4m agoTue 31 Mar 2026 at 10:05pm
‘Don’t Be a Jerk’ laws go before parliament
“Don’t Be a Jerk” laws to crack down on company behaviour that’s shabby but not illegal will finally go before parliament today.
The long-promised unfair trading laws will amend consumer law to ban the hidden fees and subscription traps that drive many consumers crazy.
For years people have complained about how easy it is to sign up for a subscription but a massive ordeal to unsubscribe.
These laws will change that by forcing companies to disclose key information when consumers are signing up and making it easy to cancel.
It will also stop other poor behaviour like tricky tactics that manipulate or pressure consumers, hidden fees and drip pricing where extra charges appear late in an online sale.
Other tactics such as digital designs known as “dark patterns” that use fake countdown timers or misleading claims about limited availability to create a false sense of urgency will also be banned.
The ABC recently reported on global travel website Guest Reservations which is accused of inflating prices for Australian travellers by misleading them into believing they’re booking directly with the hotel, having an alarm warning clock which says they have 10 minutes to book and adding extra fees and charges.
Consumer advocates say these changes close a major gap in the law but business groups have said it could increase the cost and complexity of their work..
The government says it should also save people money.
Spruiking the new laws Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh said: “When businesses compete honestly, consumers win, and so do the firms that play by the rules.”
The government reckons it will make a big difference when it comes to buying tickets for music gigs, booking hotel rooms and signing up for gym memberships or digital services.
29m agoTue 31 Mar 2026 at 9:39pm
Government deadline for gun reform passes with just four states signing up
The prime minister’s March deadline for national gun reform has come and gone, with more than half the states and territories still opposed to parts of the plan announced in the weeks following the Bondi terror attack.
Only four jurisdictions have signed up to the government’s gun buyback scheme, despite the federal parliament passing legislation to establish its funding.
It has been 108 days since the mass shooting in Bondi shocked the nation and prompted the government to push reforms which would make it harder to get a gun licence in Australia, as well as reduce the number of guns a single licence holder can own.
Anthony Albanese had hoped to achieve those goals by updating minimum standards under the National Firearms Agreement, and set a timeline for that to be done by the start of April.
53m agoTue 31 Mar 2026 at 9:15pm
Experts say trigger for fuel rationing is not a ‘precise’ date
Australians are unlikely to get a clear trigger for fuel rationing because the federal government is working to shore up supplies and prevent it, experts say.
The risk of losing credibility with the public if forecasts about fuel levels do not pan out, and the uncertain nature of the Middle East war, are key factors in why the government is not expected to make “precise” predictions public.
The ABC this week revealed preliminary government analysis produced last month assumed the nation’s fuel reserves dropping to 10 days of supply would prompt fuel rationing.
Australia currently has about 30 days’ worth of diesel, 39 days of petrol and 30 days of jet fuel held in reserve, while all shipments through to May have been secured.
Read the full story at the link below.
58m agoTue 31 Mar 2026 at 9:11pm’If you start something, you should finish it’: Wilson on Trump
(ABC News: Callum Flinn)
Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson also stopped by for a moment in the ABC Radio National Breakfast hot seat, where he was asked about Donald Trump’s latest message to allies.
The US president took to social media overnight where he told allies to “go get their own oil” from the Strait of Hormuz.
Wilson says the message should “concern every Australian”.
“We are all looking at this conflict with incredible concern about its trajectory and the fact if you start something, you need to finish it.”
The shadow treasurer says if Trump ended the war without re-opening the waterway, it would have “dramatic and substantial consequences for Australia and for the global economy”.
Wilson was also asked if Australia should send any further military assets to the Middle East.
He says his general position is to be “extremely cautious” about doing so.
1h agoTue 31 Mar 2026 at 9:01pm
States should work out how to return windfall GST revenue on higher fuel prices
States and territories agreed to return windfall GST revenue raised from higher fuel prices at a meeting of national cabinet on Monday.
But those plans hit a snag yesterday after the state governments couldn’t come to an agreement on how exactly to do so.
Transport Minister Catherine King says the federal government is doing its bit by halving the fuel excise so it is now up to the states to sort it out.
“How they intend to return that or provide relief in states and territories is still being worked through. It is really quite a complex issue to do, but it’s not beyond them,” she tells ABC’s Radio National Breakfast.Â
“We of course encourage states and territories to forgo that GST on fuel as well … that’s what they agreed in the room to do.”
1h agoTue 31 Mar 2026 at 8:46pmAustralia should be ‘open’ to sending assets and personnel to Strait of Hormuz: O’Brien
(ABC News: Callum Flinn)
Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Ted O’Brien says he’s open to Australia sending assets and personnel to assist efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz.
About 20 per cent of the world’s oil supplies flow through the waterway. Its effective closure due to the US-Israel war with Iran has sent fuel prices soaring.
O’Brien is asked by ABC’s AM if a Coalition government would be open to contribute to opening the strait and putting boots on the ground.
“I think the key question is, is it in our national interest? And in my view, yes it is,” he says.
“The second question is, what can we contribute in a material sense — that part of the equation we are yet to understand.
“We should be open to making a contribution to assets or personnel or both. Well, again, let’s wait to see what is being asked of us.”
Asked again if he was open to sending boots on the ground, he gave a more qualified response:
“We are not talking about boots on the ground in Iran, participating directly in the war. We are talking about the need for us to have the Strait of Hormuz opened, the context in which that will be undertaken, any activity, we are yet to know.”
It follows Foreign Minister Penny Wong ruling out sending troops for a ground operation, saying Australia’s involvement will be limited to defensive roles only.
1h agoTue 31 Mar 2026 at 8:28pm
Trump’s social media attack of allies ‘not particularly bothersome’: Labor
US President Donald Trump has again attacked American allies over a reluctance to get involved in the Iran war.
In a social media post overnight he wrote that the US “won’t be there to help [allies] anymore” and told “all of those countries that can’t get jet fuel” to “build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait [of Hormuz], and just TAKE IT”.
Labor frontbencher Clare O’Neil says the “late-night missive” was “nothing particularly out of the ordinary” for Trump.
“These tweets that come out from Donald Trump, you know they come out every few days. It’s not something that we see as particularly bothersome,” she tells Seven.
“I think the main priority for us right now is that we’ve got a considerable conflict that’s been started by the US. It’s having impacts for us here in Australia that are serious and are going to get more serious the longer the war goes on for.”
Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash, also on the panel, says the message to Australia is “very clear”.
“We must be stronger, more focused and more prepared when it comes to our own fuel security here at home given, in particular, our reliance on the Strait of Hormuz,” she says.
1h agoTue 31 Mar 2026 at 8:24pmAssistant treasurer ‘confident’ budget can accommodate $2.5b fuel excise cut
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino has defended the decision to halve the fuel excise amid warnings from economists that it may add to inflation.
The decision to slash 26 cents off the cost of petrol will cost tax payers about $2.5 billion. The government has yet to say how it will fund the measure.
But Mulino told ABC’s News Breakfast he was “confident” there was room in the budget for the cost-of-living relief.
“It’s something which we can accommodate within broader budget considerations while keeping overall spending pressures low,” he said.
He says the government is focused on keeping its fiscal settings in line with where the Reserve Bank is headed on monetary policy.
1h agoTue 31 Mar 2026 at 8:15pmIt could take a few days, or weeks, for the cut to fuel excise to reach your service station
Drivers will pay about 26.3 cents less on every litre of fuel they buy for three months after parliament passed legislation to halve the fuel excise last night.
But the government has warned it could be a couple of days, or even weeks, for the estimated $19 a tank saving to flow through.
“It depends really on the turnover of the station,” Labor frontbencher Mark Butler told Nine.
“It will be a few days at those very high turnover stations in the cities but as much as one or two weeks in other communities.”
Butler explained that is because companies pay the levy at the wholesale point rather than at the bowser itself.
1h agoTue 31 Mar 2026 at 8:10pm
What will come of the federal government’s new fertiliser taskforce?
Farmers need fertiliser, and at the moment a lot of it is stuck on ships.
In an effort to shore up supply, the federal government’s committed to underwriting the purchase of fertiliser by the private sector, and will hold off introducing a new export charge on producers for a year.
It’s also created a taskforce, which the National Farmers Federation will sit on.
The organisation’s chief executive, Michael Guerin, wants the taskforce to expedite financial assistance to farmers in need.
“We would argue we are facing a disaster right now,” he said.
Fertiliser is crucial to Australia’s food bowl, so what does a shortage mean for our food supply?
RMIT University food systems expert Kelly Donati says while we’re not on track to run out of food, the supply be tighter.
“That might mean that there are particular items that we are not able to buy in the supermarket, or that there might be some rationing of,” she said.
She’s predicting a rise in the cost of food, and believes Australia can prevent food crises in the future by localising supply chains.
2h agoTue 31 Mar 2026 at 7:54pm
Good morning 👋
Hi friends. Welcome to our daily federal politics live blog.
I’m Courtney Gould from the ABC’s Parliament House, here and ready to guide you through the day.
The focus remains on fuel this morning after the parliament last night passed laws to enable the fuel excise to be halved.
 However, plans for the states and territories to return windfall GST revenue to reduce petrol prices further have hit a snag.
Let’s just jump straight in.
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