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Josh Butler
Australia, Singapore agree “flow of essential goods” will continue
Going back to Anthony Albanese’s statements about an agreement with Singapore on oil, we’ve now got the text of the joint statement, where the two countries pledge to cooperate on energy security.
Singapore is one of the major sources of oil imported into Australia, and there has been growing concern that nations will start keeping oil for their own domestic needs instead of exporting their usual amounts. The joint statement with the Singaporean prime minister, Lawrence Wong, states that the two nations are “longstanding friends” with “intertwined” futures.
“We share a long-standing and deep relationship grounded in strategic trust, open markets, and rules-based trade which underpin the prosperity and security of our people and our region. Reaffirming these shared principles is essential at this time,” the Albanese-Wong statement says.
double quotation markAustralia and Singapore share deep concern over the situation in the Middle East and its consequences for our region, such as the impact on energy supply chains and prices.
In this context, we reaffirm our commitment to strengthen energy security, to support the flow of essential goods including petroleum oils, such as diesel, and liquefied natural gas between our two countries, and to notify and consult each other on any disruptions with ramifications on the trade of energy.
Singapore and Australia have committed to strengthen supply chain resilience, accelerate their renewable energy transition, and address “unjustified import and export restrictions”.
double quotation markWe call on other trading partners to join us in ensuring global energy supply chains are kept open, for the benefit of the security and prosperity of our peoples.
Updated at 23.28 EDT
Bowen says fuel shipments not cancelled ‘on the same day at the same time’
The shadow energy spokesperson, Dan Tehan, is back at the dispatch box and asks when the government was advised that six fuel supply shipments bound for Australia were cancelled.
He’s dropped the second half of the question after Chris Bowen did confirm that the number of cancelled ships is six, and has not increased. Bowen added that several of those shipments have been replaced.
Bowen refers Tehan to “my previous answer”.
double quotation markWhich was that we have been in constant contact every day, usually more than once a day, with the chief executives of energy companies.
Tehan tries to raise a point of order, but Milton Dick says he can’t compel Bowen to reveal exactly what time, on what day he was told about the shipments.
Bowen continues, and confirms that the shipments weren’t all cancelled at the same time and says he has been transparent with the public.
double quotation markThe orders were not all cancelled on the same day at the same time. It’s an iterative process where some are cancelled.
It’s not like the chief executive rings says, ‘hey, hey, we just had six cancelled’.
And I spoke to the Australian people on the total number cancelled over the recent period. That is what transparency looks like.
Updated at 23.28 EDT
Greens push Labor on introducing a 25% gas export tax
Over to the crossbench, Greens MP, Elizabeth Watson-Brown, asks the government if it will put a 25% flat tax on gas exports, from corporations that “literally take Australian gas for free and make obscene profits from it.”
Resources minister Madeleine King gives little away and says that gas companies contribute $12bn in tax, and that Australia is a “reliable” energy partner in the region.
Earlier today, the International Energy Agency head, Fatih Birol cautioned Australia against suddenly implementing a gas tax.
King says she won’t preempt any budget decisions:
double quotation markI would clarify that the oil and gas contribute almost $12 billion in taxes in 2023-24. We reformed the petroleum rent tax to deliver a fair return to the Australian community from the natural resources.
We are working to ensure multinationals including gas companies pay their fair share of tax in Australia.
These changes provide industry and investors policy certainty to allow sufficient supply of domestic gas to ensure that Australia remains a reliable international energy supplier and investment partner. As everyone would imagine here, that’s very important and important now more than ever.
Bowen says number of cancelled fuel shipments remains at six, most of which has been replaced
Andrew Hastie (who Milton Dick accidentally calls the leader of the opposition) is up next and asks Chris Bowen the same question – when did the government find out about the six cancelled fuel shipments, and how many shipments in total have been cancelled.
Bowen repeats what the PM said, that the government is in “constant communication” with Ampol and Viva and receives updates several times a day.
He says the companies have been advising the government of uncertainty in fuel supply beyond mid April.
double quotation markThey have also been advising me more recently of the six cancellations, which is still the current number.
And several of those have been replaced with new sources, as I said very transparently on Insiders yesterday in an interview on the ABC, that six out of the 81 expected deliveries over that time have been cancelled or deferred and have now to at least some degree been replaced with new supply.
Updated at 23.14 EDT
It’s question time!
Leader of the opposition, Angus Taylor, starts question time and asks the prime minister to declare when the government was told six ships carrying fuel to Australia were cancelled and how many ships as of today have been cancelled.
Anthony Albanese says the government has been in discussion with suppliers, as well as the head of the International Energy Agency (who just spoke at the National Press Club) and is about to release a joint statement with the Singaporean government, which is one of the main countries in Asia that Australia receives fuel from.
double quotation markI can inform the house that at 1pm, I had a very good discussion with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong of Singapore, and we are issuing now a joint statement on energy security.
Manager of opposition business, Dan Tehan, makes a point of order, saying his question was specific and that the PM isn’t answering it, but he gets shut down by speaker Milton Dick.
Albanese continues:
double quotation markWe are talking with our partners in Korea, in Japan, in China, in Singapore. We are engaged. We are reliable partners when it comes to energy security and we expect that to be a two-way flow.
Updated at 23.13 EDT
Liberal party in South Australia ‘currently unalive’, says Tony Barry
Never one to mince his words, Tony Barry has some insights into what happened on Saturday night, and what it means now for the Liberal party in South Australia, which he has described as “currently unalive”.
The former Liberal party Victorian state director and co-host of the Back to Back Barries podcast, says “there is a structural realignment under way in Australian politics” with the Liberal party its obvious victim.
But more than that, the non-major party vote has more than doubled since 2006 in the state from 19% two decades ago to 42% now.
You can read his deep dive of the situation here:
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Sarah Basford Canales
New federal inquiry set up to examine NDIS fraud
A parliamentary committee will examine the level of fraud within the National Disability Insurance Scheme as the federal government continues to look for ways to curb the rising cost of the scheme in the years ahead.
In last March’s budget papers, the scheme was forecast to cost $52.3bn this financial year and will grow to $63.6bn by 2028-29. National cabinet agreed to achieve an 8% annual growth rate target by July 2026, which was tracking at 10.3% at the end of 2025.
The NDIS minister, Jenny McAllister, wrote to the joint standing committee on the NDIS today, asking to look into the pervasiveness of fraud within the scheme and consider further measures to increase its integrity.
The committee is due to deliver its report in June.
McAllister said it was about “shining a light on the fraudsters and crooks who think they can get away with stealing from people with a disability, and from Australian taxpayers”:
double quotation markWe are laser focused on cracking down on NDIS fraud. That’s why we have introduced a bill to pass tough new laws that deal with dodgy providers, and we are reviewing more claims, conducting more investigations, referring more matters to police and prosecuting more and more fraudsters in the courts.
The committee has representation from both the House and the Senate. It is exactly the right forum to examine issues that go to the heart of the NDIS’s integrity.
READ MORE:
Updated at 22.51 EDT
Birol warns Australia against ‘sudden abrupt changes to the tax regime’
Asked whether the government should consider implementing a gas export tax or risk Australia’s reputation as a reliable energy supplier to the region, Birol says taxation is up to the government but does issue a word of warning.
He tells us a metaphor, saying that energy investors are like “butterflies” and when they get scared they could fly away – ie Australia should ensure that it’s reliable so investors remain.
double quotation markIt’s up to governments to decide what they are going to do. But for the countries like Australia, which has a reputation for predictability for investments, I would be very careful to implement sudden abrupt changes to the tax regimes.
So we should be careful, a country like Australia, which will hopefully make more of its resources, that those companies feel that the investment framework is predictable for them.
But he does say that ultimately it is important that the public – who are the real owners of those resources – “get their fair share from the profits that those companies are making.”
Updated at 22.40 EDT
Middle East crisis will lead to an ‘acceleration of renewables’, Birol says
Jumping back to his appearance at the National Press Club, Birol says the when the IEA first released 400m barrels of fuel earlier this month, it quickly eased pressure on the market and pushed the oil price down by US$18.
He leaves the door open to releasing more fuel, but won’t give a timeline.
Even if the war ended today, he says 40 energy assets are “severely” or “very severely” damaged across nine countries from the war.
On the longer term impacts of the crisis, he says he believes there will be an “acceleration of renewables” around the world in the aftermath.
double quotation markI expect again one of the responses to this crisis will be acceleration of renewables, not only because they are helping to reduce the emissions but they are also home-grown domestic energy sources and they will also increase.
Of all power plans installed globally last year – including gas, oil and coal – 85% were renewables. Of those, 75% were solar.
He says one of the biggest drivers of renewables and nuclear energy, which is making a “big comeback”, is not climate change but domestic energy security and national security.
Updated at 22.29 EDT
Labor commissions food supply chain assessment to ‘strengthen preparedness’ for disruptions
The government has commissioned a National Food Supply Chain Assessment, as part of its National Food Security Strategy, as war in the Middle East affects the agriculture sector.
Agriculture minister, Julie Collins, says the assessment will focus on diesel supply changes first, followed by an assessment of crop protection products and fertilisers.
An interim report on diesel supply chains will be handed to the government within the next month, and a final report will be delivered by the end of the year.
In a statement, Collins said the assessment will provide advice to government “on ways we can continue to strengthen preparedness for disruptions to food production and supply chains.”
double quotation markWhile Australia is food secure, we recognise the importance of supply chain resilience, including the supply of fuel and fertiliser, which is why we have commissioned this assessment.
Updated at 22.14 EDT
Tips to save fuel by working from home and cutting speed limits based on ‘years of experience’, Birol says
Birol says a list of measures including encouraging more people to work from home, reducing speed limits and reducing air travel to save fuel are based on “years of experience”.
So far the government hasn’t directly encouraged Australians to work from home, and hasn’t made any public statements around dropping speed limits.
Birol tells the Press Club that since the IEA released its report with the measures on Friday, a number of countries, including in the Asia-Pacific region, have adopted some of the ideas, but that “governments have their own priorities”.
double quotation markThese measures we have announced last Friday are based on our years of experience. We look at what works, what doesn’t work and there are real life tests for that, such as after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European countries adopted these measures … it helped them a lot to go through these difficult times.
As soon as I announced them on Friday we heard from many governments in Europe but also this in part of the world, they have already adopted some.
Updated at 22.05 EDT
World losing more barrels of oil a day than in two 1970s crises combined, IEA chief tells Press Club
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, is addressing the National Press Club today, and says the public needs to understand the “depth of the problem” facing the globe.
He starts by saying the situation is now “very serious”, more so than the two oil crises in 1973 and 1979, and more serious than the gas crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
International Energy Agency executive director Dr Fatih Birol speaks at the National Press Club in Canberra, Monday, 23 March, 2026. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
double quotation markAt that time, in each [oil] crisis, the world has lost about 5m barrels per day, both of them together 10m barrels per day. And after that we all know that there were major economic problems around the world, and today we lost 11m barrels. So more than two major oil shocks put together.
Plus after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the gas markets, especially in Europe, we lost about 75bn consumer metres, 75BCM. And as of now, as a result of this crisis, we lost about 140BCM, almost twice. So the situation is, if we want to put in a context, this crisis as it stands now, two oil crises and one gas crash put all together.
Birol adds that the crisis is also having a severe impact on other “vital arteries of the global economy” including petrochemicals and fertilisers, which will have lasting impacts.
Updated at 21.52 EDT
Majority of voters support a 25% gas export tax
Two out of three voters in key teal seats and Sussan Ley’s former electorate of Farrer want a 25% tax on gas exports, according to polling done for the Australia Institute.
Polls by uComms in the seats of Kooyong (held by independent MP Monique Ryan), Mackellar (held by independent MP Sophie Scamps), Wentworth (held by independent MP Allegra Spender), and Farrer, formerly held by Ley, found between 68% and 75% of voters agreed gas export corporations should pay a 25% gas export tax.
Separately, a national poll of 1,502 voters conducted by YouGov found 61% of voters supported a gas export tax, while 5% disagreed.
The Australia Institute says voters were told a 25% export tax would raise around $17bn a year. A majority of voters surveyed said that money should be spend on health and aged care services.
The institute presented the polling at parliament earlier today – alongside the Greens and crossbenchers who have been pushing the government to implement a windfall tax.
Richard Denniss, co-CEO of The Australia Institute, said:
double quotation markIt’s clear Australians think that making foreign owned gas companies pay for our gas isn’t an issue of left or right but a simple issue of fairness.
As petrol and electricity prices rise, the idea that gas export companies will make enormous windfall profits while Australians struggle with higher energy prices and interest rates is as untenable as it is unnecessary.
It’s been reported the government has asked the Treasury department to model the effects of placing a flat 25% tax on gas exporters.
Updated at 21.33 EDT
Ursula von der Leyen to become first female foreign leader to address Australian parliament
Australian and European officials are hoping to thrash out the final points of a long-awaited trade deal after progress on a key sticking point of naming products such as cheese and wine, AAP reports.
European Union president Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Sydney today for a three-day visit, during which she will meet the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and become the first female foreign leader to address federal parliament.
Von Der Leyen and Albanese are widely expected to sign an Australia-EU free trade agreement, ending a years-long saga defined by stalled negotiations and previously intractable disputes.
They are also expected to speak about Australia’s world-first social media age ban, which some European countries are planning to emulate.
President of the EU, Ursula von der Leyen. Photograph: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto/ShutterstockShare
Updated at 21.38 EDT
One in seven Queensland families have run out of food in the last year, report says
Andrew Messenger
One in seven Queensland families have run out of food in the last 12 months, according to a new report from the state’s council of social services.
There are also 10,511 households with children awaiting housing on the social housing register in the state, more than 90% of them single parents.
The report, commissioned by the Queensland Council of Social Service (Qcoss), suggests Queensland children are worse off than those in other states.
A coalition of 26 frontline social service groups led by Qcoss will launch a campaign today, calling for the state government to develop a families strategy to ensure every family in Queensland has what they need to help their children thrive.
Report author Prof Karen Healy said:
double quotation markOur research makes it clear that a there needs to be more focused attention on ensuring all families have access to material basics. Access to safe, affordable housing, health and mental health services and education must be enhanced, particularly for families with low incomes.
Updated at 20.30 EDT