Australia news live: national cabinet meets to discuss fuel crisis; police treating fire at Melbourne car dealership as suspicious

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Thirteen women and children linked to Islamic State fighters set to return to Australia from Syria

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has confirmed 13 members of the Australian families linked to Islamic State fighters in Syria are set to travel home to Australia.

The four women and nine children are expected in the country very soon.

“These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation,” Burke said.

As we have said many times – any members of this cohort who have committed crimes can expect to face the full force of the law.

Our world-class law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been preparing for their return since 2014 and have longstanding plans in place to manage and monitor them.

Burke says the group have received no assistance from the government.

Chalmers says intergenerational pressures have ‘intensified’, and government will consider that in upcoming budget

Treasure Jim Chalmers said intergenerational pressures have intensified, particularly when it comes to housing and the tax system surrounding it.

Chalmers spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying the government is aware and concerned about how hard it is for young people to get into the housing market. He said he wouldn’t preempt any aspect of the upcoming budget – including any changes to negative gearing or the capital gains tax discount – but maintained the government had been “upfront about the pressures that we are trying to respond to”.

He went on:

Certainly when it comes to the economics of the current situation we recognise that there are substantial intergenerational pressures that people are feeling. … I think that they have intensified, you know, particularly when you think about the housing market. …

We’ve acknowledged, I think, in an upfront way that there are issues, intergenerational issues, in housing in the tax system. And so we have been working through those issues, I think, in the usual, considered and methodical way. …

I’m not preempting any elements of the budget next Tuesday night. But we’ve been upfront about the pressures that we are trying to respond to.

You can read more here:

Victoria premier won’t say how much 10m litre fuel reserve cost

The Victoria premier, Jacinta Allan, has refused to say how much the 10m litre fuel reserve has cost taxpayers, citing commercial arrangements with Exxon Mobil:

When the opportunity presented itself through discussions that … the minister had with Exxon, that there was some supply available, we made the decision to secure that supply … and we’ve done [that] through a commercial arrangement … those arrangements are commercial in confidence.

The fuel was purchased at the market price and we will continue to look at ways that we support more broadly, our ag sector and our farmers.

Allan says the fuel would last for “two weeks’ worth of activity during the harvest season” for the entire Victorian agricultural sector.

She said the decision came after Tuesday budget was completed, so it is not included:

This decision came after the budget books had been audited by the auditor general. So it will be, it will be accounted for the future budget updates. But we can do this because we have a budget in surplus. And when you have a budget in surplus, you can provide support in uncertain times. And we are in uncertain times.

Antisemitism royal commission enters third day

The royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion will sit for its third day today, from 10am AEST.

Yesterday, Jewish Australians told the inquiry of being targeted, abused, and attacked, and of their ongoing fear for themselves and their families.

Today another 12 witnesses will appear – many of them using pseudonyms.

Jeremy Leibler, the president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, will be today’s last witness. In his submission he wrote that he will focus on “the antisemitism that operates through the delegitimisation of Israel and the weaponisation of the word ‘Zionist’ as a proxy for ‘Jew’.

He wrote:

It is this form that has driven the explosion of hostility in universities, in professional life, in cultural institutions, and in the public square. And it is this form that our political and institutional leaders have found themselves unable or unwilling to confront.

You can read Ben Doherty’s wrap of yesterday’s hearings here:

Albanese government abandons beleaguered inland rail project connecting NSW with Queensland

The Albanese government will drastically scale back the beleaguered inland rail project, abandoning plans to connect country NSW and Queensland by rail, as the price tag blows out to more than $45bn.

Originally envisioned to run 1,700km from Melbourne to a port near Brisbane, the mega infrastructure project will now only connect Beveridge, on the outskirts of Melbourne, to Parkes in central-west New South Wales – about half the distance – with the government reallocating $1.75bn of the funding to other national rail upgrades.

The cost has increased more than 50% in just three years, since Dr Kerry Schott was commissioned by Labor in 2023 to independently review the project.

Schott estimated the project would be completed by 2031 and cost upwards of $31.4bn – a doubling of the previous estimate – which she called “astonishing”, adding she was not confident on the figures.

Read more:

Victoria has secured 10m litres of diesel as fuel reserve for agriculture, premier says

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, is holding a press conference in Williamstown this morning to announce the state has secured 10m litres of diesel as a “strategic fuel reserve” for the agricultural sector.

Allan said it will mean farmers can be confident making planting and farm management decisions for the winter growing season.

She said the reserve doesn’t change day-to-day supply of diesel but it is a contingency if the federal government moved to level 4 of the national fuel security plan.

Allan said:

The Commonwealth [position] continues to be that there are sufficient fuel supplies for the period ahead, and the Commonwealth Government have done a tremendous job in securing additional fuel supplies through to the end of June. But of course, our farmers plan and operate for a longer period, and that is why having this 10 million litres of fuel, of diesel set aside in a Victorian reserve is about giving farmers that confidence that they need.

Victoria police treating fire at car dealership in Port Melbourne as suspicious

Victoria police are investigating a fire at a car dealership in Port Melbourne.

Emergency services were called to the area around 4.50am this morning. Crews extinguished the blaze, but officials are treating the fire as suspicious. The ABC reports the fire took place at a Chery car dealership, which opened last week.

Victor Sargin, the manager of the business, told ABC Radio Melbourne the impacts appeared to be limited mostly to smoke damage.

“Luckily, the floors are hard floors, so those flames have only caught on to some furniture and the reception desk at the front,” he told the ABC.

The exact circumstances surrounding the fire have not yet been determined, and police are appealing to anyone with footage or information to contact them.

Man thought to be trapped in car submerged in weir near Sydney

A search is under way for a man believed to be trapped inside a car submerged in weir at a national park, AAP reports.

NSW police believe two people were inside the car when it crashed into Audley Weir near Sydney about 1.15am. The car quickly submerged into the water with the two men inside.

The 20-year-old driver managed to extricate himself from the car and was taken to hospital for mandatory testing.

A multi-agency search operation is continuing to locate the passenger, as police establish a crime scene and begin investigations into the incident. Motorists are urged to avoid the area, with parts of the Royal national park closed.

NSW government to fast-track renewable energy approvals

The New South Wales government will today introduce legislation it says will speed up the delivery of renewable energy projects as coal-fired power stations exit the system.

The prioritising renewable energy bill will allow the state’s energy minister, Penny Sharpe, to select the “highest-priority” proposals for storage, network, and renewable energy generation and recommend them for fast-tracking to speed up approvals. Sharpe says:

This new legislation will mean infrastructure projects that are critical for manufacturing jobs, economic growth and energy affordability don’t get stuck in the queue. No matter where you live in this state, you will benefit from us getting on with the job and delivering quality renewable projects as fast as we can.

The government says the proposed law will not remove any environmental or community assessments. Environmentalists have expressed concern that widespread changes made to planning laws last year could be used fast-track mines and power projects without environmental approvals.

Renewable energy now provides about 36% of NSW’s supply, but the state government has said it will continue to approve coalmine expansions, despite ruling out mines on greenfield sites in its recent industry statement. It drew criticism from environmental groups who said this preserved the status quo. The Minns government has approved at least eight coal expansions and extensions since the 2023 election.

‘They’re big dollars’: Taylor says Coalition would target renewables and corporate welfare to cut spending

Angus Taylor was asked this morning where the opposition would rein in spending if in power. The opposition leader said the Coalition would target expensive renewable energy projects like green hydrogen, corporate welfare programs and the installation of new power lines.

Taylor told ABC News:

They’re big dollars, these programs. They’re adding to the inflation fire, we’re about to cross the threshold of a trillion dollars of debt. And that adds to the inflation fire.

Taylor was asked how the opposition’s plan to increase defence funding would play into that, and if cuts to social services were needed. He said:

I wrote to the prime minister and said to him, we’ll work with the government on a bipartisan basis to find sensible savings opportunities. … We’re pleased to see they want the NDIS to be sustainable. It’s taken too along for them to come to this.