\u201cThere is no security in maintaining a status quo that doesn\u2019t work for people,\u201d Albanese is expected to say, as laid out in a preview of the speech.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor our government, international uncertainty is not an excuse to delay, or hold back reform. It is the reason we must press ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Announcing $1bn in new interest-free loans for businesses hit the hardest by fuel shortages and collapsing consumer confidence, Albanese will pledge to do everything possible to protect Australian businesses and households from the fallout.<\/p>\n
The new loans will be targeted at the transport and freight sectors, as well as fuel and fertiliser producers.<\/p>\n
Under the plan, loans financing will begin to flow by the middle of April.<\/p>\n
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThese firms are not just being affected by this crisis, they are essential to Australia getting through this crisis,\u201d Albanese will say.<\/p>\n \u201cSo our government will extend their credit to help them, and the farmers and producers who rely on these supply chains, to weather the storm.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just another way we are acting to get ahead of issues.\u201d<\/p>\n The speech will be made a day after his address to the nation<\/a> on Wednesday night, in which the prime minister encouraged Australians to play their part in the crisis, including by saving fuel for the areas and industries that needed it most.<\/p>\n He said the government would work to bring the price of fuel down<\/a>, to make more fuel onshore and shore up struggling international supply chains.<\/p>\n Before the Easter long weekend and with fuel shortages continuing around the country, Albanese will outline the government\u2019s position on the US and Israel\u2019s war and the disruption caused by Iran\u2019s moves to block oil supplies moving through the strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n He will promise careful planning but concedes no government could fully eliminate the pressures the crisis will impose.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we can be a buffer against the worst of it. A shock absorber, in a time of global shocks.\u201d<\/p>\n Albanese has distanced himself from the US president, Donald Trump, in recent days, arguing the original objectives of the war had largely been met and lasting regime change would be impossible without American troops on the ground in Iran.<\/p>\n![\"Australian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2973.jpg\")
Australian PM says \u2018next few months may not be easy\u2019 in rare address to the nation \u2013 video<\/p>\n