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NSW premier says fuel crisis demonstrates renewed need to electrify the economy

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said the state is open to having new refinery capacity but said he believes it’s more important to have increased fuel capacity on shore and to electrify the economy.

Minns spoke to ABC News this morning, saying any transition to more domestic energy production was even more pressing considering that this is “unlikely to be the last Middle Eastern war that we have in our lifetime”.

It seems to happen every 10 years or so and, if we have got other ways of powering our economy through renewable resources and gas and coal, then that’s a good thing right now for Australia.

Minns added couldn’t rule out the country moving to the next level of the national fuel security plan but he thinks “the best most practical things governments and people do is not panic but prepare”.

Two children in hospital after dingo attacks at WA campground

At least two children have been treated in hospital after dingo attacks at the same remote West Australian campground, Australian Associated Press reports.

Authorities have warned others in the area to use caution and said the animals involved would be exterminated if possible.

A four-year-old girl was bitten on the leg by a dingo at Dales Campground, in Karijini national park, on Wednesday night, authorities said.

The girl’s mother was also bitten while attempting to protect her, with both receiving first aid on-site before being transported to Tom Price hospital for treatment.

Earlier in the week, about 8am on Saturday, a six-year-old girl was approached by an aggressive dingo that nipped at her clothing. She was not injured.

On Monday, a six-year-old boy was bitten on the neck and arm and was taken to Tom Price hospital by his parents for medical treatment.

Rangers have been conducting nightly patrols since the initial attack to locate and humanely destroy the problem dingoes as soon as a safe opportunity presents, WA’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions said.

Additional staff with specialist dingo management experience have also flown up from Perth to assist.

The campground remains open, with park rangers advising campers of the dingo risk on arrival and providing safety information.

“The Parks and Wildlife Service is urging anyone travelling to Dales Campground at Karijini national park to be on the alert and take every precaution,” the department said. “There is permanent dingo safety signage installed at several locations within Dales Campground.”

The department said dingoes were an important part of the local ecosystem but visitor safety was the number one priority.

Good morning, Nick Visser here to take the reins and guide us through Friday. Let’s get to it.

Court hears Woolworths planned price hikes and subsequent drops

Under cross-examination by the ACCC’s barrister, Michael Hodge KC, Robinson conceded Woolworths had planned the elevated short-term price of $6.50 would become the product’s “was” price before it was even changed.

Robinson also acknowledged the supermarket negotiated profit margins with the supplier based on the third “Prices Dropped” price of $6.

The court was shown the proposed promotional plan for the baby rice from 2022 which said the number of weeks it would be at the new shelf price of $6.50 was “zero” whereas the number of weeks it would then be sold for $6 was 52.

Woolworths denies the ACCC’s allegation that in many cases it inflated prices solely to establish a higher “was” price so that it could make customers think they were getting a discount.

Sam Woodcock, who has worked in management roles across Woolworths for more than nine years, also appeared as a witness.

Woodock conceded Woolworths had planned price hikes and subsequent drops promoted as discounts in negotiation with the product suppliers.

“Essentially if a supplier proposes a cost price increase to be effective from a certain date and we don’t accept that as a retailer, there’s a risk that … that a supplier will choose not to supply us that product anymore,” he told the court.

The case continues.

Woolworths gives evidence about price changes in ACCC case

Woolworths planned to increase the shelf price of products in advance so it could later display desired “was/is” price comparisons on their promotional tickets, a court has heard.

The trial involving the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Woolworths continued yesterday in testing allegations the supermarket disguised price increases on hundreds of products between 2021 and 2023.

Stuart Robinson, Woolworths’ category manager for baby products, gave evidence in the federal court in Melbourne where he was asked about Nestlé Cerelac baby rice – one of 12 products the trial is scrutinising in detail.

Woolworths’ long-term shelf price was $5, according to court documents. It then lifted the price to $6.50, for 22 days, then reduced it to a new long-term price of $6.

The supermarket promoted the $6 price as a “Prices Dropped” discount on the item’s ticket, next to the higher “was” price of $6.50.

Robinson admitted in court that the agreed “was” price of $6.50 – to be advertised in store – was higher than Woolworths had ever charged for the product at the time.