Albanese speaks to Vietnamese president on energy supply chains
Krishani Dhanji
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has spoken on the phone with Vietnam’s president as he continues a diplomatic campaign to shore up Australia’s fuel supplies across Asia.
He congratulated Tô Lâm, the newly re-elected president and general secretary of the Communist party of Vietnam and discussed the conflict in the Middle East.
The two leaders “agreed on the importance of energy regional cooperation to ensure global energy supply chains were kept open to benefit the security and prosperity of both nations”.
Vietnam isn’t one of the main exporters of fuel to Australia, but we do get about 13% of our crude oil imports from the nation. Vietnam also imports gas from Australia.
The PM visited several nations including Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia this month to ensure Australia would continue to receive fuel shipments in the midst of war in the Middle East.
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Updated at 08.45 CEST
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What we learned today, Friday 24 April
Thanks for staying with us today. We’ll leave our live coverage of the day’s news there for this evening. Here were Friday’s top stories:
Labor is poised to reject a growing push for a new 25% tax on gas exports in next month’s budget.
The United States has approved the first major submarine contract under the Aukus security deal.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has spoken on the phone with Vietnam’s president as he continues a diplomatic campaign to shore up Australia’s fuel supplies across Asia.
The NSW government has moved to expand hate speech laws to include Nazi slogans.
A Sydney man was set to face court over allegedly fraudulently claiming $1.5m for providing non-existent services through the national disability insurance scheme.
NSW Fair Trading inspectors have now visited more than 2,300 petrol stations since the beginning of the fuel crisis linked to the war in the Middle East.
NSW police have said they foiled an alleged plot to kill a prominent figure in organised crime.
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Major bedding retailer fined over fake online discounts
A major online bedding supplier has been hit with a $15 million fine for advertising fake discounts and creating a fake sense of urgency by using a countdown timer that reset itself.
Emma Sleep made false or misleading representations about the sale price of mattresses, bed frames, pillows, and accessories, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission revealed on Friday.
The company admitted to making false claims on 74 of its products, with most being advertised as on sale when no saving existed.
It also admitted lying that the “discount” prices were for a limited time only and using phrases such as “Ending Soon” when the products continued to be advertised at the same or similar price.
The Federal Court found the conduct was a deliberate marketing strategy and senior management turned a blind eye to whether it contravened Australian Consumer Law.
The conduct occurred between June 2020 and March 2023, during which Emma Sleep made more than $134 million in revenue on the sale of over 243,000 individual products.
Emma Sleep Pty Ltd has been ordered to pay a penalty of $7.5 million, and Emma Sleep Southeast Asia Inc will pay $7.5 million.
– AAP
ShareJosh Butler
Anthony Albanese’s Anzac Day message for 2026 has paid tribute to the Australian soldiers who landed at Gallipoli 111 years ago.
He said in his message, released on Friday afternoon ahead of Anzac Day on Saturday:
double quotation markOn Anzac Day, we pause to acknowledge the debt all of us owe to Australians who have gone to war in our name. Across our continent, from the biggest cities to the smallest country town, and in every corner of the world made hallow by the sacrifice of our fallen, we gather in respect, reflection, gratitude and pride.
One hundred and eleven years after the first Gallipoli landing, Anzac Day has come to stand for every generation of Australians who have served. At dawn services and marches today, we renew our solemn promise to remember all those young Australians who did not grow old and everyone they left behind.
We remember all who lived to keep fighting and all who finally made it home, but with the
battle raging forever in their hearts. We reflect on all they went through and all they were up against, and we give thanks for the difference they made just when the world needed it most.
Albanese’s message thanked veterans, including those currently serving, as well as their families.
He said:
double quotation markTime and time again, Australians at war have embodied the courage, selflessness and mateship that define our national character. What their legacy proves to us is that even when peace seems elusive, it is always worth fighting for.
So we gather. And as we give thanks for the light of every bright dawn that was their promise to us, we keep tending the flame of memory.
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ASX logs second week of losses as banks, miners weigh
Australia’s share market has fallen for a fourth-straight session, with banks and miners weighing heavily on the bourse as the Persian Gulf conflict dims the global economic outlook.
The S&P/ASX200 slipped 6.9 points on Friday, down 0.08 per cent, to 8,786.5, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 17.8 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 9,006.4.
The All Ordinaries fell 162.3 points, or 1.77 per cent, for the week.
Energy, utilities stocks and the traditionally defensive consumer staples sector had a positive week, buoyed by rising oil prices with no end in sight to the US-Iran conflict that has strangled a key crude shipping route.
The Australian dollar is buying 71.29 US cents, down from 71.52 US cents on Thursday at 5pm.
– AAP
ShareKrishani Dhanji
Gas company concedes a 25% export tax would not impact global prices
INPEX, a major Japanese gas exporter (which the Japanese government owns a 22% stake of) says that slapping on a 25% gas export tax would not change global gas prices, it would just eat into the profits of providers.
The Senate inquiry into a gas export tax has journeyed over to Western Australia today, to talk to a group of gas companies.
Japan’s ambassador to Australia last month warned the government not to impose any new taxes on our gas exports – which they heavily rely on for energy, as well as revenue.
INPEX Australian representative, Mike Gardiner, told the Senate inquiry:
double quotation markI don’t think the imposition of a gas tax will change the ultimate price of gas globally. If a gas tax is imposed on revenue, that tax at say 25% of export revenue will immediately flow to the profit before tax of the producer potentially wiping out their profit but it won’t hit global prices of gas and consumers.
The government has been using Australia’s exports to help shore up fuel supply from major fuel exporters in Asia during the Middle East crisis.
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Pocock says Japan ‘making money’ on Australian gas exports
David Pocock has dismissed Japan’s warnings against a proposed Australian gas export tax, as the government looks to be growing more receptive to overseas partners’ opposition to the idea.
Pocock said the export tax would not increase gas prices for overseas buyers of Australian gas.
He noted that Chevron earlier today told the parliamentary inquiry that the company was a price taker and did not control the gas price it paid. He told the ABC that showed prices wouldn’t be passed on to overseas partners:
double quotation markWe now know that 25% export tax would be paid for by these multinational companies. They would not be able to pass it on to Japan and South Korea.
Japan and South Korea, Japan more so, actually invest in companies that are exporting Australian gas, they have a 20% stake in impacts to export a huge amount of gas and don’t supply any of the domestic market so they are making money there. They are making money when we send them gas: they have a gas import tax they’ve used build 90 days worth of liquid fuel storage unlike here in Australia. …
They have no gas fields, they are just really smart. They put the Japanese people first.
Pocock compared Japan’s protests against the tax proposal to its complaints when the Queensland government increased the royalty take on coal mining:
double quotation markThey jumped up and down when the last Labor government in Queensland raised the coal royalty and said all sorts of things, they import the exact same amount of coal now as they did back then and Queenslanders get a much better return on their resource.
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Albanese speaks to Vietnamese president on energy supply chains
Krishani Dhanji
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has spoken on the phone with Vietnam’s president as he continues a diplomatic campaign to shore up Australia’s fuel supplies across Asia.
He congratulated Tô Lâm, the newly re-elected president and general secretary of the Communist party of Vietnam and discussed the conflict in the Middle East.
The two leaders “agreed on the importance of energy regional cooperation to ensure global energy supply chains were kept open to benefit the security and prosperity of both nations”.
Vietnam isn’t one of the main exporters of fuel to Australia, but we do get about 13% of our crude oil imports from the nation. Vietnam also imports gas from Australia.
The PM visited several nations including Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia this month to ensure Australia would continue to receive fuel shipments in the midst of war in the Middle East.
Share
Updated at 08.45 CEST
Trade minister says Labor ‘not changing our policies in respect to gas’
Josh Butler
More on Labor readying to drop considerations of a new gas export tax: The trade minister, Don Farrell, has given the bluntest public sign yet that the proposal is all-but gone from the government’s plans, saying “the most important thing” was to honour existing export contracts.
While the prime minister hasn’t explicitly ruled it out, his public comments and those of other senior ministers in recent days have raised concerns about how it would work and how such a change would affect exports to buyers.
Farrell was asked at a press conference today whether a 25% tax on gas exports was off the table for the coming budget. He replied:
double quotation markI think the Treasurer and the Prime Minister remain pretty clear. We’re not changing our policies in respect to gas.
But all of those things will be revealed in a couple of weeks’ time when the Treasurer, a very good Treasurer, Treasurer Chalmers, announces what’s in our budget.
Farrell went on to say the government “has the job of making these decisions and will make the decisions in the best interest of Australia.”
double quotation markThe most important thing that Australia can do and the Australian Government can do is to ensure the conditions are there for the continued export of our gas… Australia has an obligation, an agreement, to supply this gas.
I think the most important issue and the most important thing that Australia can do, the Australian Government can do, is to ensure that we continue to honour all of our obligations to our friends in Southeast Asia and East Asia.
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Labor is set to reject new tax on gas exports
Labor is poised to reject a growing push for a new 25% tax on gas exports in next month’s budget.
It’s understood the government has elected not to pursue a new tax on gas exports in the budget, prompted in part by the global oil crisis and Anthony Albanese’s diplomatic efforts in shoring up fuel supply from Asian allies by pledging reliable access to liquefied natural gas.
Pocock, the independent senator who has been among those campaigning strongly for a gas export tax, had this to say about the news:
double quotation markI am appalled but not surprised to see the Albanese government caving to gas companies.
Less dramatic changes, including reforms to the petroleum resources rent tax or a tax on windfall profits, have not yet been ruled out, and there is strong support inside the Labor caucus for gas reforms.
Read the full report from Josh Butler and Krishani Dhanji here:
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Petrol prices at pre-war levels in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane
Petrol prices have fallen to pre-Iran war levels in Australia’s three biggest cities, after steady declines in wholesale prices.
Sydney’s service stations are selling unleaded for an average price of 185.3 cents a litre today, the cheapest its been since 26 February, according to MotorMouth. The US-Israel war on Iran sent oil prices surging from 28 February.
Melbourne’s average unleaded price is 183.8 cents a litre, the cheapest since 24 February, and Brisbane’s is 184.6 cents, the cheapest since 17 February. That’s a two month low.
Adelaide’s average unleaded price is 177.2 cents a litre, the cheapest since 3 March but also tying with its 24 February level. Perth and Canberra are averaging early March prices while Darwin’s unleaded price rose today.
Diesel prices across the capital cities are easing to less than 260 cents a litre, about where they were on or about 12 March.
That’s because wholesale diesel prices have fallen to their lowest point since about 11 March in all cities today, according to thee Australian Institute of Petroleum. Whole sale unleaded prices are also at their lowest since then.
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Updated at 07.45 CEST
Josh Taylor
Ten real estate companies in privacy sweep
The federal privacy commissioner has conducted a sweep of ten real estate companies to assess how they secure identity documents.
Earlier this week, we reported the commissioner, Carly Kind, ruled that rent tech platform 2Apply had unnecessarily collected the information of millions of Australians applying for rental properties.
Kind has focused on the power imbalance between renters and real estate companies leading to renters being forced to hand over much more personal information than required.
In Senate estimates hearings in February, she noted that a sweep of real estate companies was conducted in January, with “a particular focus on the collection of identity documents, because… that is an area of real privacy vulnerability.”
In a response to a question on notice from Greens senator David Shoebridge, tabled in parliament earlier this month, Kind revealed the ten firms being assessed as:
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner plans to publish the compliance report by the middle of this year, and stated any enforcement action that may be taken will be announced “at the appropriate time”.
ShareCatie McLeod
Senior Woolworths manager questioned about price of Tiny Teddies
A senior Woolworths manager has given evidence that the supermarket planned to put Arnott’s Tiny Teddies on a new long term “sale” price that was higher than its original shelf price had been.
The trial involving the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Woolworths continues today in testing allegations the supermarket disguised price increases on hundreds of products between 2021 and 2023.
The ACCC has accused Woolworths of using the “Prices Dropped” scheme to hide planned price increases with outsized, short-term spikes before reducing products to a supposedly discounted price that was actually higher than the original shelf price.
The federal court heard yesterday that Woolworths planned to increase the shelf price of products in advance so it could later display desired “was/is” price comparisons on their promotional tickets.
Cormac Deery, the commercial director of Woolworths’ “Grocery Non-Food” category, has been cross-examined by the ACCC’s barrister, Michael Hodge KC, this morning.
Deery was questioned extensively about Arnott’s Tiny Teddy variety packs – one of 12 Woolworths items which the trial is scrutinising in detail.
Court documents show the Tinny Teddies were sold at $5 for 495 days between 1 January 2021 and 10 May 2025.
Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian
Woolworths then lifted the biscuits’ price to $6.50 – but for just 15 days – before putting them on a new “sale” price of $5.50 and advertising them with a “Prices Dropped” promotional ticket for 337 days.
Deery conceded that, when they struck a new commercial agreement with Arnott’s to lift the retail price of the product that, it was agreed in advance it would then be put on the “Prices Dropped” program at $5.50.
Hodge put to him that there Woolworths never discussed with Arnott’s the possibility the Tiny Teddies would be on the shelves at $6.50 on an ongoing basis.
Deery said he disagreed, and that what had been important to him was the “overall commercial construct of the products”.
Deery will return to the witness box this afternoon to finish giving evidence.
ShareLuca Ittimani
Thanks Nick Visser, let’s keep on with the day’s news.
ShareNick Visser
That’s all from me. Luca Ittimani will take things from here. Have a nice weekend.
SharePenry Buckley
Rural owners would pay lower premiums under NSW emergency services funding model
Rural property owners would pay less towards the funding of fire and rescue services under one of five models proposed for the reform of the emergency services levy (ESL) in NSW.
The Labor government announced its intention to scrap the ESL in 2023, to reduce premiums to encourage more people to insure their homes in the face of greater fire and flood threats. The former Coalition government dropped planned changes in 2019. Today the Minns government has released five potential models for reform which will be considered by a parliamentary inquiry.
The government has committed to introducing a new levy across all property-owners, in line with other states. Under one model, the charge would be determined according to property type, while under another, rural property-owners would pay less than those in regional towns and cities and metropolitan areas.
Under the current levy, households and businesses who take out property insurance contribute 73.3% of the funding for the NSW SES and fire agencies. Local councils contribute 11.7%, and the state government 14.6%. It says all five of its models deliver an average saving of about $65 per residential property.
The NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, says:
double quotation markEvery time a mortgage-holder renews their insurance policy, they’re paying a price no homeowner in any other state has to pay.
We’ve got to try to remove pain-points like this tired, old levy, whenever we can. Especially as the pressures on working families get worse, as the oil shock continues.
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US approves first major Aukus submarine contract
The United States has approved the first major submarine contract under the Aukus security deal, Press Association reports.
The $275m deal, awarded to American company Electric Boat, was announced by the US government on Thursday.
Under the 2021 security deal, Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines with support from the UK and the US, alongside cooperation on military technology.
It will be funded by Australia and cover “support engineering, technical, design agent and design transfer activities” from the United States.
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Updated at 06.46 CEST
Harvey Norman facing class action for ‘misleading’ ads
Angry customers are taking on retail giant Harvey Norman in a class action over claims they were misled by false promises of interest-free loans, only to be slugged with hefty fees and charges, AAP reports.
A directions hearing over the upcoming legal battle was held in the Brisbane supreme court on Friday, and will return to court on 24 June.
Carter Capner Law launched the challenge on behalf of customers after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) successfully prosecuted Harvey Norman and credit provider Latitude Finance Australia in the federal court.
“The consumers seek the payment of damages and refunds of the price paid for the goods acquired as a result of the defendants’ misleading conduct,” Carter Capner Law director Peter Carter told AAP.
Harvey Norman. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP
The class action seeks to recover financial losses, including fees and charges.
Consumer watchdog ASIC had earlier taken the retail giant and Latitude to court over the store chain’s national ad campaign which promoted “no-deposit” and “interest-free” payment methods between January 2020 and August 2021.
In October 2024, the Federal Court found them guilty of misleading people with the ads, saying customers entered a “fundamentally different financial arrangement” than the one promoted. An appeal by Harvey Norman and Latitude was dismissed in September 2025.
ShareJosh Taylor
Commbank deploys AI agents to find fraud
Commonwealth Bank says it has deployed an agentic AI system to detect fraud and scam patterns on transaction and payments data.
The AI agent monitors 80 million transaction, card and online payments on Commbank’s platform every day. Where suspicious patterns are identified, the system analyses the severity and proposes detection rules to intercept them.
Commbank’s executive general manager of fraud and scams, James Roberts said:
double quotation markThe agent operates around the clock, continuously monitoring activity and adapting to emerging threats.
The new rules are reviewed and approved by Commbank staff before being implemented. The agent has contributed to three-quarters of Commbank’s fraud rules, the bank said.
Commbank sends over 40,000 warning alerts to customers per day on the Commbank app, and fraud detection has led to a reduction in fraud losses by 20% in the first half of the 2026 financial year, compared to the same period in 2025.
ShareCait Kelly
Anglicare Australia says raise in jobseeker needed before more people pushed on to the program
Anglicare Australia has joined calls to raise jobseeker, after the latest report from the economic inclusion advisory committee (EIAC) warned of rising unemployment.
The Anglicare Australia executive director, Kasy Chambers, said:
double quotation markWith unemployment expected to rise, more Australians will be pushed on to jobseeker at the worst possible time.
Right now, these payments don’t even cover the basics. People are being forced to skip meals, delay medical care, and go without essentials just to get by. That is the reality of living on jobseeker. As more people rely on these payments, more people will be pushed into poverty.
Chambers said the EIAC report makes clear that raising the rate is the most urgent step the government can take.
double quotation markThis is the moment to lift these payments before more people have to live on them.
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Updated at 05.50 CEST
