US-Iran war: Update on Australian petrol stations without fuel, Trump ready to ‘unleash hell’

The number of Australian service stations without fuel has climbed above 600 ahead of a National Cabinet meeting next week to deal with the worst fuel shortage since the 1970s oil shocks that threatens the supply of food.

More outlets are running low despite the nation’s two remaining oil refiners Ampol and Viva Energy boosting deliveries to regional areas.

Farmers, meanwhile, are warning a fertiliser shortage will affect food supply, with Labor’s Agriculture Minister accusing One Nation of “panicking people” about not having enough to eat.

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s office on Thursday confirmed 608 service stations across Australia were now without diesel or unleaded, making up eight per cent of Australia’s 7798 service stations.

The extra detail showed the number of outlets with a shortage was much higher than the cumulative 521 figure from the numbers read out in Parliament, up from 510 on Wednesday, based on reported data from the states and territories with inconsistent methodology.

“There are real shortages, particularly in regional areas, that need to be address,” Mr Bowen told Question Time on Thursday.

Read the full story.

The Israeli military says air defences are responding to “identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel” on Thursday.

Sirens were activated across central Israel, parts of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

“Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military said in a statement, adding that people were “now permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas of the country.”

Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service, said the attacks left six people “lightly injured by blast effects”, but no casualties.

Labor’s decision to ban Iranian tourists from entering Australia has been condemned as an “act of utter bastardry”, with the Greens claiming Anthony Albanese is showing less humanity than his Liberal predecessor Scott Morrison.

The ban announced this week by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will apply to around 6,800 Iranians with valid tourist visas – although some may still be given the chance to enter the country under special consideration.

“Scott Morrison opened the doors to people from Ukraine to come here and find protection. Anthony Albanese has shut the doors from people from Iran,” Greens Senator David Shoebridge told reporters in Canberra.

“Scott Morrison found a place to welcome Australian children back from Syria. Anthony Albanese has left them in a cruel desert detention camp. I would not (have) thought I would be saying this, but Scott Morrison has a higher moral bar than Anthony Albanese when it comes to immigration.”

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has just given Parliament an update on the number of petrol stations with limited fuel stocks:

• NSW – 178 stations with no diesel, 48 with no stock
• Queensland – 55 stations with no diesel, 33 with no unleaded petrol
• Victoria – 45 stations with no diesel, 72 with no unleaded petrol
• South Australia – 9 stations with no diesel, 10 with no unleaded petrol
• Western Australia – 40 stations with no diesel, 14 with no unleaded petrol
• Tasmania – 5 stations with no diesel, 9 with some sort of outage
• NT – No outages attributable to a lack of fuel supply but the cyclone is affecting some areas
• ACT – 2 stations with no diesel, 1 with no unleaded petrol

The official White House X account has published a four-second video of someone filming a woman’s shoes with a cryptic message included.

The video had the caption “sound on” written across the screen.

In the audio, a woman can be heard saying: “This is so cool.”

“It’s launching soon, right?”

A man can then be heard replying “yes”.

Many put the post down to a “butt dial” post, but after almost an hour, the bizarre post is still up.

A Japanese-owned ship managed to use a two-word lie to escape the Strait of Hormuz and is now preparing to dock in Australia.

The Iron Maiden was in the Strait when war broke out on February 28.

Eventually, the ship decided to attempt a cunning plan to escape the war-torn region and get out of the dangerous waterway.

“Chinese-owned”, the Iron Maiden broadcast from its transponder as it entered the Strait of Hormuz. Following the broadcast, claiming it was linked to China, the ship switched off its tracking equipment and sailed on under the guise that it was from the People’s Republic.

The ship later switched its tracking equipment back on, popping up outside of the Strait.

Since then, it successfully sailed to Australian waters, expected to dock in Perth on Thursday evening.

Sadly, for motorists, the Iron Maiden is a bulk cargo ship, not an oil tanker.

President Donald Trump can’t stop talking about how much his administration is negotiating with Iran about ending a war that has lasted almost a month.

Iran can’t stop denying those talks are taking place.

It’s an unusual dynamic. Often, when countries are in talks to end a conflict, both of them admit it. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, for example, the two sides have often acknowledged that they’re in ceasefire talks, even as they disagree about the terms of a truce.

But the Iran war is an unusual conflict, and for both Iran and Trump, the strategies make sense.

Read more

Germany’s visiting Defence Minister has taken a swipe at the Trump administration’s “catastrophic” war in the Middle East and warned Australia and other similar nations not to place “all eggs in one basket” by depending on the United States.

Boris Pistorius has been welcomed to Canberra by his counterpart Richard Marles, where both Defence Ministers have signed a new status of forces agreement between Germany and Australia.

Asked about Germany’s view of the actions of the Trump administration, Minister Pistorius said his government was learning to reduce its dependence on the United States, while also strengthening relationships with other smaller allies.

“I learned very early in my life that it’s much better not to carry all eggs in one basket, and therefore what we all are learning now is to more diversify our relations, to reduce our dependencies and to broaden our view of the world,” Minister Pistorius said.

Read the full story.

A senior Reserve Bank official has suggested interest rates are more likely to rise even if soaring fuel prices slow Australia’s economy.

Christopher Kent, the RBA’s assistant governor of financial markets, said tackling inflation should be a more important priority than worrying about the effects of consumers having less to spend as a result of the US and Israel-led war on Iran making goods more expensive.

“The longer the conflict persists, the larger the economic impact will be, and the greater the risk of a material repricing of assets,” he told the KangaNews Debt Capital Market Summit in Sydney on Thursday.

“A negative supply shock pushes up prices and leads to weaker economic activity, making us all poorer.

“Central banks cannot change that. But they can ensure that the initial rise in prices does not lead to a rise in longer term inflationary expectations and extended inflationary pressures.”

Read the full story.

As speculation grows that the US is about to invade parts of Iran, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian parliamentary speaker, has issued a chilling warning.

“We are closely monitoring all US movements in the region, especially troop deployments,” he said on X.

“What the generals have broke, the soldiers can’t fix; instead, they will fall victim to Netanyahu’s delusions.

“Do not test our resolve to defend our land.”

US President Donald Trump gave Iran a deadline: fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz or see the US army “obliterate” Iran’s power plants.

The deadline was set to expire on Tuesday morning, but was extended for five days, taking us to the weekend.