Chris Bowen declares rush on jerry cans ‘un-Australian’ as he urges end to panic buying of petrol
Chris Bowen has insisted the country’s fuel supply is yet to be affected by the war in the Middle East while criticising a rush to buy jerry cans to fill up with petrol as “un-Australian”.The energy minister made the comments after an emergency meeting with major fuel suppliers and retailers that was convened by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to demand explanations for the recent surge in petrol prices.Australian fuel prices have soared amid a 40% rise in global oil prices in the past fortnight, in response to the Middle East conflict and closure of the strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping channel largely controlled by Iran.The government has said it was concerned some retailers were price gouging and that panic buying has exacerbated the situation.Some regional retailers have also run out of fuel in recent days.
Bowen on Tuesday said while he could not guarantee what would happen if the war were prolonged, fuel supplies were arriving into Australia as expected, and importers had told him they expected the deliveries to continue “well into April”.“Every ship that we have expected to arrive has arrived – whether it is diesel, petrol or jet fuel,” he said.“All the companies say to me that they fully expect deliveries into March and well into April, but we are in internationally uncertain times.”He reiterated his call for people to stop panic buying, which he said was “very much causing the problem”.“People going to Bunnings and buying out all the … jerry cans – that is unhelpful.
That is un-Australian,”Bowen would not speculate about the possibility of fuel rationing, saying only that the government was working “non-stop” to deal with any supply issues,While determining the direct impact of global oil prices on the cost of fuel for consumers has been difficult, petrol prices have started to push past $2,30 a litre in most state capitals,The ACCC’s meeting was among a handful of snap talks held by the federal and state governments this month to try to ensure the stability of both fuel supply and retail prices.
Representatives of companies – including Chevron, BP and Ampol – were called to the ACCC meeting to address the government’s concerns about price-gouging across the retail petrol sector.The ACCC chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said the regulator was closely monitoring the market.“We reiterated that the ACCC stands ready to use its authorisation powers to assist with effective fuel distribution throughout the country,” Cass-Gottlieb said.The government had already allowed fuel companies to temporarily sell lower-quality petrol and release about a fifth of their mandatory stockpile, with regional Australia to be prioritised.In Victoria, the premier, Jacinta Allan, convened an emergency cabinet subcommittee to monitor the fuel supply situation, which met for the first time on Monday night.
Allan said she would chair an industry forum with fuel suppliers, business groups and agricultural representatives on Tuesday afternoon to understand the situation on the ground and outline the actions the government could take.Since last week, Allan said 289 inspections were carried out by Consumer Affairs Victoria to ensure petrol stations complied with reporting their fuel prices, finding 23 unregistered stations and 16 that were not reporting.Regional and independent petrol stations have reported difficulty accessing fuel after suppliers prioritised supply to regular customers, cutting off smaller groups that buy fuel on the spot market.Additionally, some rural service stations have reported simply not being able to replenish their stocks quickly enough to meet the surge in demand.The New South Wales government also held crisis talks with fuel suppliers and key industries on Monday, where industry bodies agreed to share more information with the government so fuel could go where it was most needed.
Oil and gas prices resume rise after Iran attacks production facilities
Oil and gas prices have risen again after Iran carried out attacks on production facilities for the first time since the start of the war with the US and Israel.Brent crude, the international benchmark oil price, climbed 3% to $103.2 (£77.52) a barrel on Tuesday and was up nearly 50% from levels before the war began on 28 February. Wholesale gas prices rose nearly 3% to €52 (£45) a megawatt hour, compared with about €30 before the war
‘Very damaging’: how the Iran war is hitting energy-intensive industries
In its 160-year history, Somers Forge’s furnaces in the Black Country have cast steel columns for the Bank of England, part of the anchor for the Titanic and – more recently – propeller shafts for Britain’s nuclear submarines.The economic fallout from the Iran conflict is the latest of many geopolitical headaches the family-owned forge has endured, but it is already “very damaging”, said Tammy Inglis, the Somers finance director.Energy was about a fifth of manufacturing costs at the forge, which employs 140 people in Halesowen, before the conflict began, but that proportion is now rising. “Everybody just battens down the hatches and spends what they absolutely need to spend,” said Inglis. “You’re in survival mode
Teenage girls sue Musk’s xAI, accusing Grok tool of creating child sexual abuse material
A group of three teenage girls, two of whom are minors, filed a lawsuit on Monday against Elon Musk’s xAI artificial intelligence company alleging that its Grok image generator used photos of them to produce and distribute child sexual abuse material. The class-action lawsuit is the first filed by minors following Grok’s rampant generation of nonconsensual nude images earlier this year.“xAI chose to profit off the sexual predation of real people, including children, despite knowing full well the consequences of creating such a dangerous product,” Vanessa Baehr-Jones, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.The suit, which was brought by three Tennessee teenagers but filed in California, where xAI is headquartered, details how the girls discovered that nude, AI-altered images of them were uploaded to a Discord server and shared online without their knowledge.After they alerted law enforcement to the images, according to the complaint, police arrested a suspect later that month and found child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his phone that was allegedly produced using xAI’s image and video generation technology
Google scraps AI search feature that crowdsourced amateur medical advice
Google has dropped a new artificial intelligence search feature that gave users crowdsourced health advice from amateurs around the world.The company had said its launch of “What People Suggest”, which provided tips from strangers, showed “the potential of AI to transform health outcomes across the globe”.But Google has since quietly removed the feature, according to three people familiar with the decision.A Google spokesperson confirmed “What People Suggest” had been scrapped. The move came as part of a “broader simplification” of its search page and had nothing to do with the quality or safety of the new feature, the spokesperson said
‘I was struggling to feel my hands’: Aston Martin’s problems laid bare by Alonso’s woe in China | Giles Richards
The next round of the Formula One world championship in Japan will be the home race for the Aston Martin team’s engine manufacturer, Honda, at the Suzuka circuit. A celebratory affair, however, is not expected amid painful days for Honda, whose return to F1 has been marked by a failure to make the grade.Their engine’s shortcomings were exposed for the second successive race at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday. Fernando Alonso retired after 32 laps because the vibration from the engine was so severe he was losing feeling in his hands and feet. Hit teammate Lance Stroll had retired after 10 laps with a battery issue, an element of the hybrid engine that has plagued the manufacturer from day one
Tour veterans offer timely challenge to big two era of Sinner and Alcaraz | Tumaini Carayol
In the uncertain early stages of his Indian Wells semi-final contest with Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev swiftly made his intentions clear. Having established a 3-1 lead, he chased down a trademark Alcaraz drop shot, then a lob, before slamming the door shut on the point by firing an ultra-flat inside-out backhand winner on to the edge of the line.This was a statement point and it formed part of the most startling performance of the year so far. Few gave Medvedev a serious chance against Alcaraz, who had won their four previous meetings, conceding just one set. It took one of the best matches of Medvedev’s distinguished career to turn the tables on Alcaraz in only two sets
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