Australia’s jobless rate steady at 4.3%
Patrick Commins
Unemployment was steady at 4.3% in March, as a big lift in full-time jobs suggested Australia’s labour markets remained robust heading into the latest global upheaval.
The number of employed Australians lifted by 18,000 in the month, with a 53,000 jump in full-time employment offset by a 35,000 fall in part-time workers, the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.
The jobs numbers come as CBA card spending data revealed Australians spent 45% more on fuel in March than in the month before.
There is mounting evidence that households are beginning to cut back in other areas to make room for soaring fuel costs, but the card data from Australia’s largest retail bank show that spending held up last month thanks to big events like the women’s Asian Cup and the Formula One grand prix.
Belinda Allen, CBA’s head of Australian economics, said climbing prices will drag on household budgets, and that this “should help bring the economy back into balance and help moderate inflation”.
Still, Allen believes the RBA will hike again on 5 May “in a line-ball decision”.
Ben Doherty
Former marine pilot wanted by the US loses his appeal
Daniel Duggan, an Australian citizen and former US marine pilot wanted by the United States department of justice over allegations he trained Chinese fighter pilots, has lost an appeal against his impending deportation.
Australia’s former attorney general has already approved the deportation of Duggan to the US, where he faces a raft of charges, including arms trafficking and money laundering, that could see him sentenced to decades in prison.
In the federal court on Thursday, Justice James Stellios dismissed Duggan’s appeal against the attorney general’s decision to consent to his extradition.
Duggan’s deportation is not imminent, and he does have further appeals available to him.
Outside court, Duggan’s wife Saffrine said his family had suffered a “terrible trauma” since his arrest in 2022.
She said:
Dan has been locked up in maximum security, an ordinary Australian going about his business who broke no Australian law.
We thank thousands of Australians who have continued our support for our fight for justice.
He spent 19 months in solitary confinement, he’s missed so much in our family, in our children’s lives.
Saffrine said she was disappointed by the federal court ruling:
We will consider our options carefully, but make no mistake: we will not give up.
Then attorney general Mark Dreyfus consented to Duggan’s extradition in December 2024. In 2025, the international cooperation unit of the attorney general’s department wrote to the Duggan family that Dreyfus’s replacement, Michelle Rowland, could not reverse that decision:
The attorney general does not have the power to overturn the decision to surrender Mr Duggan to the United States to face prosecution for the offences for which he is accused.
The US is seeking the extradition of Duggan on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering arising from his alleged training of Chinese fighter pilots more than a decade ago. The allegations have not been tested in court.
A US indictment alleges he taught Chinese fighter pilots to land jets on aircraft carriers – known as “carrier-arrested landings” – in defiance of arms trafficking laws. The indictment details payments Duggan allegedly received in 2011 and 2012 for training Chinese fighter pilots at a test flight academy “based in South Africa, with a presence in the People’s Republic of China”.
The father of six – whose wife and children are all Australian citizens – faces a potential 60-year prison term if convicted in the US.
Duggan, who has no criminal history anywhere in the world, has faced significant isolation in prison, having been classified as a high-risk inmate. He has consistently denied the allegations against him as politically motivated, and has claimed the indictment is filled with “half-truths, falsehoods and gross embellishments”.
Australia’s jobless rate steady at 4.3%
Patrick Commins
Unemployment was steady at 4.3% in March, as a big lift in full-time jobs suggested Australia’s labour markets remained robust heading into the latest global upheaval.
The number of employed Australians lifted by 18,000 in the month, with a 53,000 jump in full-time employment offset by a 35,000 fall in part-time workers, the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.
The jobs numbers come as CBA card spending data revealed Australians spent 45% more on fuel in March than in the month before.
There is mounting evidence that households are beginning to cut back in other areas to make room for soaring fuel costs, but the card data from Australia’s largest retail bank show that spending held up last month thanks to big events like the women’s Asian Cup and the Formula One grand prix.
Belinda Allen, CBA’s head of Australian economics, said climbing prices will drag on household budgets, and that this “should help bring the economy back into balance and help moderate inflation”.
Still, Allen believes the RBA will hike again on 5 May “in a line-ball decision”.
Benita Kolovos
Petrol station owner ‘stunned’ by refinery blaze
Peter Anderson is the director of APCO Service Stations, which operates about 30 service stations in regional Victoria. He told ABC Radio Melbourne he was “just stunned” when he heard of the fire at the refinery this morning:
With what’s going on over in the Middle East and then this situation here in Geelong – I live in Geelong and Viva supply me with 60% of my supply.
But he said it was not the first time that production at the refinery had been affected:
I’ve been through planned shutdowns where Viva has shut the refinery down for maintenance issues. I’ve been through situations where they’ve shut it down because something else has broken down the cracker, they’ve had problems with the cracker and those things.
And they’ve always been able to come through with other suppliers from elsewhere, just bring it in by ship. And that’s what will be happening now. That’s what they’ll be planning for.
Victoria fire official says blaze now ‘well under control’, valve failure likely cause
Michelle Cowling, with Fire Rescue Victoria, said the fire is “well under control now” and is contained to a small area of the refinery.
She told ABC the cause was likely a small leak related to a failure in some of the valves of some mechanical equipment. A significant plume of LNG ignited due to “several ignition sources” around the refinery area.
“It looks like a valve has given way, which started a small leak,” she said.
Firefighters are using effectively large hoses and large amounts of water on the area to reduce the flames and keep vapours down in the area.
Nothing is being fed into the fire at the moment, with all combustion sources cut off by Viva as the firefighting continues.
Smoke has dissipated a lot in the area, Cowling added. People in the area should still keep their windows and doors closed for now.
Taylor says Albanese government has ‘not taken defence of our country seriously’
Taylor is speaking about the news, reported earlier, that Labor will spend an extra $53bn on defence over the next decade. That would bring total spending to about 2.3% to 2.4% of GDP by 2033.
The opposition leader said the Albanese government was actually underfunding the defence force:
This is a government not taken defence of our country seriously. And creative accounting does not defend Australia.
Taylor was asked what he would do differently, saying simply the Coalition would up spending to 3% of GDP. That 3% figure is based on the number US president, Donald Trump, has pushed. Taylor said:
We need to make sure we sustain and maintain our core capabilities. We need to make sure we have the people, war fighters we need and numbers we need.
Opposition leader, Angus Taylor, is speaking in the Gold Coast
Taylor said today’s fire at the refinery showed that there will be a clear impact on fuel supply, saying the government had to work even harder “to get more shipments” into the country.
Taylor said the energy minister, Chris Bowen, needed to provide more details about shipments of fuel coming into Australia. Bowen has, in fact, been holding daily pressers on that issue, running through the number of ships coming in and the number of diesel and petrol shortages at some service station around the country.
“We just don’t have the transparency and we don’t have the answers,” Taylor said.
No more smoke from Geelong refinery
Nino Bucci
There is no longer any sign of smoke coming from the refinery, nor indication other than several road closures that anything is amiss.
Emergency services cannot be seen battling the blaze from cordons set up by police.
Transport services are operating as normal from stations bordering the refinery.
Nearby Geelong Grammar – one of Australia’s most prestigious private schools – appeared to be functioning as normal, albeit without classes given it’s currently holidays.
There’s no sign of people wearing masks or taking other precautions that would indicate they are concerned about the fire, despite warnings about air quality issued early on Thursday morning.
Those warnings related to areas south of the refinery, though there are few houses in this region until the town of Lara, about seven kilometres away.
An Environment Protection Authority pollution response unit could be seen arriving at the refinery shortly before 10.30am.
Josh Taylor
Federal court publishes practice note on use of AI
After a growing number of cases where courts in Australia and across the globe have discovered evidence presented to court has included false citations generated by AI, the federal court has issued a new practice note on how AI can be used in court cases.
Chief justice Debra Mortimer said in the note that users should be cautious in the use of AI in pleadings, written submissions and other documents lodged with the court noting that it may generate fictitious cases, citations, quotes and factual errors.
Mortimer said:
The presentation of false or inaccurate information to the court is unacceptable. It is inconsistent with the responsibility on all persons to not mislead the court or other parties.
It is also likely to frustrate the just resolution of proceedings according to law and as quickly, inexpensively and efficiently as possible.
People should confirm that – where AI has been used in the preparation of documents – that the legal authorities cited exist and support the proposition made, among other checks required, Mortimer said.
For affidavits and expert reports, if generative AI is used, it should still reflect their recollection, knowledge or experience.
Use of AI must be disclosed where tools are used to summarise or analyse information; make images, videos or sound recordings presented to the court; and in any other manner that might affect the admissibility of that evidence. The disclosure should be at the start of the document, Mortimer said.
Mortimer said the court had consulted with the community, the profession, academics, legal service providers and technology companies in the development of the note.
Fertiliser imports streamlined amid impasse at strait of Hormuz
Farmers will receive fertiliser faster as border processes for imports will be streamlined just as sowing season begins, AAP has reported.
The federal government announced the measure, in consultation with Fertilizer Australia. Of Australia’s supply of urea for fertiliser, 60% travels through the strait of Hormuz, which has remained closed since US-Israeli strikes launched on Iran in February.
The agriculture minister, Julie Collins, said the changes would reduce costs, reduce port clearance times, lower administrative burdens and ensure the safety of fertiliser prior to shipping.
She said strict biosecurity standards will not be affected.
“There’s enough fertiliser in Australia today and on its way on the water in terms of the initial planting season,” Collins told Sky News on Thursday.
But this is about longer-term supplies because of the unpredictability and we don’t know how long this is going to go.
The changes include certification from an authorised inspector offshore that the goods are free of biosecurity risk for all imports and a requirement for importers using higher-risk pathways to provide a bagged sample for prior inspection.
Benita Kolovos
Victoria energy minister says no ‘immediate’ impact on fuel supply
The Victorian energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, has told ABC Radio Melbourne that the government has been assured by Viva Energy that there is “no immediate impact on fuel supply”.
She went on:
This has occurred in an area that is to do with the gasoline and petrol production and that it has not impacted directly the diesel or jet fuel. Now, of course, there’s been a ramping down of the other units for safety reasons … but the latest information is that the fire is now contained. So that’s a positive.
She said Viva Energy told her and the premier that they sourced additional crude oil shipments from overseas amid the war in Iran:
They have done a really good job in sourcing additional shipments to what they normally order from overseas in terms of crude oil and the like. Those additional shipments of supply really have gone back a couple weeks now. So they’re very confident that there shouldn’t be any immediate impact on fuel supply. They also have said that petrol or gasoline, of all of the fuel types that are under global pressure right now, is the most easiest fuel to be able to source either globally or indeed from within Australia.
Albanese talks fuel supply with Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim
Talks with the head of a major global oil giant and the Malaysian prime minister will fill the final official day of Anthony Albanese’s south-east Asian fuel security tour, after he touched down in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday night.
Malaysia is one of Australia’s top suppliers of both crude oil and refined fuels like petrol and diesel, and the prime minister will be seeking similar assurances about ongoing shipments to those received in Singapore and Brunei over the past week.
Albanese and his counterpart, Anwar Ibrahim, are scheduled to hold formal talks today. The prime minister will also speak with the head of Petronas, one of Asia’s biggest oil producers and refiners.
But Malaysia imports hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Russian oil and fuel each year, some of which is sold on to Australia. Ukraine has called for a total ban on the use of Russian oil.
Hanson says she only sacked Sean Black because of ‘pile on’
Sarah Basford Canales
Pauline Hanson says her sacking of Sean Black, a former staffer and convicted rapist who worked with One Nation after his jail sentence until Sunday, was “an agreement”, but the populist leader insists it was only because of a “political bloody witch-hunt”.
The Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price fuelled the story on Tuesday night when she said that, speaking as an advocate and survivor of sexual assault, no one would “want to be confronted with the idea of working in the same workspace as an individual such as that”.
Hanson was asked again by Sky News commentator Chris Kenny last night why she fired Black if she didn’t believe he should be let go.
The One Nation leader, who admitted she’d hired him back personally, said it was a “pile-on”:
This is just a political bloody witch-hunt. And I’m shocked by Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (jumping) on the bandwagon with Garth Hamilton … everyone has a chance, a second chance, and he’s been given a chance …
He agreed … to leave. He knew this. He’s worked for the Liberal party. He’s also worked for the Labor party. He’s been a councillor. OK, so he knows politics … it was an agreement between both of us, Chris, and I feel sorry for the poor man and his wife and his kids, and that’s why I said to your producer today, Chris, I didn’t want to discuss this any more about this today on the air, because I think it’s disrespectful to him and his family to keep this going and going.
Read more here:
Equipment failure cause of refinery blaze, fire official says
Benita Kolovos
Fire Rescue Victoria deputy commissioner, Michelle Cowling, confirmed the cause of the Corio refinery blaze was equipment failure.
In an update on ABC Radio Melbourne, she said the fire is still not under control but is well contained within a section of the plant:
The part of the plant it’s in is actually a transfer. So, in a bit of good news for you, it’s not impacting diesel or gasoline and petroleum production. So that won’t add to the already stressed fuel issues that we’re having. There’s about 50 firefighters on site from FRV and CFA, as well as Viva has some of their own firefighters. So it’s very well contained. It was an equipment failure in the refinery, Viva is looking into that. So there’ll be a thorough investigation into the failure of how this fire started.
Cowling explained why controlling the fire has been so difficult:
Because of the size of the tower that contains LPG, and there’s no physical way to get in to actually turn the valve off. As you can imagine, it’s quite hot. A significant fire has been burning since about 11pm last night. So until we can really cool that area down, that open valve where that leak has been is still just draining that tank. And at the moment, we’ve got the smartest minds, the engineers working on how to drain that remotely if they can – until we can get someone in.
She said due to the extreme heat, “there’s no human involvement in the extinguishment at the moment. It’s all remote”.
At the moment, they’re just using monitors. So they’re basically hose lines that are not held by any humans.
Shares in refinery owner suspended pending damage announcement
Jonathan Barrett
Trading in shares of Viva Energy, the company that owns the now-damaged Geelong refinery, have been suspended this morning.
The ASX said that the trading halt will continue until the company makes an announcement to the market regarding the impact of the fire, or until trading resumes on Monday.
Trading halts are typically requested by companies when significant, market-moving events are developing quickly.
The Victorian refinery, which is on fire, represents one of Viva’s main physical assets.
The company’s most recent financial results indicate that a five-year maintenance program on the refinery had recently been completed.
Benita Kolovos
New Victorian health minister says no health risk from refinery blaze
Harriet Shing, sworn in as Victorian health minister yesterday, spoke earlier on ABC Radio Melbourne. She thanked the firefighters battling the blaze and noted that watch and act warnings issued overnight due to air quality concerns had been downgraded this morning.
Shing went on:
The most up-to-date advice we’ve got from the department of health is that there are no known health risks or warnings from the refinery fire. The first point here is that nobody was injured, the workforce has been accounted for, (and) there will obviously be an investigation.
Shing said warnings and updates are being provided through the VicEmergency app:
We have had ongoing information and rolling updates provided this morning … in terms of looking at likely impact for people … there was a large presence of smoke in and around the area at the time and we will continue to monitor the situation, but again, the starting point is no one was hurt. And obviously, the investigation will be necessary from here while operations continue at the refinery.
Benita Kolovos
Energy analyst says it’s time to move to stage three of fuel restrictions
Gero Farruggio, an analyst at Rystad Energy, told ABC AM he believes the government will need to move to stage three fuel restrictions as a result of the Corio refinery blaze.
He said:
The first thing I thought of when I saw that (fire) is that we can’t avoid stage three now. We’re currently at stage two, which is just keep the country running and that’s why the prime minister’s overseas trying to secure supplies. But on seeing refinery burning again, any supplies are crucial right now, and this is about 10% of our domestic one. In particular, for the Victoria region, you just thought this we can’t avoid moving to stage three.
He said even if there is a ceasefire between the US and Iran there will still be “a couple months of disruption”:
We’re planning for this de-escalation and things to resume to normal … that’s the best case scenario, but we maybe don’t have to plan for the worst case scenario, which is, I think you saw the IMF this week looking at the conflict continuing till the end of the year but certainly something in between. And under that situation, then this stage three should come in sooner rather than later, just to secure our supplies and manage demand and ensure we have enough reserves to get through this period.
Petrol production at refinery will be affected during ‘disappointing’ incident for everyone, CEO of Viva Energy says
Scott Wyatt, the CEO of Viva Energy, which owns the refinery, spoke earlier as well.
Wyatt said safety and recovery would be the immediate priority, not production. He told reporters:
I’ve been very proud of the way everyone’s worked together to deal with a very challenging time … This incident is so disappointing for everyone.
Production is not our primary priority today. Today is getting the site safe … We’ll only start increasing production again once we’re confident we can do that safely.
He said the refinery would eventually get to the highest level of production it can while recovery continues. He said the fire was in the petrol area of the plant, which means “naturally” petrol products would be affected.
‘Several explosions’ at refinery overnight as blaze became ferocious
Mick McGuinness, with Fire Rescue Victoria, added in a media conference this morning that it has been a dangerous fire to fight, involving highly flammable materials, both liquids and gases.
He said it wasn’t clear how long the fire will burn, but said the intensity has started to lower. When it began, however, the blaze was “quite ferocious”. McGuinness said:
The fire went from a small fire, through several explosions, to being quite a large intense fire.
It’s still too soon to determine the cause of the fire. McGuinness said the refinery was “well regulated” and subject to a lot of testing and ongoing maintenance.
<a href