Just nowWed 15 Apr 2026 at 10:25pm
PM’s Malaysia visit follows 24 hours in Brunei
The prime minister’s talks in Malaysia today follow a 24-hour visit to Brunei, during which Albanese received a guarantee the tiny sultanate was not considering restricting the amount of fuel or fertiliser shipped to Australia.
In exchange, Australia — which is Brunei’s largest trading partner — will continue to provide crucial food shipments.
Brunei supplies around 11 per cent of Australia’s fertiliser. In 2024, Australia supplied around three-quarters of the Brunei’s meat imports.
The prime minister signed a joint statement with Brunei’s Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (AAP: Bianca de Marchi)Read more in this report by ABC foreign affairs correspondent Stephen Dziedzic:
30m agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 9:55pm
Bowen says about 2% of service stations without diesel
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has given an update on Australia’s current fuel stocks.
“Domestically, we’re still seeing around 2 per cent of service stations without diesel — so that’s been very good progress,” he said.
“Obviously, we want to see that come down to 0 per cent, but we are still dealing with the overhang of very high demand.
“We have 57 ships on their way to Australia. Some of them have arrived this week.
 “Also, we have locked in 4.1 billion litres of supply of crude oil, diesel, petrol, jet fuel over the next four weeks.”
Bowen says he’ll provide more detail on Saturday, as part of his weekly update on Australia’s fuel supply.
37m agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 9:48pm
Australia making ‘very good progress’ on fuel imports, Bowen says
Chris Bowen says while the fire is “not great timing … what’s important is we come together and manage this”.
“It’s important, as we’ve always said, that people buy as much fuel as they need, but no more, no less,” he told ABC News Breakfast.
“We continue to make very good progress internationally on the imports to Australia, which is the majority of fuel that we consume.
“This is a febrile international environment, fast–changing. Rays of sunshine and then setbacks in terms of the geopolitical environment in the Middle East.”
Bowen said the government had been working closely with Australia’s two refineries, while also working to shore up more supply — pointing to the PM’s efforts in south-east Asia this week.
49m agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 9:37pm
Geelong fire mostly impacting petrol production, Bowen says
Energy Minister Chris Bowen is providing an update on the fire at the Viva Energy oil refinery in Geelong.Â
He says the facility is still producing diesel and jet fuel but “at reduced levels, as a precaution”, as authorities battle to get the fire under control.
“The major impact at this point appears to be more on petrol production,” he said on ABC News Breakfast.
54m agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 9:31pm
O’Brien says Australia needs to start drilling for oil ‘immediately’
Ted O’Brien has been asked if successive governments have let Australia down by not holding onto more oil refineries.Â
He acknowledged multiple refineries had closed down over the years under both Labor and Coalition governments, but said the problem stemmed from not mining enough of Australia’s oil.
“One of the real problems we have is we have such blockage around the drilling for oil in Australia,” he said.
“Unless we can unlock our capacity on oil, it undercuts the business case for having more refineries.
“It’s not just a matter of having refinery capability, it’s also about ensuring we go upstream and unlock the oil we have under our feet.
“We need to start drilling immediately”.
1h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 9:05pm
Welcome to today’s blog 👋
Good morning and thank you for joining us on today’s blog.
I’m Annabel Bowles, here to bring you the latest federal politics news.
Anthony Albanese is heading into the last official day of his overseas campaign to shore up Australia’s fuel supplies.
Today he’ll have a one-on-one meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur, plus talks with the head of a global oil giant.
Meanwhile, Treasurer Jim Chalmers is in Washington for high-level economic talks at the International Monetary Fund.
Back at home, Defence Minister Richard Marles is due to speak at the National Press Club today, where he’ll announce a lift in defence spending by $53 billion over the next decade.
Stay with us as we bring you the latest.