What we learned, Thursday 2 April
That’s your lot for today – save for a recap of the headlines:
The government will ban gambling advertising in sports venues and cap the number of ads allowed on TV and radio. The prime minister described the measures as the “most significant reform on gambling” in Australia history, but the government’s plan has fallen far short of key recommendations from a Labor-led report handed down more than 1,000 days ago, experts say.
Petrol prices have now fallen about 20 cents in every capital city over the last two days, after the government cut the fuel excise by 26.3c on Wednesday ahead of the Easter long weekend.
The consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said it was investigating fuel distributors and urging them to pass on all excise cuts as quickly as possible. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, warned against profiteering, saying: “anyone who seeks to use the conflict in the Middle East to rip off Australians will have the book thrown at them”.
Penny Wong will represent Australia at an international summit on efforts to reopen the strait of Hormuz, with the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, promising to explore “all viable diplomatic and political measures” to end the blockade of oil shipments. Starmer will host the talks, set to be attended by 35 nations on Thursday night (Australian time).
The US president, Donald Trump, delivered a nationwide address from the White House, declaring the month-long war in Iran a success “nearing completion” – despite a spiraling conflict that has caused economic turmoil across the globe, fractured transatlantic alliances and eroded the president’s approval ratings.
Australian shares have tumbled while the price of oil is surging after Trump threatened to send Iran “back to the Stone ages”.
One Nation have won a fourth lower house seat in Western Australia’s recent election.
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One Nation wins fourth seat in SA
One Nation has picked up its fourth lower house seat in the South Australian election. They are the first lower house seats Pauline Hanson’s party has won outside Queensland.
The electoral commission has finished a recount in the Yorke Peninsula seat of Narungga, finding One Nation’s Chantelle Thomas pipped the Liberal party’s Tania Stock by just 58 votes.
In the lower house, that puts Labor in a strong majority with 34 seats, the independents at four, One Nation at four and the Liberals at five, in opposition.
One Nation has three MPs in the 22-seat legislative council. There are set to be 10 Labor MLCs (the ABC has the 10th, Clare Scriven, as “likely”), six Liberals, two Greens, and Sarah Game, a former One Nation MLC who left and formed her own party.
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NT diphtheria outbreak linked to dip in vaccination rates, expert says
A rare outbreak of the respiratory infection diphtheria in Australia is linked to a dip in vaccination rates, a disease expert has warned.
Parents are being urged to ensure their children’s vaccination status is up-to-date after an outbreak in the Northern Territory of diphtheria, a serious respiratory bacterial infection.
The NT’s Centre for Disease Control has confirmed three cases of respiratory diphtheria in Darwin and one in Alice Springs within the past two weeks.
Adrian Esterman, an epidemiologist at Adelaide University, said Australia had at most a handful of diphtheria cases each year and outbreaks were rare.
“We need about a 95% coverage of the diphtheria vaccine to get herd immunity going,” he told AAP.
But as with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, vaccination rates have dipped for diphtheria.
MMR coverage in Australia was 95% before the Covid pandemic, but was now down to 92%, Esterman said.
“It doesn’t sound like a huge drop, but it’s enough for there to be a slight impact on herd immunity and then you see these small outbreaks in under-vaccinated communities.”
People arriving from overseas bring in the infection and it is picked up by people who are not vaccinated.
Parents were becoming more reluctant to get their kids vaccinated, Esterman said. “We need to make sure that people are aware that diphtheria can be very nasty.”
Diphtheria can easily spread person to person through inhalation of respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Respiratory diphtheria symptoms can include a sore throat, mild fever, loss of appetite and in severe cases, trouble breathing, in some cases leading to death if untreated. Diphtheria common cause of death in children until the 1940s, when vaccines were rolled out.
NT Health said the risk to the general public was “extremely low“ and contact tracing was under way.
“NT Health encourages parents to check their child’s vaccination status to ensure they are up to date according to the NT immunisation schedule,” a spokesperson said.
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Greens-led effort reinstates annual audits of Defence projects
From AAP:
Public scrutiny of major defence projects worth tens of billions of dollars is set to be reinstated after a Greens-led push to bring back annual reporting.
A Labor-led parliamentary committee in March agreed to shelve the major projects report into Defence, which has been prepared by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) since 2008.
The joint committee of public accounts and audit previously said it would transition to a process where it “examines in greater detail the auditor general’s performance audits in the defence portfolio”.
The decision was criticised as a blow to transparency and accountability for multibillion-dollar military projects.
But in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon, a crossbench motion requesting the auditor general urgently reinstate the annual major projects report was passed.
Labor did not oppose the motion and the ANAO is expected to provide a response to the request.
Dumping the major projects report was suggested by the ANAO, which told the committee it lacked the resources and found Defence increasingly non-compliant.
The Greens’ defence spokesperson, David Shoebridge, said previous audits found a collective 35 years of delay and $40bn-worth of cost blowouts across 21 projects.
“The Albanese government has overseen a staggering increase in defence secrecy,” he said. “Meanwhile they squander billions in wasteful, overpriced and underperforming procurement deals.”
Concerns have been raised that a new parliamentary joint committee on defence will be used to evade scrutiny and allow poor performance to go unchecked.
Some senior government ministers were not informed about the decision to scrap the audit beforehand, AAP was told.
The defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, said he has always supported as much transparency as possible, particularly in relation to defence projects.
“I welcome the fact this motion was passed and would like to see the major projects report continue,” he said. “Ultimately, that’s a matter for the committee.”
The defence minister, Richard Marles, said there were issues surrounding information being supplied in the current environment.
“We need to take that into account in terms of our national security,” he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.
“We want to be as transparent as we can be, and that’s what our record has shown in defence, and in fact, across the government.”
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ASX falls more than 1% after Trump threatens to send Iran ‘back to the stone ages’
Australian shares have tumbled after the price of oil surged following Donald Trump’s threats to send Iran “back to the Stone ages” while declaring his military campaign nearly complete.
The S&P/ASX200 reversed early gains to end 92.3 points lower on Friday, down 1.06%, to 8,579.5, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 110.7 points, or 1.25%, to 8,774.9.
The retreat came after Trump used a prime-time address to announce the Iran conflict would end soon, but not before the US ramped up its attacks, including on energy infrastructure if no deal was reached.
Trump offered no plan to reopen the blockaded strait of Hormuz, instead suggesting nations depending on oil moved through it should buy US crude or “take” the strait themselves.
Oil prices, which had eased to around $US100 a barrel on hopes the campaign would be winding down, soared after the speech and was above $US107 by the ASX close.
The Australian dollar is buying 68.79 US cents, down from 69.05 on Wednesday at 5pm, with the Aussie fading as risk sentiment soured.
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Wells says Labor reforms attempting to ‘break the nexus between sport and wagering’
The minister for communications, Annika Wells, has told ABC the government’s reforms to gambling advertising is an effort to “break the nexus between sport and wagering”.
Wells highlighted the issue of match-fixing linked to gambling.
Match-fixing has been a real problem particularly in league where people are coming to the country to play for a club, being beset by offshore gambling company.
We are doing a number of things to address this as part of a broader, and what I believe is a substantial package.
Following Wells on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Dr Samantha Thomas, professor of public health at Deakin University, said the government’s reforms were “small and underwhelming” as they don’t implement the full suite of recommendations from the Murphy inquiry.
The government’s reforms today may look like they are taking a step forward but in fact they are just creating a lot more freedom for the industry to target young people and continue that harm.
Thomas described the online gambling industry as one of the most hi-tech, innovative, and health-harming industries in the world.
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Fuel price gougers ‘will have the book thrown at them’, Chalmers says
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has welcomed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission serving notices on several fuel businesses imposing sizeable fuel surcharges for deliveries to remote areas.
“Anyone who seeks to use the conflict in the Middle East to rip off Australians will have the book thrown at them,” he said.
“No matter what they’re selling or where they’re selling it, businesses must not exploit the conflict in the Middle East and make false claims about the effect of fuel prices.”
“We won’t cop big corporates treating Australian consumers like mugs,” he said.
We’re empowering the ACCC to crack down with $100m fines for companies that exploit this global crisis to rip off Australians.
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ACCC warns fuel retailers to pass on all excise cuts
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today warned fuel retailers to pass on all excise cuts as quickly as possible, after the government announced an extra 5.7 cent a litre cut.
In a statement, the ACCC said it was investigating whether several fuel distributors imposed “fuel surcharges” on rural and regional deliveries that were bigger than their real rising fuel costs. It did not name the companies.
The ACCC said it had demanded explanation from the distributors in South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory, serving legal notices requiring proof of the need for the extra charge.
Petrol prices have been falling thanks to major fuel companies’ speedy pass-through of the government’s fuel excise cut, watched closely by the competition watchdog.
Ampol has confirmed all Ampol-owned petrol stations had passed on the whole fuel excise cut of 26.3c a litre by this morning. BP said it had reflected the reduction in its pricing decisions.
Not everywhere has enjoyed the full cut though, according to Motormouth data. While some capital cities have seen regular unleaded prices fall 30c a litre on average, Wagga Wagga has seen only a 17c fall, the Sunshine Coast 16c and Ballina 12c.
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NSW residents warned of mosquito bite risk over Easter weekend
NSW Health has issued a reminder warning people against the risks of mosquito bites during the Easter long weekend and upcoming school holidays.
Recent mosquito monitoring has detected Ross River virus activity in mosquito trappings in parts of greater western Sydney.
Earlier this year, Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus and Barmah Forest virus activity were detected in inland areas of NSW.
NSW Health executive director of health protection, Dr Kerryn Coleman, said even though summer was over, continuing warm weather and wet conditions meant mosquitoes were still present in significant numbers, particularly in the greater Sydney region.
The Easter long weekend and the school holidays are a time when many people travel, spend time outdoors, and take part in activities like camping and visiting parks, which can increase the risk of exposure to mosquitoes and mosquito bites.
The Ross River virus activity recently detected in greater Sydney is particularly concerning because of the density of the population, so with many people planning to be outdoors, we are encouraging them to take the necessary precautions not to get bitten.
Viruses such as Ross River and Barmah Forest can cause unpleasant symptoms, including tiredness, rash, fever, and sore and swollen joints.
These symptoms usually last a few days, but some people may experience these symptoms for weeks or even months.
There is no specific treatment for these viruses. The best way to avoid infection is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.
NSW Health recently expanded free access to the JE vaccine to people who plan to visit high-risk local government areas for outdoor recreational activities including camping, caravanning, boating, hunting and fishing while mosquito activity remains high.
The JE vaccine is also free for anyone who lives or routinely works in various inland regions as well as people who work in some high-risk occupations.
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Albanese announces new restrictions on gambling advertising
In his National Press Club address Anthony Albanese announced tougher restrictions on gambling advertising. New measures include capping TV ads, banning radio ads during school pickup and drop-off times, and restricting online ads to verified adults with opt-out options
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Husband of Peta Murphy praises gambling ad measures as ‘significant step forward’
Rod Glover, the widower of the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, who spearheaded gambling advertising reforms, has praised the government’s announced package of measures, saying his late wife would have been “very proud” of the progress.
In a LinkedIn post, he wrote:
I want to acknowledge the prime minister for taking this major step forward, and for engaging seriously with the findings of Peta’s committee. People do not always see what leaders carry in navigating difficult debates such as this – particularly when they are also personal – but if they could, they would have great respect for the policy integrity and personal compassion shown.
I also want to pay particular thanks to the minister for communications and sport, Anika Wells, for her dedication to progressing this issue. Peta would have appreciated the efforts of a colleague and a friend.
My main message today is one that Peta cared most deeply about. Throughout the committee’s work, many people came forward to share deeply personal stories of loss – experiences that affected them, their families, and their communities. The Murphy report gave those stories the weight and dignity they deserve.
I hope that today’s response from the Albanese government offers some comfort to those who spoke up – that their voices have been heard, and that what they shared has made a difference.
The outcome achieved today is not perfect, but policy rarely is. This package represents a significant step forward on an issue the community cares deeply about, and I hope it is supported by all those in parliament and beyond.
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Petrol prices have fallen 20c a litre in capital cities since the fuel excise cut
Petrol prices have now fallen about 20 cents in every capital city over the last two days, after the government cut the fuel excise by 26.3c on Wednesday.
Every capital’s average prices are back below 240c a litre for unleaded and 310c for diesel, new data from NRMA shows.
Perth is feeling the excise cut’s effect today, after unleaded fell only 7c a litre yesterday but dropped another 14c today on average, to average 230.9c a litre.
Some cities saw most of the reductions in price yesterday, like Adelaide, where average unleaded prices fell 24c yesterday then 4c today, now sitting at 230.4c, 28.8c cheaper than they were before the excise reduction. Darwin has also seen unleaded prices fall by about 28.8c per litre.
Unleaded prices are averaging 236.6c per litre in Sydney, 237.7c in Melbourne, 236.4c in Brisbane, 232c in Hobart and 234.5c in Canberra.
Diesel prices fell about 10c a litre yesterday and about another 5c a litre today, varying by city.
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‘Partial bans do not work,’ AMA says of Labor’s new gambling ad crackdown
Australia’s peak medical body has criticised the government’s new gambling advertising reforms, stating “partial bans do not work”.
The government’s package includes caps on advertising volume, extended blackout periods around sporting matches, opt-out tools for social media and streaming platforms, a phased ban on stadium and jersey advertising, and restrictions on ads around school pick-up times.
The Australian Medical Association says it is concerned the reforms do not include a national independent gambling regulator or a pathway to a total ban on online gambling advertising, as recommended by the Murphy review.
Vice president Assoc Prof Julian Rait said the measures announced today acknowledge the scale of the problem but don’t go far enough, with more comprehensive protections needed.
Australians lose more to gambling than any other country in the world. Gambling addiction is a serious health issue linked to mental illness, substance abuse, family breakdown and severe financial distress.
… Partial bans do not work. We have seen this repeatedly across public health. Anything less than a comprehensive ban will continue to expose Australians – especially children – to relentless gambling promotion.
… A full ban on online gambling advertising is the only effective way to reduce harm. The government must strengthen these reforms and implement a comprehensive ban without delay.
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Liberal federal director to step down
Andrew Hirst, the federal director of the Liberal party, has announced plans to step down in June.
Hirst said on Thursday he had told the party president, John Olsen, of his intention to quit at the next federal council meeting, and after the Farrer byelection on 9 May.
Since taking the top job nine years ago, Hirst has served under leaders Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton, Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor.
Credited with leading Morrison’s come-from-behind election win in 2019, Hirst said it was the right time to hand over to new organisational leadership and allow planning ahead of the next federal election.
In a statement, he thanked party officials and said he wanted to pay particular tribute to Morrison, saying: “History will judge Scott well.”
Our party faces significant challenges that must be confronted with renewed energy and determination.
I have great confidence in the leadership of Angus Taylor and Jane Hume as the custodians of our party, and I wish them and the parliamentary team well for the future.
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Queensland under pressure on cost-of-living relief
Queensland’s decision to sign on to the national GST fuel deal will leave the state under increased pressure to find a way to fund further cost of living relief.
On Thursday, the Labor opposition said the state would likely bank another windfall - via royalties in high coal and gas export prices. The opposition leader, Steven Miles, says this should be passed directly back to taxpayers.
We are calling on the Crisafulli government, we are demanding they put those funds to much-needed cost of living relief for Queenslanders.
This government shouldn’t profit from those increased royalties.
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Queensland ‘played our part’ in GST deal to lower fuel prices, state treasurer says
The Queensland treasurer, David Janetzki, says the state has “played our part” in striking a federal GST deal to further lower fuel prices.
Queensland had been the holdout state, having previously said it wanted to use additional GST windfall from higher fuel prices on direct cost-of-living relief for locals.
It signed on to the national fuel deal on Thursday. Janetzki said:
From the beginning it has been Queensland’s position to forgo windfalls from higher fuel prices and how this can be calculated, collected and distributed has been facilitated following today’s meeting.
Work will continue through the budget process to keep delivering targeted cost-of-living measures Queenslanders can rely on.
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ASX falls sharply in response to Trump address
The Australian share market has turned sharply lower in response to Donald Trump’s address to the nation after the US president failed to articulate a clean exit strategy from the Middle East conflict.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 started the day positively but started to lose those early gains during Trump’s address.
In early afternoon trading, the Australian index was down 0.8% to hover near the 8,600 point mark, representing a sharp reversal.
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.
Oil prices jumped back above US$100 a barrel this afternoon in response to Trump’s address to the nation, the first delivered by the president since the start of the Iran war.
While Trump said the conflict was “nearing completion” and set a timeline of “two to three weeks”, investors are concerned that oil supplies could remain disrupted.
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Chris Minns welcomes states’ agreement to return extra GST on fuel
With that press club address over, we’re now hearing from the states and territories welcoming the news on lower fuel prices.
NSW premier Chris Minns says:
We welcome the agreement to return the extra GST collected on higher fuel prices back to motorists.
It’s some relief to drivers and helps take the edge off higher fuel costs.
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‘I will take every opportunity to talk to the Australian people,’ Albanese says
Albanese is being asked about a comment which appeared underneath the video of his national address last night, voicing a view that in trying to deliver a message to calm people down, in the eight-hour window leading up to the address it inadvertently caused greater anxiety.
The truth is that the demand spike in fuel had occurred, was continuing to occur.
There hasn’t been a single ship that was due to arrive in Australia in March that had not arrived.
… I will take every opportunity to talk to the Australian people directly, because that is showing them respect.
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‘Australia wasn’t consulted’ before war in Iran, Albanese says
Trump was thoughtful enough to time his speech just before the Australian leader’s, but Albanese says he hasn’t yet heard his US counterpart’s message.
Asked about the timeframe Trump laid out, Albanese said:
To be clear, as I said, Australia wasn’t consulted before this began. The United States, as a sovereign state and they are the world’s largest economy, and President Trump I think will continue to make announcements.
What I have said very clearly though is that I do want to see a de-escalation and I want there to be a recognition as well, greater clarity, about how this ends, and I haven’t seen, to be fair, the timing of President Trump’s speech so I am reluctant to talk about the content, but I have been pretty consistent about this as well, that we need to account for what the endpoint is here and what the objectives are, and that the objectives that were originally put forward by President Trump I think have largely been realised.
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Albanese is asked about the Murphy report recommendations
Now moving on to questions, Albanese is facing pressure on the announced gambling reforms, being questioned why recommendations in the Murphy report remain unaddressed, including many around harm minimisation.
We’ll be tabling a response to the Murphy report on the first day that parliament comes back, when it returns.
Cabinet adopted these positions today.
This is the position that we will take forward in legislation, when parliament resumes.
And the government decides positions, not committees.
Government can be informed by committees, but the government determines positions.
And one of the things that sporting codes need, dare I say it, here at the National Press Club, TV channels that have broadcasting deals, all of that, is tied up with certainty going forward.
And what we’ll do is present a final position that we have, it’s informed as well by the key elements going forward, some of it is about the Murphy report, but the Murphy report isn’t [where] it started and ended.
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‘We know the mindset that left Australia exposed to this global shock,’ Albanese says
Albanese had earlier in his speech also criticised the Coalition’s approach to economic policy putting “our nation in this position of vulnerability” in comparison to his government’s “future made in Australia” approach:
We all know the mindset that left Australia exposed to this global shock. That said it was OK to cut Tafe and training. To dare manufacturing and industry to go offshore. To put multinational firms ahead of Australian gas users. To close our refineries, store our fuel reserves in Texas, and run the national energy grid [to the] ground, and that Australia could get away with this because there would always be someone else who would sell us what we needed cheaper than we could make it ourselves.
This approach put our nation in this position of vulnerability. It certainly will not take us out of that. That’s why our government is taking a different path, investing in a future made in Australia, creating the reconstruction fund to back manufacturing.
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‘We are getting the balance right,’ Albanese says
Albanese speaks of the need to make sure children don’t believe gambling and sport are “inextricably linked”:
We are getting the balance right, letting adults have a punt if they want to but making sure that our children don’t see betting as everywhere they look because we don’t want kids growing up thinking that gambling are inextricably linked, we want Australians to love sport for what it is.
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Albanese announces new restrictions on gambling advertising
Albanese:
We legislated against subscription traps, and today I announce we will build on the reforms that we have already delivered to combat gambling harm.
Between 6am and 8:30pm, we will cap the number of TV ads for agencies at a maximum of three per hour, we will ban all gambling ads on radio during school pickup and drop-off.
We will ban cross promotion content that mixes commentary with odds, and advertising on jerseys and jumpers and in stadiums. And we will ban online advertising unless the user is verified as being over 18 and has the ability to opt out. Just as importantly we will block illegal offshore gaming sites and bad online keynote byproducts, the so-called pocket pokies … and we will keep building on the success of Betstop, promoting and strengthening a program that is changing lives.
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Fuel crisis ‘not like Covid’, Albanese says
Albanese had just before spoken of the necessity of being better prepared to avoid a repeat of what Australia experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
I’m taking every opportunity in the parliament, at press conferences, on social media, in last night’s address and here at the National Press Club, to make it clear to all Australians that, while there are significant challenges ahead, and common sense changes required, this will not be like Covid.
… Taking sensible steps now, so we’re better prepared for what is ahead. And being clear about what we want life to look like here in Australia, even as the global situation becomes more challenging. So we do not have a repeat of the social [experience] of Covid.
When people’s financial stress and anxiety about the world was compounded by being cut off from family and friends and community. And trust in government and institutions was eroded by rules that seemed both completely inflexible and constantly changing. Our focus is keeping Australia moving and keeping Australia open.
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Albanese announces a further cut to fuel tax
Albanese:
This morning, importantly, we have reached agreement with the states and territories to deliver a further cut in the fuel tax, by returning their GST windfall to Australians.
… This will mean a combined saving of 32 cents on every litre.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has already signed that change into law.
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‘Australia is not an active participant in this war,’ PM says at press club
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has stepped up for another address at the National Press Club. He opens saying:
This is a testing time for our nation. The war in the Middle East has caused the biggest increase in petrol prices …
Australia is not an active participant in this war. We did express support for the original objectives: preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and degrading its ability to damage its neighbours.
Iran’s air force is degraded, its navy is degraded.
Its military industrial base is degraded and so too is its capacity to launch missiles.
That’s a good thing.
Now those objectives have been realised, it’s not clear what more needs to be achieved. Or what the end point looks like.
What is clear is that the longer the war goes on, the more significant the impact on the global economy will be.
Not just the price of fuel, but everything that relies upon fuel, literally everything that moves.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has begun an address to the National Press Club in Canberra.
Police request more time to defend lawsuit brought by Hannah Thomas
Police are requesting even more time to defend a lawsuit brought by a federal Greens candidate who was maimed during a protest.
Hannah Thomas suffered a serious eye injury that required surgery when she was arrested outside a Sydney firm on 27 June during a protest over weapons being supplied to Israel.
The 35-year-old faced criminal charges that have since been withdrawn, while Senior Constable Christopher Davis has been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and recklessly causing grievous bodily harm over the violent altercation.
Davis has pleaded not guilty and the case has been set down for a hearing in February next year.
But Thomas’s civil claim against NSW Police, which alleges malicious prosecution and misfeasance in public office, has stagnated, with the state requesting more time to prepare a defence.
In the NSW supreme court on Thursday, her frustrated lawyer Anavi Arya said it was the second time police had requested an extension and called it “quite excessive”.
Arya said they had already provided the extra details supporting their claim requested at the previous court date.
“The state has had enough time to consider a defence,” she told the court.
Lawyer James Knez said members of the police force referenced in the lawsuit were so senior that it required more time to defend.
“There are allegations made against quite senior members of the police force ... the exact torts they’re said to have committed haven’t been pleaded,” he said.
“It shouldn’t matter who they are,” court registrar Jennifer Hedge replied.
The police were granted the extension and the matter will return to court on 5 May.
Thomas’s lawyer said her side had served all material requested, including medical records, tax details and psychological evidence.
A magistrate has previously ordered police to pay costs amounting to $39,435 to four demonstrators, including $21,000 to Thomas.
Thomas, who stands about 155cm and weighs about 45kg, was charged with hindering or resisting police and two counts of refusing to comply with a move-on direction before the allegations were formally withdrawn earlier in September. The court has previously heard the injuries Thomas sustained were extremely serious and her long-term prognosis was still unknown.
Thomas unsuccessfully ran for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s inner-west Sydney seat of Grayndler at the 2025 federal election.
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Albanese expected to respond to gambling report in press club address
The prime minister is expected to respond to a major report on gambling advertising, during his national press club address today.
Anthony Albanese has been under pressure to respond to a report handed to the government in June 2023 from an inquiry chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy.
The Murphy report, “You win some, you lose more”, made 31 recommendations, including a phased ban on all online gambling advertising.
As my colleague Josh Butler brought you last night, gambling industry and harm reduction advocates were expecting an imminent announcement.
Reported elements of the plan have been called “half-arsed” by reform advocates, including independent senator David Pocock.
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US President Donald Trump has begun speaking from the White House
Follow here:
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Earthquake strikes in Indonesia, sparking tsunami alert
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake has struck the Northern Molucca Sea region in Indonesia, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The quake, which hit early on Thursday local time, had depth of 35km and its epicentre was 127km (79 miles) west-northwest of Ternate, Indonesia, the USGS said.
The US tsunami warning system said tsunami waves were possible with 1,000km of the epicentre, along the coasts of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. It warned that tsunami waves reaching 0.3 metres to 1 metre (3.2ft) above the tide level were possible for some of the Indonesian coastline.
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‘Tis the season for addresses national …
A reminder that at midday (Australian Eastern Daylight Savings time), President Donald Trump will deliver his first formal address from the White House since launching a war in the Middle East a month ago.
My colleague Jonathan Yerushalmy is running a live blog on that speech. He has written this:
It comes at a pivotal moment for the US president, as he faces accusations that he has lost control of the conflict and will not be able to achieve the key aims of the war.
Trump has continued to claim that the US has already won the war, and has refused to take responsibility for the economic fallout that has spread across the world.
In his speech, the president will give an operational update on the progress of Operation Epic Fury, while highlighting the military’s “success in achieving all of its stated goals”, a US official has said.
He is expected to reiterate the 2-3 week timetable for concluding the operation, but crucially is not expected to announced an end to the war.
Recent polling shows Trump’s overall approval rating slipping below 40%, with disapproval climbing above the mid-50s as voters sour on both the war and its economic fallout, while support for the Iran campaign itself polls even lower.
The economic picture has compounded the problem. US petrol prices have surged above $4 a gallon for the first time in years, while consumer confidence has weakened, dragging down Trump’s already fragile standing on the economy.
Follow Jonathan’s live updates here:
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Mental health unit created in wake of hospital violence
Emergency department patients experiencing intense distress or aggression will be re-directed to a new therapeutic unit as a hospital attempts to curb violence against its staff, AAP reports.
Frontline employees at Westmead Hospital in Sydney’s west have been subject to a significant increase in aggression from patients, including one high-profile incident where multiple security guards and a nurse were injured when a 39-year-old patient allegedly slashed at staff.
But a new six-bed unit could help improve mental healthcare, keep staff safe, and reduce waiting times in the emergency department.
It will be better suited for patients who are at risk of becoming aggressive or agitated and will provide a secure environment to help those experiencing distress.
NSW Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson said:
Some patients don’t deal well in the loud, busy environment of an emergency department, it can cause them to behave in a way that puts the safety of our staff and other patients at risk.
That’s why we’re building a new, specialist unit to divert these patients away from the ED waiting room.
Angus Taylor to make statement to nation in ABC broadcast on Wednesday night
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, will speak to the country on Thursday night, a day after an address from Anthony Albanese.
Despite criticising the prime minister for wasting time on Wednesday night, the Liberal leader will be broadcast at 7pm, with a statement about the war in Iran and the global energy crisis.
The ABC will broadcast the message.
Taylor said on Thursday that Albanese’s address “could have been a social media post”. He criticised the lack of detail, urging the prime minister to give Australians confidence and certainty in the weeks and months ahead.
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Australia to join talks with 35 countries to explore ways to reopen strait of Hormuz
As we mentioned earlier, Richard Marles confirmed Australia will join talks convened by the United Kingdom to explore ways to reopen the strait of Hormuz.
You can read more about that meeting, expected to take place at about 10pm AEDT tonight, here:
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‘We have listened’ to patients of former gynaecologist under investigation, Victorian health minister says
The federal and Victorian governments say they have listened to patients of former gynaecologist Simon Gordon, helping them access tailored assistance to navigate the health system.
Their experiences are currently the subject of multiple investigations, after an ABC Four Corners investigation revealed allegations Gordon performed unnecessary operations to remove endometriosis.
Gordon maintains he always acted ethically, telling the ABC he “never performed surgery to treat endometriosis or any other condition unless I was absolutely convinced it was in the patient’s best interest and to improve their overall quality of life”.
The federal government has responded with a $7.45m package, which includes funding Victorian Primary Health Networks to establish Care Navigators. These navigators will deliver individualised care coordination, acting as a central point of contact to help women navigate follow-up care, specialist reviews and other healthcare supports through a network of local GPs.
The Victorian government is also investing $2m to deliver complementary, additional tertiary specialist endometriosis support services to the women affected at five health services.
Victorian minister for health, Mary-Anne Thomas, said:
We have listened to these women who are hurting – making sure they are supported to get the care they need.
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Failure to release hate speech report ‘a blow to marginalised communities’, NSW Greens say
The Greens LBTQIA+ spokesperson, Amanda Cohn, who introduced the motion to order the government to release the review, says refusal to release the report is “a blow to marginalised communities”.
While we are considering further changes to hate crime laws in parliament, it’s troubling that the NSW government refuses to share an independent review it commissioned into the very issues we are debating. A cynic might wonder whether the findings don’t align with the government’s approach.
The Greens justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson, says:
After he received the Sackar review, the attorney general [Michael Daley] has introduced a number of significant bills making wide-ranging changes to criminal laws concerning protest, prohibited symbols, Nazis and hate crimes. He is demanding the parliament legislate on these issues without the benefit of the review and advice about the soundness of these laws.
A spokesperson for Daley said the government “continues to consider the Sackar review”. Cohn says she will seek to challenge the government’s decision when state parliament sits again in May.
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NSW government refuses to release secret hate speech report
The NSW government has knocked back an attempt to compel it to release a secret report into controversial hate speech protections in the state which it has been sitting on for several months.
The report was commissioned last year after the introduction of an offence for inciting hatred on the grounds of race, against Law Reform Commission advice it would “introduce imprecision and subjectivity into the criminal law”.
The six-month review, authored by former supreme court justice John Sackar, was asked to look into expanding the offence to cover religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, was tabled in November.
The premier, Chris Minns, has said the government will not release it until the cabinet has made a policy decision, amid growing speculation about what the report contains.
But last month the NSW upper house passed a unanimous motion, unopposed by Labor, under a procedure known as atanding order 52 (SO52), which requires the government to release documents. It called for the tabling of the report, and documents relating to its creation, as well as any legal advice given to the government about whether it was required to release the report.
Late yesterday afternoon, on the day a response was due, the government returned a five-page document, containing five letters from senior public servants and chiefs of staff in the premier’s, attorney general and police minister’s offices, all of them certifying that “no documents covered by the terms of the resolution and lawfully required to be provided are held by The Cabinet Office or the Premier’s Department”.
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Young adults’ sunburn rates not improving
Fewer people are getting sunburnt in NSW, with the exception of young adults whose rates show no improvement, new data shows.
The Cancer Institute NSW’s Sun Protection Behaviours Report, released today, showed one in 10 adults (10%) reported being sunburnt at least once in the four-week period before they were surveyed in 2024, down from almost 15% from the previous report.
However, there was no improvement from the previous report in the number of young adults, aged 18-24 years, getting sunburnt, with around one in five (18.5%) reporting a recent sunburn.
The same age group were also less likely to protect themselves by behaviours such as wearing protective clothing, a hat and sunglasses.
The report also provided insights on sun exposure, finding around four in 10 adults surveyed were frequently exposed to the sun from 11am-3pm, when UV levels are highest, yet only around 40% used three or more forms of sun protection.
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CSIRO warns of mouse plague risk after rapid rise in rodent numbers
Mouse populations are reaching plague proportions across Australia’s key cropping zones, with scientists warning farmers to remain on high alert, AAP reports.
CSIRO research points to concerning mouse numbers in paddocks stretching from Geraldton to Esperance in Western Australia.
Monitoring zones have also recorded increased numbers across South Australia’s Adelaide Plains, Yorke Peninsula and Eyre Peninsula, along with parts of southern Queensland.
Wimmera farmer and Grain Producers Australia research and development spokesperson Andrew Weidemann has urged farmers to be prepared to bait for mice at sowing time in autumn.
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Australia should ‘seriously consider’ US requests for help to open strait of Hormuz, Taylor says
Taylor also says Australia should “seriously consider” any request made to help the US in opening up the strait of Hormuz.
I certainly support supporting the US alliance, supporting the United States in opening up the strait of Hormuz. What we don’t know is what requests have been made to the Australian government. We should seriously consider any request that has been made.
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Angus Taylor accuses government of lack of clarity on fuel crisis
Taylor, speaking to the Today Show earlier this morning, also accused the goverment of failing to provide clarity on the fuel crisis.
What we need is to know where the fuel is in the supply chain, where the gaps are, what the government is doing to fill them and is it unable to fill those gaps. We’re not getting that clarity, we’re not getting that transparency.
Taylor says the Coalition provided such clarity during the AdBlue crisis.
Taylor points out that with state leader Roger Cook declaring a state of emergency for Western Australia, “it’s not clear whether the federal government is leading here or the state hovernment”.
It’s extremely confused and we’re getting now responses from state premiers which are muddying the waters on where we’re going with all of this.
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Improvements for Aṉangu behind changes to 99-year lease on Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa
The traditional owners of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa national park and the federal government have agreed to vary the park’s 99-year lease, creating more jobs and projects to support local communities.
As part of the new lease, full-time employment targets for Aṉangu at the park are now required to reach 50% by 2030. Aṉangu businesses will also receive more help to win contracts.
Since 2013, the Central Land Council (CLC) has helped traditional owners negotiate the latest agreement with Parks Australia. The agreement aims to help with the extreme cost of living out bush and invest in community-driven development projects.
Since 2006, the CLC says it has supported traditional owners of the park and their communities in the cross-border region of Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia to use income from the park for Aṉangu education initiatives, recreational facilities, homeland infrastructure and other projects.
In that time, traditional owners have invested almost $21m in 102 projects in their communities, many of them multi-year initiatives.
The new agreement will also deliver “stronger protection for sacred sites and songlines”, CLC chief executive Les Turner said.
He said:
[There will be] tougher consequences for damage and more robust joint management principles informed by tjukurpa [pronounced JU-kurr-pa].
That may mean accepting guidance from Aṉangu about where and when to undertake traditional burning or when to close the park for cultural reasons.
Turner said Parks Australia also agreed to recognise the traditional owners’ cultural and intellectual property, such as songs, dances, stories and cultural knowledge, and to seek their explicit permission to use it.
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‘Might as well have told us what he was going to have for dinner’: shadow minister lambasts address to the nation
The quips continue coming in thick and fast against Albanese’s address to the nation. The shadow minister for energy, Dan Tehan, tells ABC Radio:
He might as well have told us what he was going to have for dinner last night. There was nothing new in it. He didn’t take the Australian people into his confidence.
He made no commitments to transparency … there was no commitment from the prime minister to tell us whether ships have been cancelled, whether they’re being delayed, what our stock holdings are at the moment, where the shortages are, how many service stations are out of fuel, what they’re doing to make sure they’re getting fuel to those service stations – nothing.
And yet the Australian people are worried. They’re deeply concerned. They have no idea about what is happening. And yet all we get from the prime minister is political messaging, which he’d been instructed to do. And he said this in the parliament yesterday by his federal director, and no reassurances whatsoever by the Australian people. I think everyone was just flabbergasted.
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Australia to attend UK summit on strait of Hormuz
Australia will be attending the UK summit on the strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping route for oil and gas that has been blocked by Iran, Marles confirmed.
We will be participating in that. It’ll be a virtual meeting as I understand the next 24 hours and the foreign minister will be representing Australia at that meeting.
It follows on from Australia signing up to the UK-led statement … all of those countries and very much Australia have an interest in seeing the straits of Hormuz opened as soon as possible. We will look to what Australia can do.
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Marles defends Albanese’s address to nation
The deputy prime minister and defence minister, Richard Marles, has defended the PM using an address to the nation to tell Australians they should go about their business as usual.
Asked whether Albanese owed Australians more substance on ABC Radio, Marles said:
I think people are trying to come to terms with what all of this means and what they should be doing in this moment. I think that’s particularly the case as we head into the Easter weekend.
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‘More drilling’ the answer to Australia’s gas security, Angus Taylor says
Asked about the resource minister’s move to secure gas for local users, Taylor say he’s “always believed that we need to make sure that Australian gas is working hard for Australians”.
But I also believe that the best way to achieve that is more drilling and more gas coming from under the ground. …we keep putting Band-Aids on bullet wounds across our economy whether it’s in gas whether it’s dealing with inflation or interest rates. What we need to do is solve the underlying problem – as I said upfront: we do need to make sure Australian gas is working hard for Australians but the best way to do that is to make sure gas is coming out from under the ground. In existing well-established basins, drilling can convert to more gas production quickly. It doesn’t take long, but we do need to make sure that we don’t get ourselves in this position again.
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PM’s address ‘could have been a social media post’, Angus Taylor says
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has said the PM Anthony Albanese’s address to the nation last night was unnecessary, and “could have been a social media post”.
Speaking to ABC Radio, Taylor said:
At a time when Australians are wondering whether they can get away on their Easter holidays … what they need is confidence. They need clarity, not confusion. And last night’s address didn’t help. It could have been a social media post.
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Resources minister puts gas producers on notice
The federal resources minister, Madeleine King, has formally put gas producers on notice to supply more gas locally or face restrictions on exports.
King appeared on ABC Radio this morning explaining the action being taken in response to the potential shortfall in the east coast market (Western Australia and the Northern Territory are well supplied with gas).
Yesterday I issued that notice of intent under the Australian domestic gas security measurement mechanism for the months of July, August and September. And that is based on the report of the ACCC … that forecasts – it’s a relatively small shortfall, … but the issue for me is that we are going into winter, and at a time when we see this international conflict in the Middle East causing disruption to supply.
What this does is brings all the exporters to the table to prove that they will make sure that shortfall doesn’t come to pass … What’s really important is we don’t want to repeat of 2022 when we didn’t have these tools available to us when there was a gas shortage.
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Western Australia fishing ban ‘makes no sense’, court told
A controversial state ban that has left fish eaters without their favourite fillets was politically motivated, unreasonable and not based on science, a court has been told, Australian Associated Press reports.
Catch limits for harvesting prized demersal species, including pink snapper, red emperor and dhufish, have been slashed along most of Western Australia’s vast coastline with a permanent commercial ban over a large stretch.
Trawling companies are challenging restrictions that have prohibited their commercial operations off the Pilbara since January.
A decision by the WA fisheries minister, Jackie Jarvis, was not based on a recommendation from the department and was made without consultation outside the existing legislation to manage the fishery.
In his opening remarks at the supreme court in Perth, lawyer Eric Heenan said:
The order made by the minister was unreasonable and a disproportionate use of power.
The order cannot stand. The evidence will show the minister acted without any scientific assessment of the Pilbara fishery.
Jarvis had acted hastily while under pressure from conservationists due to the demersal species stock situation in a large recreational fishery adjacent to Perth.
Heenan argued the minister was “obsessed” with dolphin bio-catch from trawling, and the ban was “influenced by political considerations” and made “no economic sense”, he said.
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Good morning! Thanks Martin for kicking us off.
Australia reacts to Albanese address
Anthony Albanese last night joined a small band of prime ministers to have made televised addresses to the nation but the reaction has been muted.
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, told 7News last night that the prime minister did not give enough detail about how much fuel the country had in reserve and urged him to be more transparent.
“There has consistently been a lack of detail, but also a lack of a plan,” Taylor said on Wednesday night. “We know we’ve got a problem with 600 servos, we also know that the government keeps telling us there’s more than enough stock and so we need clarity on this. We need a plan to go with that.”
Some newspapers were more direct, with Sydney’s Daily Telegraph running a story on less than complimentary reaction from Australians online, the gist of which was that they thought it was a “nothing burger” and a waste of time.
The Nine stable was a little more polite but an opinion piece argued the PM shouldn’t have bothered because his message was ultimately a bit meh.
Read our full story on Albanese’s address here:
And here’s that address in full:
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the breaking stories before Natasha May takes the helm.
Anthony Albanese used a rare address to the nation to attempt to allay public fears over dwindling fuel supplies, vowing to keep petrol prices down by shoring up international supplies and ramping up local production.
He will be up at the National Press Club later today, where he’ll announce new interest-free loans for businesses hit the hardest by fuel shortages and collapsing consumer confidence.
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has criticised the prime minister’s response to the crisis, pushing for more clarity.
Let’s get started.
