Anthony Albanese to deliver address to the nation TONIGHT as he makes urgent plea to all Australians: ‘Play their part’

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Anthony Albanese to deliver address to the nation TONIGHT as he makes urgent plea to all Australians: ‘Play their part’

By KYLIE STEVENS, SENIOR BREAKING NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA

Updated: 20:15 EDT, 31 March 2026

Motorists forked out almost $4 a litre for diesel at a Perth petrol station after a simple but costly typo.

Independent retailer Burk tries to sell to cheapest fuel in the state to provide relief for motorists.

But its Carrington service station had the most expensive diesel at 397.3 cents a litre after a staff member accidentally entered the wrong price.

Meanwhile, families hoping to get away over Easter are unlikely to get cheaper petrol before the long weekend, while regional areas could be waiting weeks for relief.

The federal government has cut wholesale fuel prices by 26 cents a litre in a bid to head off the worst economic effects of the Middle East war.

But the change will not be felt straight away because service stations need to sell their older, higher-taxed stock before bringing in the cheaper fuel.

Follow Daily Mail’s live updates on Australia’s fuel crisis.

Anthony Albanese will deliver an address to the nation to be televised nationwide at 7pm AEST tonight.

The Prime Minister will outline the federal governments response to the Middle East conflict and encourage Aussies to all play their part, including by saving fuel for the areas and industries that need it.

The address will be broadcast live across all television networks and radio networks simultaneously.

Prime Ministers have previously delivered national addresses, including during the Covid-19 pandemic and Global Financial Crisis.

$60billion windfall for Australia

The Federal Budget is set to receive a $60billion windfall over the next five years and higherthanexpected commodity prices due to impacts of the war in Iran.

A third ($20billion) of the uplift reflects the impact of the Middle East conflict, particularly via higher coal and liquefied natural gas export prices.

‘This more than offsets the $2.6billion cost of halving the fuel excise for three months,’ Westpac senior economist Pat Bustamante wrote.

‘The runup in gold prices since FY24 is estimated to add around $19billion to Treasury revenues over the next five years.’

Higher inflation and the cyclical upswing are boosting nominal incomes, consistent with the March statements showing income and indirect tax revenue were around $7billion and $2.5billion ahead of mid-year economic and fiscal outlook estimates.

‘The inflationary impulse from the conflict is expected to provide further nearterm support to revenues,’ Mr Bustamante added.

This is despite Treasurer Jim Chalmers (pictured below) warning that the Middle East conflict could result in an economic fallout ‘just as serious as the Global Financial Crisis, Covid pandemic and Russias invasion of Ukraine.

‘Because the tax system operates in the nominal world, tax receipts can continue to rise even as real economic activity slows over the coming years, as we expect,’ Chalmers said.

‘While there will be some offsetting pressures on the payments side of the budget, we expect the revenue uplift to dominate, resulting in a net improvement in the budget position.’

More support for Aussie businesses during fuel crisis

The Albanese government has announced temporary relief measures for businesses during the fuel crisis caused by the war in the Middle East.

The Australian Tax Office will provide temporary relief to businesses struggling to meet tax obligations due to fuel shortages.

‘These could include more generous payment plans, remission of interest and penalties, and also support in various [pay as you go] instalments where theres been a downturn in taxable income,’ Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

The ATO will limit compliance actions in the worst-affected industries and may pause some debt collection actions.

Small businesses will also get easier and faster access to credit by extending the small business responsible lending obligation exemption for a further 10 years.

‘This will help ensure small businesses arent slugged with additional regulatory burden and delays when theyre accessing loans,’ Chalmers added.

Other measures to be introduced by the finance sector include temporary payment deferrals, loan restructuring, and emergency credit limit increases.

Business Council of Australia members will step up by paying suppliers faster, adjust payments to reflect fuel costs and support vulnerable customers with discounts, bill pauses, and tailored payment plans.

The Insurance Council of Australia is working on hardship support, with small businesses urged to talk to their insurer about premium adjustments.

Chalmers has not ruled out further measures to support businesses.

‘Running a small business is tough, and its even tougher when there are global shocks like the war in the Middle East,’ Small Business Minister Anne Aly said.

‘Todays measures are designed to shield small businesses from the worst impacts.

‘We cant stop the war, but a responsible government can do everything it can to protect its people and its small businessesand thats exactly what were doing.’

Top doctor slams Albo over fuel crisis response: ‘A deep worry’

Australia’s former deputy chief medical officer has blasted Anthony Albanese over his ‘unresponsive’ leadership during the ongoing fuel crisis.

Once the face of Australia’s response to the Covid pandemic, Nick Coatsworth took to social media on the weekend to slam the Prime Minister over his handling of the the Middle East conflict.

‘Albo just isn’t the leader for crisis. It’s painfully obvious,’ he wrote.

‘Unresponsive, reactive, diminished by every utterance. First Bondi, and now a fuel crisis.

‘Leadership like this leaves the country exposed and vulnerable.’

Dr Coatsworth has since doubled down on his tirade to accuse Albanese of being unable to ‘get ahead of the game’.

He also described Albanese’s leadership as a ‘deep worry’.

‘Out of the pandemic, I saw instances where it was done well, instances where it wasn’t done well and, of course, the Prime Minister has talents in other areas,’ he told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

‘But I think he’s sort of steadily convincing the population that those talents don’t lie in crisis management. It looks as though it’s constantly hard to get ahead of the game.

‘When you looked at perhaps the performance of the Morrison government, for all it could be criticised, at least in those first three months of Covid, you couldn’t have accused it of being behind the game or behind the eight ball.’

Finance guru’s dire warning about Iran war: ‘One of the great disasters of our lifetime’

A leading economist has warned that the longterm economic effects of the war in the Middle East are shaping up as one of the great disasters of our lifetime.

ABC financial expertAlan Kohler discussed how the current oil crisis, triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, could be worse than the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979.

Both historic oil crises were also caused by instability in the Middle East and led to stagflation and deep global recessions due to the sudden spike in energy prices.

The current oil crisis was caused by Iran closing the shipping passage following attacks from the United States and Israel on February 28, one of which killed Irans Supreme Leader.

Kohler warned a messy, longer conflict with Iran threatens to continue – and with it, the chances increase of higher fuel prices triggering a global recession.

Commuter chaos amid fuel crisis

Queenslanders faced a nightmare commute to work on Wednesday morning after hundreds of transport workers went on strike.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union members walked off the job for 24 hours after ongoing wage negotiations with the state government hit a stalemate.

The Translink website reported cancellations on the Ipswich/Rosewood and Cleveland lines, with no trains running between Darra and Rosewood and from Central station to Cleveland.

At least seven train services were cancelled up to 7am due to the strike.

Commuters are urged to allow extra travel time and consider alternative travel options.

First glimmer of hope for weary motorists

Several service stations have already slashed fuel prices at the bowser, despite Aussies being warned that the excise cuts could take days to kick in.

Just hours after the federal government halved the fuel excise to 26.3 cents a litre, a Reddy Express in the nation’s capital immediately passed the savings on to motorists.

E10 plummeted from $2.57 a litre to $2.27, while diesel dropped from $3.21 to just under $3. The current average price for diesel in Canberra is $3.07.

Unleaded fuel is $2.29 a litre, 15 cents cheaper than the city’s current average.

A day earlier, Canberrans were paying an average 257.5 cents for unleaded and 321.3 cents for diesel.

A Shell service station on the M1 on the Gold Coast also slashed fuel prices by 30 cents a litre on Wednesday morning.

Unleaded fuel is down from $2.57 a litre to $2.27 while diesel dropped to $2.98 – the first time it has dipped below $3 on the Gold Coast in recent days.

Elsewhere around the country, Sydneysiders will pay an average 247.5 cents a litre for unleaded and 315.4 cents for diesel, down from 258 cents and 323 respectively on Tuesday.

Other capital cities recorded similar drops.

In Melbourne, unleaded is an average 260.6 cents a litre, while diesel is 325.6 cents.

In Brisbane, the average price for unleaded is 248.2 cents a litre and 310.3 for diesel.

In Perth, the average price for unleaded is 242.6 cents a litre and 306.2 for diesel.

In Adelaide, the average for unleaded is 237.7 cents a litre and 313.2 for diesel.

In Hobart, the average for unleaded is 244.2 cents a litre and 314.5 for diesel.

In Darwin, the average price for unleaded is 260.5 cents a litre and 319.9 for diesel.

Fuel excise cuts kick in today – what it means for you

The Albanese government’s fuel excise cuts announced on Monday came into effect at midnight.

For the next three months, motorists will save 26.3 cents per litre at the petrol pump – or $19 when filling up a 65-litre tank.

The heavy vehicle road user charge has also been slashed.

However, Aussies won’t immediately see cheaper fuel prices, and in some areas may have to wait until after the Easter long weekend.

Service stations must first sell existing stock they purchased at higher prices before they can slash prices at the bowser.

‘It is about the replenishing of the stocks in the tanks, because its applied to the wholesale obviously, the fuel in the tanks right now has been purchased at the higher rate,’ Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

‘And so people should expect it would take, you know, somewhere between maybe one and two weeks for the full benefit of the excise to flow through.’

Energy Minister Chris Bowen urged motorists to be patient.

‘It is really important we do not yell at the poor person behind the counter and say they have not passed on the petrol tax cut yet, because it will take a little while,’ he said.

‘Days in city areas, it can be a bit longer in regional areas because they have already paid the tax on the petrol in the tank.’

Albo’s fuel tax cut ‘won’t ease a thing’

Aussies have called on Anthony Albanese to do more to ease thecost of livingamid the $2,000 bill time bomb that’s set to explode for households from today.

The Albanese governments increase in private health insurance premiums, the end of its energy bill rebate, and the impact of the RBAs interest rate rise are all expected to come into force on April 1.

The triple whammy of bills is expected to result in the average household paying more than $2,000 extra a year, according to insurance broker Compare Club.

But young families and small business owners told Daily Mail they’re the ones who will bear the brunt of the crisis, on top of budgets already strained to breaking point due to skyrocketing fuel prices.

Donald Trump lashes out at US allies: ‘Get your own oil’

Donald Trump has ordered America’s allies to ‘go get your own oil’ and prepare to ‘fight for yourself’ as he signals the US may withdraw support from the war in Iran.

The President singled out the UK as he tore into countries struggling to find jet fuel, telling them to ‘build up some delayed courage’ and ‘go to the Strait’ themselves.

‘I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the US, we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,’ Trump wrote in a furious post on Truth Social on Tuesday.

‘You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us.

‘Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. ‘Go get your own oil!”

Single image sums up fuel crisis

Motorists forked out almost $4 a litre for diesel at a Perth petrol station after a simple but costly typo.

Independent retailer Burk Fuel tried to sell the cheapest fuel in the state to provide much-needed relief for motorists.

But, its Carrington service station had the most expensive diesel at 397.3 cents a litre after a staff member accidentally keyed in the wrong price.

The advertised price was almost $1 more than the average cost for diesel across Perth.

Petrol companies must report prices to FuelWatch by 2pm every day. Those prices are then locked in for 24 hours.

‘We won’t sell it at that, it’s just a rip-off,’ Burk managing director Umar Farooq told Nine News.

‘We tried to rectify it with FuelWatch, multiple calls, multiple emails but we were just told, “You can’t sell it at the price other than what’s been reported”.

Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti described the situation as ‘a very unfortunate case’ and vowed to take it up with the relevant ministers.

Burk got around the costly mistake by offering $1.04 per litre off the advertised diesel price.

Aussies could be waiting days for cheaper fuel

Families hoping to get away over Easter are unlikely to get cheaper petrol before the long weekend, while regional areas could be waiting weeks for relief.

The federal government has cut wholesale fuel prices by 26 cents a litre in a bid to head off the worst economic effects of the Middle East war.

But the change would not be felt straight away because service stations needed to sell all their older, higher-taxed stock before bringing in the cheaper fuel, according to NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury.

That process would likely take anything from a day or two for high-turnover metro stations to two or more weeks for some regional sites, he said.

‘Once they buy new fuel, they will pass the discount on at that point,’Mr Khoury told AAP

The consumer watchdog would be watching closely to ensure service stations passed on the price cuts to consumers, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

But he reiterated the change would not kick in straight away.

‘I want to manage expectations on that front because people shouldn’t rock up at five past midnight … and expect to see the full benefit passed on,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

Former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission boss Allan Fels said while there was no law against price-gouging, public shaming would be a powerful tool to force fuel companies to do the right thing.

‘The ACCC has no direct powers either to set maximum prices or to fine companies for excessive pricing or price-gouging,” he told AAP.

‘But the ACCC can publicly criticise someone that’s not passing on the benefit.’

The watchdog would also need to keep a close eye on the “rocket and feather” effect on fuel prices, Professor Fels said.

‘When costs go up, prices go up like a rocket. When costs go down, prices fall slowly like a feather to the ground,’ he said.