Pocock repeats calls for 25% tax on gas exports – as it happened

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Here’s a reminder of today’s top stories.

The energy minister,Chris Bowen,announced Australia will begin releasing its stockpile of fuel after the government directed fuel companies to release nearly a fifth of reserve petrol and diesel supplies amid the Middle East conflict;
NSW will get a smaller share of the GST pool next financial year, while the cost to federal taxpayers of filling up Western Australia’s coffers rose again;
The federal resources minister,Madeleine King,says the longer the war in Iran lasts, the worse the effect on “the whole global economy”;
Major flood warnings remain in place across northern Australia, with further rain forecast for an already saturated Top End;
The NSW government has extended a no-interest loan scheme for a further five years amid renewed cost-of-living concerns, including a burgeoning energy crisis caused by conflict in the Middle East;
Byron Bay Bluesfest has been cancelled, just weeks before it was set to begin;
Qantas will pay $105m to settle a class action lawsuit over its Covid credit scheme, ending a long-running dispute with some of its affected customers;
The NSW government has announced that a section of the Great Western Highway in the Blue Mountains will remain closed for at least three months after the failure of a historic bridge this month;
Victoria police have abandoned charges against three people as part of the Dezi Freeman investigation.

The internal rift at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras deepened on Thursday night, with the board voting to stand down two directors amid an escalating dispute over trans rights advocacy and corporate sponsorship.

Board membersDamien NguyenandLuna Choo, who are also members of Pride in Protest, a left-wing trans advocacy group, have been stood down for 28 days, effective until 9 April.

The board invoked a constitutional clause to enact the “interim governance measure,” claiming the suspension was necessary to ensure the “effective functioning of the board” and to create space for mediation.

Pride in Protest’s spokesperson,Rohen Snowball,claimed the board’s move was an “emergency tactic to shut down dissent”.

Choo, the board’s only trans member, told a press conference on Friday she had been “locked out of my emails, misgendered and humiliated in front of board directors, roundly condemned and now excluded from the board room” for communicating to members on the issue of trans rights:
double quotation mark“At the Mardi Gras AGM last December, members passed motions to embrace trans rights, anti discrimination, reform and public funding.

In January, the board publicly announced that they are rejecting their AGM commitments to the queer and trans communities.

It has been three months of no action on the three resolutions.

Nguyenalso spoke at a press conference on Friday.

He said members had elected him and Choo to the Mardi Gras board on a ticket of transgender rights, ending police violence and cutting ties with genocide complicity, but the board’s leadership had failed to act on members’ wishes, which were made clear at the recent AGM.

These included cutting ties with corporations associated with supporting Israel in the Gaza conflict and moving towards public and community funding instead of corporate funding.

Live Nation recently became a major partner of the Sydney Mardi Gras by securing the production and promotion rights for the festival’s official after-party, a deal that sparked intense backlash from activists, including Pride in Protest, which argued that the corporation’s global business ties conflicted with the event’s social justice values.

That partnership faced a major setback in February when the after-party was cancelled due to low ticket sales, a failure critics attributed to a community-led boycott against Live Nation’s involvement.

The Mardi Gras board said it hoped the ensuing mediation process with Choo and Nguyen would “not only … address the current concerns but also to support reconciliation and restore a positive and collaborative working environment within the board”.

Read more on the rift inJosh Taylor’s story from last month:
ASX closes on sour note with almost $200bn wiped since start of conflict
Australian shares closed slightly lower today, ending a tumultuous two-week period marked by heavy losses and investor concerns of more upheaval to come.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,617.1 points, down more than 6% from the level reached before the US and Israeli strikes on Iran began in late February.

That equates to almost $200bn in lost market value.

Two weeks ago, the initial reaction from investors was modest amid expectations of a contained conflict.

Sentiment has now soured due to concerns the US does not have a clean exit strategy that can guarantee a stable resumption of the oil trade and other freight through the crucial strait of Hormuz.

Lochlan Halloway, a Morningstar market strategist, said oil analysts had been surprised by how severely energy flows from the Persian Gulf had been disrupted.

He said:
double quotation markWhat we had previously characterised as a bear case, in which persistent attacks choke off commercial transit, is now our base case.

An elevated oil price is a major global inflation trigger, given it drives up costs across goods and services in the economy, which weighs on equity markets.

Australian travellers pivot to Asian destinations amid Middle East conflict
Australians are shifting their travel plans to destinations in Asia amid uncertainty about long-haul travel during the Middle East conflict, according to Webjet's booking data.

Data from the bookings site between 1 March and yesterday show that Australians are continuing to book international travel but are switching to short-haul trips to Asia and other closer destinations.

Compared with the same period in March 2025, there was a 43% increase in bookings to Ho Chi Minh City, a 30% increase in bookings to Bali, and a 21% increase in tips to Tokyo.

Katrina Barry,chief executive and managing director at Webjet Group, said:
double quotation markAustralians still have a strong appetite to travel, but we’re seeing them adapt their plans in response to global uncertainty.

Rather than cancelling trips altogether, many travellers are pivoting towards destinations that are closer to home or feel easier to access, including domestic holidays and short-haul travel across Asia and the Pacific.

Nationals raise concern over fuel supply to regional areas
The new deputy Nationals leader,Darren Chester,spoke to the ABC earlier about Australia’s fuel supply.

The energy minister,Chris Bowen, announced that the country would begin releasing its fuel stockpile amid the conflict in the Middle East.

Chester said he did not believe fuel rations needed to be implemented in cities.

But he said it was vital the federal government ensured that fuel got to the “places that need it the most”.

He said:
double quotation markIt’s not across every part of rural and regional Australia, but certainly there were areas that weren’t getting their fuel.

I don’t believe that the minister fully understood the distribution challenges and how our regional communities depend so heavily on large amounts of fuel to get the food to us.

Pocock says ‘contingencies’ needed such as gas export tax as fuel supply concerns persist
The independent ACT senatorDavid Pococksays the federal government needs to have “contingencies” in place amid concerns about fuel supply due to the Middle East conflict.

Speaking to the ABC, he has reiterated calls for the Albanese government to introduce a 25% tax on gas exports:
double quotation markI do think this is an opportunity to actually say, let’s bring in a 25% tax on gas exports and use some of that money to help people who are really struggling.

I think if the federal government was actually willing to tax things like our gas exports, to potentially bring in a windfall profit tax, because we can we know that gas exporters, potentially fuel companies, are going to be making windfall profits off this war in the Middle East.

Pocock said state governments could also provide financial incentives for people to catch public transport and not drive as a way to ease demands on fuel.

Thistlethwaite asked about former spy chief quitting antisemitism royal commission
Matt Thistlethwaitewas also asked about the former spy chiefDennis Richardsonquitting the antisemitism royal commission just a fortnight after its opening hearing.

Richardson told the ABC he came to the decision that he was “surplus” to the needs of the body.

Asked about media reports Richardson was frustrated with the timing of potential intelligence and security reforms, Thistlethwaite says such inquiries must be independent from government:
double quotation markIt’s a decision for the commissioner.

It’s an independent commission … We’ve got every confidence that Virginia Bell is the right person for that job and will do a thorough job on those intelligence issues and ensuring that we get to the bottom of what happened.

Panic-buying affecting fuel supplies, Thistlethwaite says
Asked if Australia is facing a fuel emergency, Thistlethwaite says supplies are continuing to arrive on a “regular and normal basis”.

He says panic-buying is affecting supplies:
double quotation markThat’s why we’re releasing some of the reserve today to shore up confidence in those markets and to provide adequate supplies into the future.

Labor frontbencher says ‘we don’t have a crisis of supply’ for fuel
Federal Labor frontbencherMatt Thistlethwaitesays Australia has adequate fuel suply amid concerns about the impact from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The Albanese government today directed fuel companies to release nearly a fifth of reserve petrol and diesel supplies.

Speaking to the ABC, Thistlethwaite,the assistant minister for foreign affairs, said:
double quotation markWe don’t have a crisis of supply.

There are supplies coming into the country, and we have the reserves in stock …
Some people have been taking more than they need for their operations … That’s meant that certain retailers have had shortages of stock.

Man dies after workplace incident in Sydney
A man has died after a workplace incident in Sydney’s west.

Emergency services were called to a business in Emu Plains after reports a man had suffered an electric shock while performing maintenance works on the building, NSW police said in a statement.

Paramedics treated the man, believed to be aged in his 40s, but he died at the scene, police said.

The man is yet to be formally identified.

Victoria police say they will not proceed with charges against three people as part of their wider investigation into the alleged fatal shooting of two police officers by fugitiveDezi Freemandue to “insufficient evidence”.

There have been no confirmed sightings of Freeman, 56, since he allegedly killed two police officers at a rural Victorian property last August.

Police last month said they believed he died only hours after he fled into bushland after allegedly shooting the two officers.

In a statement released this afternoon, police said:
double quotation markVictoria Police can confirm that we will not be proceeding with charges at this time against three people as part of the broader investigation into the fatal shooting of two police officers in Porepunkah last year.

Police said a 42-year-old Porepunkah woman and a 56-year-old Porepunkah man were interviewed by investigators for allegedly obstructing police.

A third person was interviewed for an alleged attempted theft.

Police said briefs of evidence were “not authorised” due to “insufficient evidence to support a prosecution at this time”.

More than 800 people in evacuation centres as flooding continues in the Top End
More than 800 people remain in evacuation centres at Katherine, Mataranka and Darwin as flooding continues in the Top End.NT police force acting commanderEmma Cartersaid disaster assistance payments were being rolled out.

double quotation markOur key message to the community remains simple: avoid unnecessary travel and never drive through flood waters.

Flood waters can hide damaged roads, debris and other hazards and in the Territory they also present a very real crocodile threat.

The Bureau of Meteorology said Daly river levels were still rising, having crossed 16 metres overnight, and were expected to peak close to the 1998 flood (16.25 metres) over the weekend.

It was likely to be a prolonged flood event with the river above major flood levels for the next week or more.

Rivers at Katherine and Wugularr (Beswick) have fallen below the minor flood level and continue to recede.

Electricity was set to be restored to all four pumps at the Darwin river dam on Friday.As of Friday morning, 196 customers in Katherine were still without power.