News live: Australia secures 100m litres of diesel from Brunei and South Korea; Paul Keating lashes Liberals’ immigration policy
Albanese says 100m litres of diesel secured by Viva under fuel purchase program
Josh Butler
Anthony Albanese announced Viva Energy has secured two new shipments of diesel, a total of 100m litres, with assistance of the federal government’s program to underwrite fuel purchases.
Albanese confirmed the news during a press conference in Malaysia. The shipments will come from Brunei, where Albanese visited yesterday, and South Korea.
The government had extended help through Export Finance Australia, to major refineries Viva and Ampol to help them secure new shipments of fuel and fertiliser.
Albanese said Viva had secured 570,000 barrels of additional diesel through the arrangement. Viva’s refinery at Geelong suffered a major fire this morning, with Albanese saying the damage was still being assessed.
“Additional fuel can be directed to where it is needed most, including to our farmers, to our regional communities, and to the services that all Australians rely on,” the government said in a statement.
Speaking in Malaysia, Albanese said the two new shipments were “the first of many expected” to be secured.
Key events
Benita Kolovos
When asked what caused the blaze, Pearce said:
“The actual mechanisms that caused it, we’re still investigating but there was a leak of gas from a mechanical component in the system. The gases there appeared to have ignited, but the details of the investigation will come to light in further in further days to come.
Benita Kolovos
Anthony Pearceincident controller from Fire Rescue Victoria, has provided an update at the scene of the Viva Energy refinery blaze. He began by thanking the Viva Energy firefighters, who he said did an “amazing job” late last night containing the fire.
Pearce said:
The work they’ve done to be able to isolate the fuel supply to the area affected has been amazing, and I cannot understate how much the crews have done an amazing job in the early stages of the fire, it was very, very dangerous, and there were explosions occurring.
He said the emergency planning provisions in place made it easier to bring the incident under control today. Pearce said there is still “a lot of work to go” to make the area safe:
There is still a lot of flammable materials in the area that’s affected by fire, and we’re working with Viva to ensure that is isolated and there are no further ignitions. The remainder of the plant, still is functioning.
Andrew Messenger
Professional foster carers to be paid $100,000 per year under new scheme in Queensland
Foster carers will be paid $100,000 per year to care for some of Queensland’s “most vulnerable” children, under a new state government scheme.
The minister for child safety, Amanda Camm launched a pilot of the state government’s professional foster care scheme on Thursday.
The pilot scheme will cover up to 100 carers in Townsville and South East Queensland. They will care for children with disabilities and other complex needs, moving them out of the state’s residential care system.
The state has far more children in residential care than any other, with between 2,200 to 2,388 in the system. The system costs about $420,000 per child per year and is meant to be a last resort.
The pilot is budgeted to cost $27m.
“Every child deserves the opportunity to thrive in a safe, supportive and loving environment, and that’s what this initiative will deliver for children with high needs,” Camm said.
Camm said the state government would also establish a new secure care facility for children by 2028 and will create a dual carer system for the residential care system allowing it to operate 24 hours a day.
Paul Keating takes aim at Liberals’ new ‘ICE-style’ immigration policy
Ben Doherty
The 24th prime minister of Australia takes aim at the current alternative (and number 25 on the way through), accompanied by a scattergun name-check of Liberal party (male) figures of history.
Paul Keating has issued the following statement:
The Liberal party, battling an extreme version of itself – One Nation – has again fallen back to its default political policy: racism.
Angus Taylorannouncing a policy at primary odds with an immigrant nation, says a Liberal government under his leadership will adopt Trump ICE-style policies to weed and ‘boot out’ people who fail to adhere to ‘national values’ and who are responsible for the erosion of national culture including the Balkanisation of communities.
And, to hammer the point, sitting beside Taylor at his policy launch was Mr Racial Opportunism himself; John Winston Howardlate of anti-Asian migration in 1988 – the picket fence suburban racism of his first round as Liberal leader, and the wilful anti-humanitarianism of his electorally-driven Tampa atrocity of 2001.
Angus Taylor, for base political reasons, has elected to walk away from the best instincts of the Liberal party – the party of Robert Menziesof Harold Holtof Malcolm Fraserof Andrew Peacockof Brendan Nelsonof Malcolm Turnbull.
Angus Taylor came to the Liberal leadership with a reputation of being mainstream Liberal; that is, a keeper of the Liberal party’s best longer-term instincts both in social and economic policy. And many people, myself included, wished him well in consolidating the Liberal base and in fighting One Nation with a conservatism anchored in principles. If not righteous, decent.
Nick Visser
That’s all from me. Ima Caldwell will take things from here. Take care.
Benita Kolovos
Not the time for ‘unfounded speculation’ about possible move to stage 3 fuel restrictions, Jacinta Allan says
Earlier today, Victoria premier Jacinta Allan said it’s not the time to add to “stress and uncertainty” by speculating about a possible move to stage 3 fuel restrictions due to the Corio refinery blaze.
She told reporters:
People are already worried enough about the consequences of Donald Trump’s war in Iran. People are already worried enough about how it’s pushing up the price of everything – your groceries, your fuel, the pressure it’s putting on particular sectors like agriculture, construction.
Now’s not the time to add to that stress and uncertainty with speculation that’s unfounded. There’s work going on right now to get the site under control from an emergency management point of view, and enable those assessments to be undertaken as to understand what is the cause of this incident.
She said the advice from the national fuel coordinator and the federal government continues to be that “supply is sufficient to meet our current demand”.
Motoring groups push for EV road user charge to fund national charging network
Ima Caldwell
A coalition of Australia’s peak transport and infrastructure bodies has called on the federal government to introduce a national, distance-based road user charge for electric vehicles.
The Keep Australia Moving campaign, spearheaded by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA), says that taxing EV drivers for the distance they travel is needed to fund a national charging network.
According to research from the motoring body, 60% of Australians who want an EV are holding back from purchasing one due to “range anxiety”.
AAA Managing Director Michael Bradley says the country needs both the chargers and the tax to pay for them, and that “the two cannot be separated”. He said:
Right now there is no alternative funding plan on the table to fix it: not from the Commonwealth, not from the states, not from the market.
Anyone who says they support a national re-charging network… but oppose a Road User Charge needs to ask themselves: ‘where else will the money come from?’
Bradley framed the proposal not as “a new tax” but as a “modernisation of the fuel excise” that pays for road upkeep.
The campaign is backed by major industry players including Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, the Australian Automotive Dealer Association, and state motoring clubs, including the NRMA, RACV and RACQ.
Albanese says 100m litres of diesel secured by Viva under fuel purchase program
Josh Butler
Anthony Albanese announced Viva Energy has secured two new shipments of diesel, a total of 100m litres, with assistance of the federal government’s program to underwrite fuel purchases.
Albanese confirmed the news during a press conference in Malaysia. The shipments will come from Brunei, where Albanese visited yesterday, and South Korea.
The government had extended help through Export Finance Australia, to major refineries Viva and Ampol to help them secure new shipments of fuel and fertiliser.
Albanese said Viva had secured 570,000 barrels of additional diesel through the arrangement. Viva’s refinery at Geelong suffered a major fire this morning, with Albanese saying the damage was still being assessed.
“Additional fuel can be directed to where it is needed most, including to our farmers, to our regional communities, and to the services that all Australians rely on,” the government said in a statement.
Speaking in Malaysia, Albanese said the two new shipments were “the first of many expected” to be secured.
Josh Butler
Albanese says Geelong refinery fire ‘distressing’ and warns of fuel impacts
Anthony Albanese says the fire at the Viva refinery in Geelong is “distressing”, warning there would be “consequences for fuel supply” after the plant was damaged.
Speaking from Malaysia just now, at a press conference with the country’s prime minister, Albanese was asked about the fire this morning.
“They’re very distressing scenes. On a positive note, it is good that there were no workers harmed and no human impact of this fire,” he said.
I can report that the fire, I’m advised, has now been put out and I certainly thank Fire Rescue Victoria and the Country Fire Authority for the work that they have done.
Albanese said there would need to be a damage assessment, particularly around the consequences of the fire on fuel supply.
Clearly there will be consequences for it, but there’ll be a proper assessment taking place over the coming short period as well. We think that we’ll continue to work with the company to do what we can to make sure that anything that is offline is brought online as soon as possible.
Ben Doherty
Dan Duggan’s wife speaks after extradition loss
Further to the federal court decision on Dan Duggan's extradition. In Canberra this morning, Justice James Stellios dismissed Duggan’s appeal against the decision to surrender him for extradition to the US.
His wife, Saffrine Dugganspoke outside court:
It has been 1,273 days of our family suffering terrible trauma since Dan was arrested in a supermarket car park after dropping our kids at school.
Since that day Dan has been locked up in maximum security.
He spent 19 months in solitary confinement. He has missed so much – first and last days of school, sporting events, birthdays, Christmases and wedding anniversaries.
We are an Aussie family who had our husband, father, son-in-law, our property and our feeling of safety stripped away from us.
Today does not end our search for justice, for fairness and for the sovereignty that the Australian public expects.
We are very disappointed by this ruling, and we will consider our options carefully.
But make no mistake – we will not give up.
We will continue to advocate for Dan, especially with our government, asking them to protect Australians from US overreach and malicious prosecution.
Dan was an ordinary Australian, lawfully going about his business in Australia when he was arrested by a foreign power.
This has gone on long enough – enough is enough.
