Australia enhances fuel security payments amid global oil crisis; Cyclone Narelle hits far north

Australia has moved to shore up its fuel supplies as a global oil crisis unfolds, with Energy Minister Chris Bowen announcing enhanced fuel security payments for domestic refineries. Bowen said the plan, which predates the current crisis, is designed to keep refinery operations viable and protect local supply chains.

He noted the program has been made easier to access following a six‑month trial. “It would have been better if we had entered this crisis with six refineries, which is what the Labor party left in 2013. But we have entered this crisis, this international crisis with two.

And we are determined to keep these two,” Bowen said, underscoring the importance of the remaining plants to domestic supply. The measures come amid concern that policies aimed at averting a fuel shortage may not see Australia through what officials describe as a burgeoning global oil crisis.

In retaliation for attacks by the U.S. and Israel, Iran has blocked passage of oil through the Strait of Hormuz — a move that has triggered supply shortages worldwide. Supply chain expert David Leaney told Channel 9 that even if the conflict ends quickly, disruption will persist.

“If they cleared 60 mines a day, which is a rate of mine clearance that has never been achieved, that would still take 100 days to clear that Strait, before shipping could get through. After that, it's another two months before the supply chain around the world smoothes out,” he said.

Separately, Cyclone Narelle has crossed the coast in Far North Queensland as a category four system, making landfall near the town of Coen, population 320. Authorities say winds are intensifying, bringing heavy rain and flooding, with storm surges expected as far south as Cairns.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli urged residents to remain sheltered, warning that the cyclone’s eye could create a temporary lull. “There is the prospect that the eye of the system might pass over the top of the town of Coen. If this occurs, people will feel great intensity, and then, a lag.

It's really important that people don't leave their homes if that occurs, because the back end of that system will be very, very intense as it goes through,” he said. With one day remaining in South Australia’s election campaign, a Newspoll conducted for The Australian newspaper indicates Labor is on a 40 per cent primary vote heading into tomorrow’s vote.

The Liberals need to pick up 11 lower house seats to return to government and block Premier Peter Malinauskas from winning a second term, but the opposition is polling at 16 per cent while One Nation is at 22 per cent, according to the poll.

Malinauskas sharpened his late-campaign attacks on One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, saying: “Pauline Hanson runs around, identifies a few problems, then gets back on her private jet — apparently owned by Gina Rinehart — and goes back to Queensland or wherever she came from.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke were heckled at an Eid event in Western Sydney on Friday, 20 March.

The pair attended Eid prayers at Lakemba Mosque to mark the end of Ramadan, where a small number of attendees interrupted an address by Lebanese Muslim Association secretary Gamel Kheir, saying the politicians should be ejected. Albanese and Burke did not address the crowd; they stayed until the end of the remarks and then left.

In Iran, a welcoming ceremony was held for the country’s women’s football team as most of the squad returned home. Fans waved flags and hailed the players as “heroic.” Six players and one staff member had previously been granted humanitarian visas on the grounds they could face persecution if they returned to Iran, but only two have remained in Australia.