said:
The lack of any follow through on the immediate reaction in financial markets reflects the fact that there remains a high degree of uncertainty as to how the situation in the Middle East unfolds.
Iran has closed the strait of Hormuz in response to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon despite the ceasefire, according to Iranian state media reports, with Iran’s authorities said to be treating the strait as still closed.
Equity markets have been pulled around by the Middle East conflict given energy disruptions contribute to global inflation by elevating costs across nearly all goods and services.
Melbourne teen charged after officer allegedly struck by electric motorbike
A Victorian teenager has been charged after an officer was allegedly struck by an electric-powered motorbike in Melbourne’s CBD on Wednesday.
Victoria police said the sergeant was patrolling the Flinders Street area when he approached a group of males allegedly riding erratically on the vehicles. Officials said the officer gave the boy a direction to pull over before he was struck down.
Police will allege the boy sped up and struck the officer as he attempted to drive away. The sergeant remains in hospital with serious injuries.
The boy was arrested at the scene and charged with multiple counts, including reckless exposure of a police officer to risk by driving and recklessly causing injury. He has been released on bail and will appear before children’s court at a later date.
Truckie boss says ‘people are getting desperate’ as siphoned diesel seen as sign of ‘dire’ crisis
Catie McLeod
After almost a decade in the trucking industry, Madilyn Lostroh says having fuel stolen from one of her vehicles for the first time came as a “bit of a shock”.
A couple of weeks ago, one of her drivers filled up with diesel in the afternoon and parked the truck in the yard they share with other businesses. The next morning, he discovered there was less in the tank.
“It’s a bit of a reality check on just how dire [the situation is]or desperate people are at the minute,” says Lostroh, 35, who runs Mal’s Haulage with her husband in Ipswich, Queensland.
Lostroh is one of several people who have reported diesel being siphoned from vehicles or fuel being stolen from service stations after the energy shock caused by the war in the Middle East and subsequent soaring retail prices of diesel and petrol.
Read more here:
NSW offers $1m reward for information related to death of woman in 2003
The New South Wales government and NSW police will offer a $1m reward for information related to the 2003 death of Harmony Bryant.
Bryant, then 26, was found severely injured in bushland in Bonny Hills, about 25km south of Port Macquarie, in August 2003. Emergency workers found her vehicle on fire about 200 metres from the road.
She was taken to the hospital with burns to 60% of her body, a broken pelvis and a fractured wrist and left arm. Evidence at the time suggested she fell from a nearby cliff and was aided to her vehicle by an unknown person or persons.
She died in hospital a month later from her injuries.
Investigators at the time found Bryant had booked accommodation the day before the incident for two people, but they were never able to locate the supposed second person. An inquest in 2011 found she died from burns that were caused by a person or persons unknown.
No one has ever been charged over her death.
Human bones found on popular Rottnest Island – reports
Human bones are believed to have been found on a popular holiday island with a tragic past, Australian Associated Press reports.
The remains were found yesterday by workers at Rottnest Island, near Perth, Western Australian, police say.
“The bones, which are believed to be human, were located during construction work on church grounds,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.
An investigation has been launched, and forensic specialists will examine the bones to determine their age.
WA state records indicate 3,700 Aboriginal men and boys were imprisoned there between 1838 and 1931, according to the Rottnest Island Authority. Living conditions were brutal on the island. Overcrowding and a lack of sanitation and nutrition, extreme weather, and physical and psychological abuse contributed to hundreds of deaths.
Most were buried in unmarked graves on the island. After the prison closed, one of Australia’s largest Aboriginal burial grounds was largely forgotten about, the island authority said.
Paterson says it’s ‘clear’ Trump was escalating to de-escalate Middle East conflict
James Paterson added that he believes it’s “clear” that Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric and threats that a “whole civilization will die” were ultimately meant to end the conflict. He told RN:
Speaking about it analytically and dispassionately, it’s clear that the US president has been threatening to escalate in order to de-escalate. And it may be the reason that there is a ceasefire agreement, although a very shaky one.
Paterson went on to say there was “no doubt” that Iran did not want to see Trump follow through on his claims.
I’m sure it is the case that the regime did not want to sustain the attack that the US president was proposing to make.
