Albanese details new agreement to bring more fuel to Australia
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking in Brisbane before his trip to Singapore, where he will discuss the country’s access to fuel supplies.
In a new announcement, Albanese said Export Finance Australia has agreed to terms with Ampol and Viva Energy to enable the companies to bring more fuel to Australia. The prime minister said:
double quotation markThis is not business as usual. This is additional supply here in Australia that they will be able to source.
He said the government will be able to direct where that supply goes, which should alleviate shortages in regional Australia and areas that are under supply pressures.
Updated at 21.00 EDT
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New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords reunion gigs sell out in minutes
New Zealand’s self-described “fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo-a cappella-rap-funk-comedy-folk duo” Flight of the Conchords sold out their first shows in eight years in minutes this week, sparking a frenzy among fans, AFP reports.
Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement formed the musical comedy act in 1998, soaring to worldwide fame off the back of their HBO comedy series of the same name with tunes including Business Time and Hiphopopotamus vs Rhymenoceros.
The duo announced on Tuesday four shows to be held at the Wellington venue Meow Nui from next week – their first gigs since 2018.
Tickets went on sale on Wednesday and sold out within half an hour.
Flight of the Conchords duo Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement sold out their first show in eight years in minutes this week. Photograph: Michael Buckner/Variety/REX/ShutterstockShare
SLHD executive says alleged attack on man at Sydney hospital left staff and patients ‘rattled and distressed’
Deb Willcox, the chief executive of the Sydney local health district (SLHD), is speaking after a man was allegedly attacked with a hammer at Sydney’s RPA hospital. She said the incident has been stressful for those working at the facility, but there have been no impacts to other patients or to staff members.
The man who was allegedly attacked was in a four-bedded bay in a general ward. She said people were “obviously” a bit “rattled and distressed by the events, as they would be”.
Willcox went on:
double quotation markThis sort of event is clearly a terrible thing that they’ve had to tolerate over night. The police are now dealing with the matter … and we’ll just await the police doing their work.
… This is a very big and busy hospital … and our staff do whatever they can do accommodate their loved ones.
She maintained that RPA remains a safe place for patients in Sydney to come and receive medical treatment and staff were trained to respond to incidents.
An emergency sign at RPA hospital. Photograph: Paul Miller/AAPShare
Updated at 22.42 EDT
Tory Shepherd
‘They poo all over the yard’: little corellas are terrorising Kangaroo Island – and nothing can stop them
Thousands of little corellas that have been terrorising the inhabitants of Kangaroo Island have been culled but it won’t be enough to fix the problem, authorities say.
The birds, which are not native to the island, have covered a local school in faeces, torn up infrastructure, damaged crops and caused mental distress to residents with their screeching.
They have been spotted using the nesting hollows of the endangered glossy-black cockatoo, smashing their eggs and killing their nestlings.
Past attempts to control populations by shooting, scaring, trapping or gassing them have failed, with the highly intelligent birds learning how to survive or just moving to cause havoc somewhere else.
Read more here:
Little corella (Cacatua sanguinea), Yalgorup national park, Western Australia. Photograph: Auscape/Universal Images Group/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 22.24 EDT
Man in critical condition after alleged hammer attack at Sydney hospital
A 63-year-old man is in critical condition after he was allegedly attacked with a hammer at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred hospital on Thursday morning.
NSW police said the man was a patient in the hospital before a woman allegedly entered the facility just after midnight.
She walked into the man’s room and allegedly assaulted him with a hammer to the head, causing serious injuries.
Police said they believe the man knew the 46-year-old woman. She was taken to Newtown police station and charged with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Bail was refused and she will face court today.
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Josh Butler
Australian extends deployment of military plane to Middle East
Anthony Albanese says Australia will extend the deployment of the Wedgetail surveillance aircraft, and up to 85 ADF personnel, to the Middle East beyond its initial four-week commitment.
“The Wedgetail will be staying in the region for a period of time,” Albanese said this morning when we asked at a press conference in Brisbane.
“That extension was something that, in fact, I signed this morning, after that was agreed at the National Security Committee.”
The surveillance plane, which defence minister Richard Marles has said is feeding information back to the Combined Air Operations Centre based in Qatar, with its data able to be accessed by the United States. Australia deployed the plane nearly four weeks ago, saying it was in a defensive capacity to assist the UAE defend attacks from Iran.
That four weeks was due to expire this weekend. Albanese only declared the extension when asked, and did not say how long the additional deployment would extend.
Updated at 21.49 EDT
Emma Loffhagen
Australian playwright among those selected for major literary award
Australian playwright S Shakthidharan, known as Shakthi, is also among those selected for this year’s Windham-Campbell prizes, which award $1.4m annually to writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama, with the aim of enabling them to focus on their work free from financial pressures.
Shakthidharan was selected in recognition of works including his 2019 multigenerational epic Counting and Cracking, which is inspired by the story of his family and traces the history of 20th-century Sri Lanka. It won a swathe of prestigious awards in Australia, including the $100,000 Victorian prize for literature.
The “financial security” that comes with the grant allows writers “the time, space and creative freedom to think, write and nurture their talent” said Michael Kelleher, director of the Windham-Campbell prizes, adding that the arts are “facing more challenges now than ever before”.
Playwright S. Shakthidharan, known as Shakthi. Photograph: Hashem McAdam
Read more here:
Updated at 21.30 EDT
Albanese says the relationship between Australia and Singapore remains strong, and success reflects the fact that he is traveling there at such short notice to shore up fuel supplies.
double quotation markThe fact we are welcomed at relatively short notice to Singapore speaks about the strength of the relationship.
Albanese says Australia ‘firmly believes’ Lebanon should be included in ceasefire
Albanese said Australia “firmly believes” Lebanon should be included in the ceasefire. He said:
double quotation markWe want to see peace in this region and it will make a difference and I know that many Australians are concerned about the events that are occurring in Lebanon.
He added he is looking forward to a “productive” conversation with Singapore’s prime minister tomorrow about Australia’s fuel supplies.
ShareAlbanese details new agreement to bring more fuel to Australia
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking in Brisbane before his trip to Singapore, where he will discuss the country’s access to fuel supplies.
In a new announcement, Albanese said Export Finance Australia has agreed to terms with Ampol and Viva Energy to enable the companies to bring more fuel to Australia. The prime minister said:
double quotation markThis is not business as usual. This is additional supply here in Australia that they will be able to source.
He said the government will be able to direct where that supply goes, which should alleviate shortages in regional Australia and areas that are under supply pressures.
Updated at 21.00 EDT
Chalmers says criticism of renewables investment amid fuel crisis ‘bizarre’
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said earlier this morning Australia should focus on diversifying its energy sources and investing in “cleaner and cheaper energy” amid the fuel crisis.
Chalmers spoke to reporters in Melbourne, where he was asked about criticism from the opposition about investment in renewables. The treasurer said:
double quotation markI find it bizarre, frankly, that in the context of what we have seen in the last month and a half that anyone would conclude from that that we should continue to have all of our eggs in one basket.
We need cleaner and cheaper energy, more diverse sources and more reliable and robust supply chains.
Chalmers went on to say the federal government remained steadfast in its effort to ensure energy comes from “a number of sources”, including both traditional fossil fuels and development of “cleaner, cheaper, sovereign capacity.”
The federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPAShare
Updated at 20.51 EDT
Catie McLeod
Sydney light rail trialled pedestrian sensors after death but scrapped project due to cost, whistleblower claims
The company that operates Sydney’s light rail investigated safety upgrades after a death in 2023 but cancelled the project due to its cost before a second person died, a whistleblower alleges.
After the first death, Transdev successfully trialled sensors that would detect a person entering the coupling area between two joined trams, according to the former employee who requested anonymity. But the project was stopped before another death in 2025, they said.
Transdev this week rejected “any assertion that the assessment of sensor technology has at any point been ‘shelved’ or put on hold”.
A light rail stop in Sydney. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian
Read more of Guardian Australia’s exclusive here:
Updated at 20.31 EDT
Police investigate shooting that left man dead in Melbourne
Victoria police are investigating what they believe is a targeted shooting this morning in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill.
Police said emergency services had responded to reports of an altercation in the area just before 2am. A man, who is yet to be identified, died at the scene.
Homicide detectives are investigating and a crime scene has been established.
Updated at 20.17 EDT
Josh Butler
Albanese heads to Singapore to shore up fuel supply
Anthony Albanese heads to Singapore today, for meetings tomorrow with the country’s prime minister, Lawrence Wong, which are expected to focus on fuel. Singapore is Australia’s largest source of refined fuels.
On the way, Albanese has stopped in Brisbane, where he will soon hold a press conference. We’ll expect to get some updates on Australia’s petrol supplies and the government’s actions in addressing the fuel crisis.
We’ll bring you updates from that press conference this morning.
Updated at 19.53 EDT
ASX to slide as Iran ceasefire tested
Jonathan Barrett
Australian shares are expected to drop this morning as the hours-old ceasefire in the Middle East gets tested.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is forecast to slide by about 0.25% when the market opens, to trade at the 8,930 point mark.
The anticipated drop comes after yesterday’s huge rally, which marked the single biggest day increase on the ASX in a year in response to the Iran war ceasefire announcement.
The National Australia Bank markets team says there is “residual uncertainty and fragile confidence in the ceasefire”. NAB said:
double quotation markThe lack of any follow through on the immediate reaction in financial markets reflects the fact that there remains a high degree of uncertainty as to how the situation in the Middle East unfolds.
Iran has closed the strait of Hormuz in response to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon despite the ceasefire, according to Iranian state media reports, with Iran’s authorities said to be treating the strait as still closed.
Equity markets have been pulled around by the Middle East conflict given energy disruptions contribute to global inflation by elevating costs across nearly all goods and services.
Updated at 19.37 EDT
Melbourne teen charged after officer allegedly struck by electric motorbike
A Victorian teenager has been charged after an officer was allegedly struck by an electric-powered motorbike in Melbourne’s CBD on Wednesday.
Victoria police said the sergeant was patrolling the Flinders Street area when he approached a group of males allegedly riding erratically on the vehicles. Officials said the officer gave the boy a direction to pull over before he was struck down.
Police will allege the boy sped up and struck the officer as he attempted to drive away. The sergeant remains in hospital with serious injuries.
The boy was arrested at the scene and charged with multiple counts, including reckless exposure of a police officer to risk by driving and recklessly causing injury. He has been released on bail and will appear before children’s court at a later date.
Updated at 19.13 EDT
Truckie boss says ‘people are getting desperate’ as siphoned diesel seen as sign of ‘dire’ crisisCatie McLeod
After almost a decade in the trucking industry, Madilyn Lostroh says having fuel stolen from one of her vehicles for the first time came as a “bit of a shock”.
A couple of weeks ago, one of her drivers filled up with diesel in the afternoon and parked the truck in the yard they share with other businesses. The next morning, he discovered there was less in the tank.
“It’s a bit of a reality check on just how dire [the situation is], or desperate people are at the minute,” says Lostroh, 35, who runs Mal’s Haulage with her husband in Ipswich, Queensland.
Lostroh is one of several people who have reported diesel being siphoned from vehicles or fuel being stolen from service stations after the energy shock caused by the war in the Middle East and subsequent soaring retail prices of diesel and petrol.
Madilyn Lostroh realised her company, Mal’s Haulage, was targeted after one of her drivers reported his fuel tank had been partially emptied. Photograph: Madilyn Lostroh
Read more here:
Updated at 19.19 EDT
NSW offers $1m reward for information related to death of woman in 2003
The New South Wales government and NSW police will offer a $1m reward for information related to the 2003 death of Harmony Bryant.
Bryant, then 26, was found severely injured in bushland in Bonny Hills, about 25km south of Port Macquarie, in August 2003. Emergency workers found her vehicle on fire about 200 metres from the road.
Harmony Bryant
She was taken to the hospital with burns to 60% of her body, a broken pelvis and a fractured wrist and left arm. Evidence at the time suggested she fell from a nearby cliff and was aided to her vehicle by an unknown person or persons.
She died in hospital a month later from her injuries.
Investigators at the time found Bryant had booked accommodation the day before the incident for two people, but they were never able to locate the supposed second person. An inquest in 2011 found she died from burns that were caused by a person or persons unknown.
No one has ever been charged over her death.
Updated at 19.25 EDT
Human bones found on popular Rottnest Island – reports
Human bones are believed to have been found on a popular holiday island with a tragic past, Australian Associated Press reports.
The remains were found yesterday by workers at Rottnest Island, near Perth, Western Australian, police say.
“The bones, which are believed to be human, were located during construction work on church grounds,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.
An investigation has been launched, and forensic specialists will examine the bones to determine their age.
WA state records indicate 3,700 Aboriginal men and boys were imprisoned there between 1838 and 1931, according to the Rottnest Island Authority. Living conditions were brutal on the island. Overcrowding and a lack of sanitation and nutrition, extreme weather, and physical and psychological abuse contributed to hundreds of deaths.
Most were buried in unmarked graves on the island. After the prison closed, one of Australia’s largest Aboriginal burial grounds was largely forgotten about, the island authority said.
Rottnest Island in Western Australia. Photograph: Tim Campbell/Rottnest Island AuthorityShare
Updated at 18.22 EDT
Paterson says it’s ‘clear’ Trump was escalating to de-escalate Middle East conflict
James Paterson added that he believes it’s “clear” that Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric and threats that a “whole civilization will die” were ultimately meant to end the conflict. He told RN:
double quotation markSpeaking about it analytically and dispassionately, it’s clear that the US president has been threatening to escalate in order to de-escalate. And it may be the reason that there is a ceasefire agreement, although a very shaky one.
Paterson went on to say there was “no doubt” that Iran did not want to see Trump follow through on his claims.
double quotation markI’m sure it is the case that the regime did not want to sustain the attack that the US president was proposing to make.
James Paterson. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 19.17 EDT