What we learned, Friday 10 April
Thanks for joining us for another day of breaking news. Here are today’s top headlines:
Anthony Albanese was in Singapore today, travelling to meet his counterpart, Lawrence Wong. The two prime ministers hold a leaders’ meeting annually, but the summit takes on a new focus this year, with the two nations finalising a fuel security deal.
A Queensland state politician has been found dead at his home.
An underground coalmine has been given the green light to dig for a further two years, with the New South Wales planning commission arguing it’s needed to guarantee electricity supply as the state transitions to renewables.
The Greens want the federal government to put direct pressure on Israel to stop its deadly strikes on Lebanon, including cancelling weapons contracts to protest against the “disastrous, illegal, immoral war”.
Transit safety and public housing officers in the Northern Territory will soon be armed with guns, in what the territory’s First Nations legal service has labelled an “inherently dangerous and unnecessary” move that would “disproportionately impact Aboriginal Territorians”.
A man is accused of murdering his partner after allegedly telling police she was injured in a car crash with a kangaroo on an outback highway.
Global oil markets could take as long as a year to return to something like pre-Iran war normality even if the conflict ended tomorrow, leading experts warn.
Road traffic is falling on Australia’s east coast as fuel prices bite, with most key Sydney highways recording 20% fewer weekend trips.
‘Really bummed’: fuel crunch blame as festival scrapped
Music festival OUT 2 LUNCH has been postponed weeks out from its first national tour, with organisers blaming the fuel crunch, AAP reports.
The festival, organised by major industry player TEG Live, was to have starred Australian DJ FISHER in May.
“I’m really bummed at the moment, at what is happening. And no one more than me would like to put on this show for you guys,” he said in a statement.
OUT 2 LUNCH started on the Gold Coast’s Coolangatta Beach in 2024, and was to have toured nationally for the first time, adding events in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.
Australian War Memorial updates display dedicated to Ben Roberts-Smith
The Australian War Memorial has updated the display dedicated to Ben Roberts-Smith after the former Special Air Service (SAS) corporal was officially charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.
The changes, implemented on Friday, mean nearly half of the descriptive plaque in the museum’s Hall of Valour is now dedicated to events occurring after his military service, beginning with the initial reports of misconduct in 2016.
Previously, the display concluded by noting that Roberts-Smith had not been charged with any criminal offence. As of Friday, the updated text now reads:
In April 2026, Roberts-Smith was charged with five counts of the war crime of murder. The legal process is ongoing.
At a media conference on Friday, Matt Anderson, director of the Australian War Memorial, said the museum remained committed to keeping the public informed but also to the principle of the presumption of innocence.
“The memorial’s commitment throughout this entire process … has been to ensure that the panel in the galleries is up to date and covers the facts,” Anderson said.
I’m very conscious now, [given] the gravity of the charges that have been laid, the most important thing all of us can do now is allow justice to take its course … and there’s nothing I am going to say or do today or at any stage in the Australian War Memorial that will influence or impact on the opportunities of a fair trial.
What we’ve done consistently is update the panel in the galleries to keep the visiting public abreast of where that case is at, and that’s what we’ve done again today.
Anderson said Roberts-Smith’s equipment, uniform, and medal groups would remain on display.
“The reason Ben Roberts-Smith, VC, MG, is in the Hall of Valor at the Australian War Memorial is because of his actions in Tizak in the Shah Wali Kot district in Kandahar province in Afghanistan on the 11th of June, 2010,” he said.
“That’s why he’s up in the galleries in the Hall of Valor with other recipients of the Victoria Cross - for his actions on that day. “
The timing of the panel update as Roberts-Smith awaits a bail hearing has come at an inopportune time for the institution, which opened 7,000 square metres of gallery space on Friday as part of its controversial $500m expansion project.
The redevelopment was designed to modernise the site and provide more space to honour recent conflicts, but public and media attention has remained fixed on the Hall of Valour.
The Roberts-Smith panel in that hall is expected to remain in its current form until a verdict is reached in any criminal trial.
Updated
The ‘joint statement on economic resilience and essential supplies’
What does that signed “joint statement on economic resilience and essential supplies” actually contain?
An official statement has been released by Albanese and Wong, which says (in short) that the two nations officially agreed to keep supplying each other with essential fuels.
Singapore relies on Australia for Liquefied natural gas (LNG), and Australia relies on Singapore for refined oil, including diesel and petrol.
It acknowledges that Australia and Singapore are affected by global energy shortages caused by the Middle East crisis, and says:
We stated our determination to make maximum efforts to meet each other’s energy security needs … support the flow of essential goods …
They are writing supply-chain guarantees into their official Singapore-Australia free trade agreement (SAFTA) so that it is legally enforceable by international law.
The Australia-Singapore Economic Resilience Dialogue and inaugural Energy Ministerial Dialogue have also been established. These two permanent initiatives will allow senior officials and energy ministers from both countries to meet regularly, to monitor supply chains and energy reserves.
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What happened in that presser?
Wong and Albanese shook hands to conclude their joint address to media this afternoon, from Singapore.
The pair met to discuss securing fuel supplies and have signed a “joint statement” on economic resilience and essential supplies.
Australia provides Singapore with LNG, while Singapore takes refined fuels.
The Singaporean PM said:
We will keep trade flowing between our two countries.
Albanese spoke about the strength of the relationship between Australia and Singapore. He also said the conflict in the Middle East is a long way from our region, but every country in the region is being affected by it. He went on to say the best way to deal with this energy crisis is to work together.
Both leaders called for the strait of Hormuz to be reopened.
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A reporter asks two questions, the first addressed to Albanese: Is the government considering any changes to the tax treatment for new gas export contracts in the May budget?
Albanese says there are three priorities when it comes to energy, both now and in the immediate period:
They are supply, supply and supply.
That is our priority. That is what we are focused on. That is what I’m engaged with … if there’s a fourth, it’s price.
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Singapore restricting exports ‘a hypothetical that won’t happen’, says PM Wong
Both leaders are in agreement that the two countries will keep sending each other existing stocks of LNG and fuel.
A reporter asks prime minister Wong: If Singapore does have to start restricting exports, will Australia be prioritised?
Wong calls it a hypothetical that won’t happen:
We do not plan to restrict. We didn’t have to do so even in the darkest days of Covid. And we will not do so during this energy crisis. It’s hypothetical. It won’t happen.
Albanese quips:
The prime minister is just as confident in private as he is in public.
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A reporter asks about the leaders’ position on reopening the strait of Hormuz.
Albanese has a simple response: “We think the strait of Hormuz should be opened.”
Wong goes into more detail:
Our position on the strait of Hormuz is clear …
This is international law. It’s important to us that countries uphold international law, including the right of transit passage through international waterway like the strait of Hormuz …
Oil is fungible.
As long as more oil enters the global energy market,
It is good for the world.
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Watch live:
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Albanese finalises fuel security deal with Singapore
Albanese says he and PM Wong have signed a joint statement that will protect “Our mutual energy security and support the flow of fuels and LNG between our two countries. The conflict in the Middle East is a long way from our region.”
As partners, and neighbours I look forward to continuing to engage with the prime minister in discussion, today, and that’s what friends can do …
With that position of trust and mutual interest how Australia and Singapore could work with other nations as well, like-minded countries, to expand what we are achieving here today.
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PM Wong assures that Singapore will continue supplying refined fuels to Australia
Singapore’s prime minister Wong, says the meeting has helped take “concrete steps to reinforce our resilience and to keep supply lines open.”
He said:
First, we will keep create flowing between our two countries. Essential goods will continue to move between Australia and Singapore. That includes liquefied natural gas, or LNG, which Australia supplies to Singapore, as well as refined petroleum products like diesel which Singapore supplies to Australia.
I appreciate prime minister Albanese’s assurance that Australia will continue supplying LNG to Singapore, because this is vital for us.
Natural gas is our main source for power generation. Likewise, I have assured prime minister Albanese that Singapore will continue supplying refined fuels to Australia. As a global refining hub We will keep these floors going. As long as upstream supplies continue.
Updated
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is now speaking at a media conference, live from Singapore with his counterpart Lawrence Wong.
The leaders have so far visited an oil refinery and a gas tanker.
Wong is speaking first, and says he wishes they were meeting under “more favourable circumstances.” He says:
Unfortunately, these are difficult times. Not just for Australia and Singapore but for countries everywhere. The conflict in the Middle East is disrupting global supply chains and energy markets …
Singapore and Australia feel these pressures directly. That is why in times like these, we must work closely, move faster and stand together. Not just to manage the risk but to protect the wellbeing of our people.
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Some background on Anthony Albanese’s Singapore trip
This trip is Albanese’s third official visit to Singapore as prime minister.
Singapore is our largest trade partner in south-east Asia, one of Australia’s closest strategic and economic partners.
The Middle East conflict has shaken both nations: Australia is facing potential shortfalls of oil, petrol and diesel. Iran’s targeting of LNG facilities in Qatar has threatened Singapore’s gas supply.
Singapore makes up more than a quarter of Australia’s total refined fuel imports, including 55% of our petrol, 22% of jet fuel and 15% of diesel worth more than $10bn. Australia supplies 32% of Singapore’s LNG, worth about $5bn.
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Albanese to address media in Singapore
Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is expected to address the media this afternoon. The PM is in Singapore today, meeting his counterpart, Lawrence Wong.
The two prime ministers hold a leaders’ meeting annually, but the summit takes on a new focus this year, with the fuel crisis likely at the top of the agenda.
Why Singapore is so important to Australia’s fuel stocks and why Albanese brought forward the meeting?
Political reporter Josh Butler explains here:
Updated
That’s all from me. Ima Caldwell will take things from here and guide the blog into the weekend. Take care.
Watchdog finds no serious misconduct over former commissioner’s gin gifts, but says NSW police needs new policies
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) recommended NSW police develop a policy over the acquisition and distribution of gifts by the force’s commissioner, but did not find any serious misconduct on the part of former commissioner Karen Webb.
The body tabled a report after finding that Webb authorised the purchase of 50 bottles of gin to be used as commemorative gifts to dignitaries and other persons during her tenure. While Webb did not choose the supplier, she eventually learned the gin came from a company owned by a friend. Webb left the role in 2025.
LECC said Webb noted in hearings she should have declared a potential conflict of interest, but said there was no serious misconduct, saying:
The report notes that several Commissioners of Police had given bottles of alcohol as commemorative gifts and Commissioner Webb continued that tradition. There were no guidelines within the NSW Police Force governing the acquisition, distribution and record keeping associated with corporate gifts.
The watchdog said a policy should be drafted to govern such gifts in the future.
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Thousands of electric vehicles recalled in Australia due to battery fire risk
Thousands of Australian drivers will be asked to check their electric vehicle batteries as part of a global recall involving more than 100,000 cars, AAP reports.
Hyundai issued a local recall for almost 5,000 vehicles on Friday due to a fault with its battery management software that could cause a fire while the car is recharging or while it is parked.
The recall involves two Hyundai models: the Kona EV manufactured between 2018 and 2023, and the Ioniq EV made between 2018 and 2022.
The federal transport department announced the recall of 3,478 Hyundai Kona electric cars and 1,402 Ioniq EVs, warning drivers they would be contacted by the manufacturer to organise an assessment.
Read more here:
Updated
More on the NSW coalmine given a two-year extension
An underground coalmine has been given the green light to dig for a further two years, with the New South Wales planning commission arguing it’s needed to guarantee electricity supply as the state transitions to renewables.
The NSW Greens have warned the move could be challenged in court after the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) gave the green light to Delta Electricity’s extension of its Chain Valley colliery operations, in the Lake Macquarie region, for two years.
But it explicitly prohibited transport of the coal for export or any other domestic use beyond supplying coal to the Vales Point power station.
The commission said the approval was justified because it would support “reliable baseload electricity during NSW’s transition to renewable energy sources”.
In its published statement of reasons, it said the two-year extension “represents the outer limit of what can reasonably be justified in NSW’s policy context of working towards decarbonisation”.
Read more here:
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Greens say Australia should step up pressure on Israel over ‘disastrous, illegal, immoral war’ on Lebanon
The Greens want the federal government to put direct pressure on Israel to stop its deadly strikes on Lebanon, including cancelling weapons contracts to protest against the “disastrous, illegal, immoral war”.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, have insisted southern Lebanon should be included in the fledgling ceasefire agreement negotiated between the US and Iran in recent days.
The Greens defence spokesperson, David Shoebridge, said tougher economic and diplomatic pressure was needed. He told ABC radio on Friday:
I welcome Australia joining so many other countries around the world in making that clear statement that Lebanon should be part of the ceasefire, and I note that the Pakistan negotiators made it clear from the outset that a ceasefire in Lebanon was part of the ceasefire.
Read more here:
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AHRC accepts human rights complaint after Indigenous families allegedly told to leave public pool
The Australian Human Rights Commission has accepted a complaint against NSW police and Belgravia Leisure after an alleged incident at the Inverell public pool in northern NSW, AAP reports.
The complaint says First Nations families enjoying the pool were ordered to leave on 16 March 2025, after staff called police, alleging some children were disobeying the rules. The families say they were never asked to leave the pool before police arrived.
Officers told the families they could be arrested for trespassing if they did not leave before escorting them out, the complaint alleges.
The families and the National Justice Project say the actions of staff and police breached the Racial Discrimination Act.
Belgravia Leisure was contacted for comment on Friday, but chief executive Nick Cox had previously addressed the claims in a letter five days after the incident, saying the company “strongly” refuted the claims.
You can read more here:
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Victorian teachers at government schools to hold rolling, half-day strikes next term
In Victoria, teachers at government schools will hold rolling half-day stoppages in term 2, after a full-day strike in March saw 500 classes cancelled.
The half-day walkouts will be done on a region-by-region basis and follow months of failed negotiations for a better pay deal, with the AEU calling for a 35% pay rise over three years. The government has offered 17%, which has been rejected.
AEU’s Justin Mullaly said:
They’ll commence in the third week of term, and it will see regions of the state take stop-work action so multiple local schools in a particular geographic area will all stop work at the same time, and they will converge and rally at a local state Labor MP’s office.
Mullaly said Victoria should be “ashamed” to call itself the education state.
[Teachers] are being taken for granted by the premier Jacinta Allan and education minister Ben Carroll, and will raise their voices around Victoria and significantly escalate their industrial action.
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Peter Dutton given key board appointment by Queensland government
The former opposition leader Peter Dutton has been appointed to the Queensland Investment Corporation board by the state government.
Former Beattie government assistant minister Michael Choi was also appointed to be a director on the board.
The corporation is one of Australia’s largest institutional investment managers, with more than $135bn in assets under management.
Treasurer David Janetzki said the two appointments “will bring world class expertise to the Queensland Investment Corporation strengthening its ability to driving [sic] investment in our state, helping to grow our economy to benefit all Queenslanders”.
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Australian utilities warn datacentre demand risks pushing up household bills
Energy and water utilities warn the strain on capacity from a more than $100bn datacentre build-out in Australia’s biggest state could sharply push up household bills, Reuters reports.
In submissions to a New South Wales state parliamentary inquiry, the utilities said existing laws were insufficient to protect consumers from bearing the rising costs.
The submissions increase pressure on the government to set limits on how rapidly expanding datacentre projects use electricity and potable water shared by local communities, with critics contending that careful planning has been pushed to the sidelines in the rush to secure a piece of the multi-trillion dollar global datacentre boom.
Reuters previously reported that the state, home to Sydney and one-third of Australia’s 27 million population, had approved 10 datacentre projects from companies including Microsoft and Amazon without setting specific, enforceable parameters for resource consumption.
“Without appropriate policy settings, this growth could place pressure on electricity infrastructure planning, system reliability and ultimately consumer costs,” Jason Krstanoski, an executive at grid operator Transgrid, wrote in a submission.
You can read more from Guardian Australia’s Petra Stock here:
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Artemis II crew on inspiring the next generation and unifying humanity
As the Artemis II mission enters flight day nine, the crew spoke about inspiring the next generation and “working on something big for the good of everyone” ahead of their return to Earth.
The crew, made up of three US astronauts and a Canadian, embarked on humanity’s first crewed lunar voyage in more than half a century. The 10-day flight around the moon and back will mark the second mission of Artemis, successor to the Apollo program of the cold war era.
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Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila weakens as it tracks towards PNG
Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila is starting to weaken and is expected to “continue slowly weakening over the coming days,” according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
As of a 10am BoM update, Maila was slowly moving in the Solomon Sea and expected to start tracking south-west. It is forecast to impact south-eastern parts of Papua New Guinea before moving into the Coral Sea.
From Sunday, Maila may track west south-west towards the Far North Queensland coast and possibly cross Cape York Peninsula early next week.
It is possible, the BoM says, that Maila could weaken near or over south-east Papua New Guinea over the weekend and not cross the Queensland coast as a tropical cyclone at all.
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Albanese tours Singapore LNG facility
Anthony Albanese visited the Singapore LNG facility on Jurong Island this morning, taking a brief tour of a jetty where an Australian ship had docked.
Dressed in a green safety jumpsuit, Albanese met SLNG’s CEO Leong Wei Hung and inspected the jetty as gas was extracted from the ship in the harbour.
Surrounded by hulking metal structures, like gas storage tanks and steel walkways, the facility was highly secure with tight restrictions on filming. Albanese arrived to the location on a large bus filled with facility staff and his own team members.
Albanese and Hung spoke warmly for a few minutes, as the CEO pointed out features of the facility and jetty. Their conversation couldn’t be heard over the noise of the facility, but the PM and his guide pointed animatedly at various parts of the ship and jetty.
Hung later briefly told journalists that he and Albanese had a warm interaction, and that the PM had asked numerous questions.
Albanese is visiting other parts of Jurong Island, a major resource refining, energy and chemicals hub which employs about 27,000 people. He will meet Singapore’s PM, Lawrence Wong, later today and hold a joint press conference.
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Life360 sheds staff as AI-linked job losses mount
Tracking app company Life360 has laid off an undisclosed number of workers as artificial intelligence prompts a restructure at the ASX-listed company.
The job cuts are the latest to hit the technology sector, which has been grappling with a rapid shift towards AI-led automation.
The Life360 chief executive, Lauren Antonoff, said in a LinkedIn post this morning that “we’re uncovering new needs and seeing that the roles and ratios that made sense for getting work done in the pre-AI world no longer hold as AI takes on more of the work”.
“This shift requires difficult tradeoffs that impact good people. Today, this meant saying goodbye to teammates who helped shape Life360 as we know it,” she said.
Shares in the family locator and safety app company have been under significant pressure, falling more than 40% since the start of the year.
RBC Capital Markets said that the company was aiming to move beyond simple location tracking to play a more active role in family life, targeting new segments like elderly care, pet ownership, and various life stages.
Life360 was contacted for comment. It has not disclosed how many jobs have been affected.
Have a question for Guardian Australia’s political reporters?
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Please send us your questions about politics, the economy and the current upheaval in the world. Our email is australianpolitics@theguardian.com and we would love to hear from you.
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Andrew Forrest considers decarbonisation of Pilbara iron ore works two years early
Mining billionaire and outspoken climate advocate Andrew Forrest has announced his Fortescue company will have developed a “green grid” to power its entire Pilbara iron ore mining operations by the end of 2028 – two years ahead of the company’s “real zero” target.
By the end of next year, Fortescue has announced it will have eliminated the need to burn diesel with the green grid that includes 1.2GW of solar power, 600MW of wind generation and battery storage. Forrest said:
As the world enters an entrenched gas and diesel supply crunch, Fortescue is stepping beyond these problems. With years to spare, the massive technology development needed is largely behind us and construction is in full swing – we can see the end in sight.
The “green grid” will cover all the iron operations, including processing, rail, ports, logistics and equipment, Fortescue said.
Forrest has been harshly critical of “net zero” targets, saying they still allow for fossil fuel use with offsets. Instead, Forrest advocates for “real zero” where new technologies replace fossil fuels.
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‘Harsh, punitive, policies’ mean children as young as 10 still being restrained in spit hoods in NT
The former Australian national commissioner for children, Anne Hollonds delivered a scathing opening statement at a Senate inquiry on Friday, saying governments were ignoring evidence and still using “harsh, punitive policies” to lock children up.
Hollonds, who held the position from 2020 to 2025, said she had “witnessed things” that she “can’t unsee” when she conducted the “Help Way Earlier” report into child justice between 2023 and 24.
She said there was often “handballing” of responsibility between federal, state and territory governments when it came to the rights and wellbeing of children.
We need government accountability to act on the evidence …
[I’ve seen] children held in solitary confinement and in concrete police watch house cells with no windows, no natural light or fresh air, no outdoor area, no recreation, [no] rehabilitation or education and no visits from family
Not just overnight, but for weeks and sometimes months on end.
At a Northern Territory police watch house last year, I asked, ‘What do you do when the children are in psychological distress’, I was told they use the restraint chair.
You will recall the restraint chair … from the Dylan Voller footage that aired on the ABC, and what this tells is that the Northern Territory not only has brought back spit hoods and lowered the age of criminal responsibility back to 10, they brought back restraint chairs.
So we are literally back to where we were prior to the Northern Territory royal commission which began in 2016.
Hollonds has called for a federal minister for children to be a national taskforce to be established that would develop an “evidence-based” roadmap to deliver better outcomes for youth.
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Queensland Labor leader releases statement on death of Jimmy Sullivan
Queensland Labor leader Steven Miles has now released his own statement after the death of his former party colleague Jimmy Sullivan.
The Stafford MP was elected twice as a Labor MP, in 2020 and 2024. He was ejected from the party last year and served on the crossbench.
“Our thoughts are with Jimmy’s family, friends and community this morning as we all process this news,” Miles said.
Then-premier Miles made Sullivan an assistant minister in 2024, until the party’s defeat in October.
Sullivan was well known in Labor. His father, Terry Sullivan, served in parliament from 1991 to 2006 representing three electorates, including Stafford.
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Escaped detainee still on the run as police search for third day
An escaped detainee is on the run for a third day after escaping immigration detention while awaiting deportation, AAP reports.
Michael Angok had been transported from Villawood Immigration Detention Centre to Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital for medical treatment, before he escaped from the western Sydney hospital on Wednesday morning.
An initial search by NSW police found some of his personal items thrown on to the road a few hundred metres away.
After Angok had been on the run for more than 24 hours, police called on the public to contact Triple Zero if they had any information on the 30-year-old’s whereabouts.
Asked about his previous offences, NSW detective superintendent Brett Van Akker on Thursday said he would not comment on Angok’s criminal history but confirmed he was “well known” to police, had a criminal conviction and was awaiting deportation.
Police have released photos of Angok, who was last seen wearing a black hoodie, grey track pants and white crocs, on social media.
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Energy minister says country making ‘good progress’ on fuel supply issues
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, said issues with fuel supply have made “good progress” in recent days.
Speaking to reporters, Bowen said 192 service stations in the nation were out of diesel, or 2.4% of operating stations.
We’re still seeing very high demand for diesel in particular, particularly in the regions …
I’m pleased with the supply into Australia at this point.
A lot of people working very, very hard to minimise disruption. That’s a good thing but, of course, prudent, sensible contingency planning should the international situation get worse or supply be further impacted in relation to Australia.
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Grace Tame’s foundation announces closure over funding difficulties
Grace Tame’s foundation has announced it is closing, citing challenges with long-term funding, AAP reports.
The former Australian of the Year set up the foundation in 2021 – the year she carried the national honour for her advocacy for abuse survivors and for law reform.
In a social media post on Thursday, the foundation said it had reached a crossroads.
Read more here:
Marles says talks with Europe about how to reopen strait of Hormuz still ongoing
Talks with European leaders about how Australia could help in international efforts to reopen the strait of Hormuz are continuing, acting prime minister Richard Marles says.
“We’re talking with the countries who are leading these efforts, the United Kingdom, France, about how Australia can best contribute,” Marles told ABC TV on Friday morning.
Last week, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, represented Australia at an international summit on the strait.
But Marles has cautioned that Australia’s potential involvement is not settled, days into a fragile ceasefire agreed by the US and Iran.
“It really is difficult to speculate about the specifics of that without having those conversations in full, until we really understand what is the conditions on the ground,” he said.
US president Donald Trump and the UK prime minister discussed the strait overnight.
On Thursday, the chief of defence, Adm David Johnston, said the regional priorities could be more important for Australia.
“The United States has moved enormous military capacity into the Gulf region at the moment, including a lot of capacity out of the Indo-Pacific. This is an important time for us to be present in the Indo-Pacific to maintain that regional environment that we seek to maintain,” he said.
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Queensland premier releases statement after death of ex-Labor MP
Queensland premier David Crisafulli has released a statement after the death of MP Jimmy Sullivan.
The MP for Stafford since 2020, Sullivan has served on the crossbench since being ejected from Labor last year. Queensland police are treating his death last night as “non-suspicious”.
“Queenslanders will be shocked to hear of the sudden passing of Member for Stafford Jimmy Sullivan,” Crisafulli said.
Sullivan was elected to the Queensland parliament in 2020, following in his father’s footsteps.
On behalf of all Queenslanders, we extend our heartfelt condolences to his family during this difficult time.
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Health minister says Abbott’s calls to join war not a ‘serious contribution’
The health minister, Mark Butler, addressed former prime minister Tony Abbott’s opinion piece this morning, saying the idea that Australia should be prepared to join the war in the Middle East was not “a particularly serious contribution”.
Butler made the remarks on Channel 7’s Sunrise. He said:
With the greatest of respect, I just don’t think this is a particularly serious contribution.
I mean, we’ve been asked to provide defensive support, particularly to the UAE, where there are thousands of Australian expats living. We’ve done that.
It’s the other side of the world and we want to see it end. I don’t think there’s any sense in the community that we want to see Australian defence force personnel deployed to offensive operations in the way that Tony Abbott has outlined.
Butler said the Australian government maintained it wanted to see the conflict end permanently.
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Three arrested after fatal shooting in Melbourne suburb
Victoria police have arrested three people following a fatal shooting in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill yesterday.
Officials said emergency services responded to reports of an altercation just before 2am on Wednesday morning. A 32-year-old man died at the scene after the shooting, which police are treating as a targeted attack.
Officials said two men, both 47, and a woman, 27, were arrested and will be interviewed in relation to the incident. No charges have been filed.
Man pleads guilty to inciting racial violence with calls for new Cronulla riot
A man has admitted inciting racial violence in the immediate aftermath of the Bondi Beach massacre by calling for bashings at a beach that was at the centre of infamous race riots 20 years ago, AAP reports.
Ryder Roy Shaw, 20, used an alias to post two images on TikTok on 15 December 2025 that urged followers to “stand the fuck up” and riot at Cronulla Beach the following Saturday.
His inflammatory posts called for violence towards Middle Eastern people more than two decades after the beach became the centre of infamous race riots.
The riots did not eventuate and Shaw was arrested at his home on the NSW Central Coast on 21 December.
Through his lawyer, he pleaded guilty to inciting violence towards a group on the basis of race and on the basis of religion in Gosford local court on Thursday.
Shaw has been in custody since his arrest and did not appear in court when his matter was mentioned. He faces a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment for each offence when he is sentenced in May.
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Tony Abbott says Australia should be prepared to go to war: ‘What’s the point of having armed forces’
The former prime minister Tony Abbott says Australia should be prepared to go to war amid the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, saying the nation had let our main ally down, “but also betrayed our values and our long-term national interest”.
Abbott wrote an opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph today, asking why the nation has armed forces if they won’t be used. He said:
What is the point of having armed forces if they’re not to be used to support our allies in a just cause, and what could be a more just cause than the US-Israeli bid to deny Iran nuclear weapons, uphold freedom of navigation in the Hormuz Straits and – if possible – liberate Iran from a monstrous theocracy?
Once it became obvious that US action against Iran was imminent, even had we not been officially alerted, the Australian government should have made contact with the White House to offer assistance, as we did in the campaign against Islamic State, where our special forces, military trainers, command and control aircraft, aerial refuellers, and strike fighters did fine work.
The RAAF should be doing so again right now. By ostentatiously standing aside from the current conflict, doing even less than the pusillanimous British government, we have not just let down our main ally but also betrayed our values and our long-term national interest.
Abbott went on to say Australia needed to be “strong again, as our forebears were”.
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Head of IMF says Iran war will permanently scar global economy even if peace is reached
The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that the Iran war will permanently scar the global economy even if a durable peace deal in the Middle East can be reached.
In a speech delivered as the ceasefire in the conflict threatened to unravel, Kristalina Georgieva said the “scarring effects” caused by the war to date would mean slower global growth this year than first anticipated.
Had it not been for the outbreak of the conflict six weeks ago, the IMF would have upgraded its global growth outlook for 2026, Georgieva said.
But now, even our most hopeful scenario involves a growth downgrade. Even in a best case, there will be no neat and clean return to the status quo.
Six weeks into the conflict, the fate of the conditional ceasefire announced late on Tuesday appears at risk as Washington and Tehran disagree on what was agreed.
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Greens says cancelling arms contracts with Israel would be much more powerful than media statements
The Greens senator David Shoebridge says Australia should cancel arms deals with Israel, a step that would be far more powerful than the foreign affairs minister Penny Wong’s statements that Australia is concerned about the country’s ongoing military assault in Lebanon.
Shoebridge spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying:
Penny Wong’s previous statements, whether it’s concerned or gravely concerned, have had no effect.
But cancelling more than a billion dollars in Israeli arms contracts – that would not only respond to the moral situation of the appalling Israeli military attacks, it would also have the benefit of putting a very real material pressure on Israel to pull back from what is a disastrous, illegal, immoral war in Lebanon that is threatening the entire globe’s peace.
Shoebridge went on to say the first thing Australia should do is put a “complete, two-way military arms freeze on Israel”.
We should not be buying weapons that have been tested by Israeli defence manufacturers in conflicts like Gaza and Lebanon, and we should not be contributing any weapons parts.
Right now it also would have the important additional benefit of making it clear to Israel that this comes at a direct and real cost to them.
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Queensland MP Jimmy Sullivan found dead aged 44
A Queensland member of parliament has died.
The member for Stafford, Jimmy Sullivan, had served as a Labor representative for the electorate since 2020. He was expelled from the Labor party last May and sat on the cross-bench.
Queensland police confirmed that officers attended a residence at Stafford at 10.15pm last night to a “sudden death”.
“Officers are treating the death as non-suspicious, and a report will be prepared for the coroner,” a spokesperson for Queensland police said.
“No further information is available at this time”.
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
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Marles says Australia still needs to see strait of Hormuz return to normal
The defence minister, Richard Marles, said the flow of ships through the strait of Hormuz during the ceasefire is not “what we want”.
Marles, who is serving as acting prime minister while Anthony Albanese is in Singapore to discuss the nation’s fuel supplies, spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying:
Ultimately, we need to see the strait of Hormuz open. We need to see the disruption of the global fuel supply chain stop. And we very much need this fragile temporary ceasefire become permanent.
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Greens say coalmine extension risks flouting climate laws
A state Greens MP saying the approval risks breaching climate laws, AAP adds.
“The state’s top legal minds are clear that any new coal is inconsistent with the current law,” MP Sue Higginson said. She went on:
It is therefore highly likely that if tested, this coal approval would be declared unlawful.
I have no doubt that environmental defenders will be considering heading to the courts right now, to uphold the climate and environmental laws of the state.
The NSW net zero commission found in December any increase in coal mining activity would leave the state at odds with the climate change act and the Paris agreement.
While the mine has been cleared for two extra years of digging, its operator, Delta Power and Energy, did not get everything it was seeking.
The commission denied its application to allow coal from the mine to be exported, largely because the increased emissions from trucks transporting the coal to the Port of Newcastle would have too great an impact on residents.
NSW gives coalmine green light to operate for two extra years
A large underground coalmine has been given the green light to keep digging for an extra two years because it will eventually shut down a day before net zero targets kick in, AAP reports.
The NSW independent planning commission has approved a proposal to extend the life of the consolidated Chain Valley and Mannering coalmines, south of Newcastle, until the end of 2029.
The commission said the extension was necessary to keep supplying the nearby Vales Point power station “during NSW’s transition to renewable energy”.
Legislated emissions reduction targets for the state don’t kick in until 2030, meaning none of the coal extracted from the mine will be counted in those assessments, the commission said on Thursday.
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Good morning, and happy Friday. Nick Visser here to pick up the blog. Let’s get to it.
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Search for missing fisher suspended
A search for a fisher who disappeared in waters off Coffs Harbour has been suspended, police said last night.
Emergency services were called to Emerald Beach, Coffs Harbour, on Monday following reports that a 32-year-old man had been washed off rocks while fishing.
Coffs Harbour water police, assisted by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, carried out an extensive search in the past four days but he could not be found and the operation was suspended yesterday afternoon.
Water police and other agencies will continue to search the waters off Emerald Beach in the coming days.
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Albanese lands in Singapore
Anthony Albanese says Singapore and Australia are “strategically aligned” on fuel and energy, ahead of his meeting with Lawrence Wong later today.
But the Australian prime minister said the conflict in the Middle East would have “a long tail”, warning of “a difficult period ahead”.
There’s been substantial damage in the Gulf and that will have consequences for a period of at least months ahead.
Albanese will meet his Singaporean counterpart for an annual leaders’ meeting and they will hold a joint press conference this afternoon, after Albanese tours petrol refining facilities on Jurong Island.
Arriving into Singapore last night, Albanese said the two countries were important partners, with Singapore providing around a quarter of Australia’s refined fuels and Australia providing around a third of Singapore’s LNG.
We share values and we share a relationship of trust between each other. And that is why it’s so important that at difficult times in the world we can rely upon each other.
It’s unclear whether Albanese’s meeting will directly secure any new fuel supplies for Australia, but he says the meeting is important to bolster the bilateral relationship.
This is a relationship of trust and of mutual interest as well. We know that it is in both of our countries’ interests to engage with each other to make sure that we are both reliable suppliers.
We have each other’s word and indeed we have each other’s back at this time.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Nick Visser will take the news reins.
Anthony Albanese says Singapore and Australia are “strategically aligned” on fuel and energy, ahead of his meeting with Lawrence Wong later today. More coming up in a minute.
And locally, a search for a fisher who disappeared in waters off Coffs Harbour has been suspended, police said last night. More details coming.
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