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The Albanese Labor Government has worked with industry and the Indonesian Government to facilitate 250,000 tonnes of additional agricultural grade urea for Australian farmers from Indonesia.

This deal, between Incitec Pivot Fertilisers and PT Pupuk Indonesia, supported by the Australian and Indonesian Governments, facilitates around 20 per cent of the remaining fertiliser needed for the current season.

The Government is working closely with Australia’s key international partners and domestic industry to secure critical additional fertiliser supply. 

Having this additional supply locked in will give greater certainty for farmers as they make planting and management decisions for this season.

This is a demonstration of the close partnership and friendship between Australia and Indonesia.

The Government will continue to work with partners across the region to support food and energy security, in the interests of Australia and our neighbours.

Australia plays a critical role supporting food security in Indonesia, and across our region, which this agreement helps strengthen.

This significant new agreement builds on the Government’s work to help get fertiliser to Australian farmers, including:

• Joint Leaders’ Statement with Brunei Darussalam committing to cooperation on food security and resilient supply chains for food production
• Establishing a Fertiliser Supply Working Group between Government and industry
• Amending legislation to underwrite the purchase of fuel and fertiliser by the private sector
• Streamlined border processes for imported fertiliser.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

 “This is a significant outcome for our farmers. We understand how critical fertiliser is for Australian farmers, for our food production system and the food security of our region.

“This deal also shows why it’s critically important that we have strong relationships with our regional partners.”

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong

“Australia is working with our international partners, particularly in our region, to strengthen our shared energy and food security.

“Indonesia is one of Australia’s closest neighbours and friends, and we thank the Indonesian Government for their partnership.

“The Albanese Government is focused on ensuring Australia gets the supplies we need – including petrol, diesel and fertiliser – and that those supplies can get where they’re needed.”

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins

“I have been working day and night with industry to support fertiliser getting to Australian farmers.

“I am very grateful for the cooperation and support of the Indonesian Government in finalising this.

“While this is a commercial deal, the Australian and Indonesian Governments have been working to support this positive outcome. 

“This guarantees supply of fertiliser to Australian farmers at this critical time.

“This will mean Australia can continue to play an important role supporting food security in Indonesia and our region at a time of global uncertainty.”

“I am very grateful for the cooperation and support of the Indonesian Government in finalising this”

Scott Bowman, President, Incitec Pivot Limited

“Incitec Pivot’s trading relationship with PT Pupuk Indonesia, supported by the collaboration between the Australian and Indonesian governments, has yielded a positive outcome for Australian for Australian farmers”

“This additional volume for the period May to December, at prevailing market prices, is another critical plank in servicing the needs of Australian farmers.

“Australian farm output is necessary for regional food security, and this is a crucial contribution to securing inputs via Australia’s largest fertiliser distributor, Incitec Pivot”

“Whilst there is more work to do to ensure farmers requirements can be fully met this upcoming season, this additional volume will go a long way to shoring up critical supplies to Australian farmers”

A motorcyclist has died after falling from his bike near Lake Macquarie this afternoon.

About 2.30pm (Friday 17 April 2026), emergency services were called to a bush trail off George Booth Drive, near Seahampton Road, Seahampton, following reports of a crash.

Officers attached to Lake Macquarie Police District attended and found that a rider had fallen down an embankment while riding on the bush trail.

The rider – a 69-year-old man – was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics; however, he died at the scene.

He is yet to be formally identified.

Police have established a crime scene and an investigation into the cause of the crash has commenced.

A report will be prepared for the information of the coroner.

Today, the Albanese Government has released the 2026 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program. 

Together, these documents set out the Government’s plan to respond to our strategic circumstances and keep Australians safe. 

In delivering the 2026 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program, the Albanese Government continues its structured approach of identifying the capabilities we need and funding them appropriately. 

In recognition of our dangerous and unpredictable strategic circumstances, the 2026 Integrated Investment Program includes an additional $14 billion over the next four years, and an additional $53 billion over the decade, through Defence funding, estate modernisation and alternative financing where appropriate. As a result, Defence spending as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will rise to 3 per cent by 2033 under the NATO approach. 

The Albanese Government’s record increase in Defence investment coincides with major reforms, including the establishment of the Defence Delivery Agency and the Government’s response to the Estate Audit, to ensure every dollar of investment is focused on value for money and greater speed to capability.

Not only are these investments acquiring and sustaining the capabilities needed to keep Australians safe, they are also supporting tens of thousands of highly skilled, well-paid Australian jobs directly and across supply chains. 

2026 National Defence Strategy

The inaugural National Defence Strategy delivered in 2024 identified that Australia’s strategic environment was deteriorating and that our nation faced the most challenging circumstances since the Second World War.

It set out, for the first time, the concept of National Defence and adopted the Strategy of Denial as the cornerstone of Defence planning. 

The 2026 National Defence Strategy builds on these foundations by: 

1.    increasing efforts to develop greater self-reliance; 
2.    prioritising capability acquisition and sustainment plans, drawing on lessons learned from the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East;
3.    strengthening the resilience of Australia’s sovereign defence industrial base and building stronger, more diverse international industrial partnerships; 
4.    improving national civil preparedness and resilience to help Australia manage and recover from regional or global disruption; and
5.    increasing coordination with regional partners to strengthen and preserve the global rules based order. 

The 2026 National Defence Strategy puts Australia on a path to strengthen our self reliance; it reinforces the industrial foundations needed for National Defence; and it situates Australia firmly within a network of trusted regional partnerships. 

Above all, it ensures Australia remains secure, sovereign and ready — not just for today’s challenges, but into the future.

2026 Integrated Investment Program

The Albanese Government has allocated $425 billion over the decade to deliver accelerated capability for the integrated, focused force – to increase the ADF’s self-reliance and contribute to regional deterrence.

The 2026 Integrated Investment Program prioritises investment to:

1.    deliver an enhanced undersea warfare capability, supported by a sovereign fleet of conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines;
2.    accelerate the delivery of more lethal maritime capabilities;
3.    further expand long-range strike capabilities across the integrated, focused force;
4.    accelerate the introduction of integrated air and missile defence capabilities;
5.    expand the adoption of autonomous and uncrewed systems across the land, air and maritime domains;
6.    field counter-uncrewed air systems to protect Australian sites, events and critical infrastructure; and 
7.    deliver a resilient and secure multi-orbit satellite communications system. 

These investments, including the additional $53 billion in new funding over the decade, will also strengthen the resilience of our sovereign defence industrial base, create and sustain Australian jobs, and build stronger, more diverse international industrial partnerships and supply chains. 

The 2026 Integrated Investment Program also includes targeted investments to increase preparedness and resilience to ensure the ADF is postured and prepared today to respond to unforeseen events tomorrow. 

Throughout all of this, the Albanese Government continues to invest in Defence’s most important capability — its people. Recruitment, retention, training and skilling are central to delivering on the concept of National Defence. The 2026 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program continue the important work of growing and retaining our Defence Force. 

As a Defence enterprise, there is no more important or consequential task than defending Australia and protecting the security, interests and livelihoods of every Australian. 

The work the ADF and their enabling APS colleagues perform directly supports this mission and we thank them, and their families for their continued commitment and service. 

Copies of the 2026 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program are available online at https://www.defence.gov.au/nds

We, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, call for the inclusion of Lebanon in the regional de-escalation efforts and urge all parties to work toward a lasting political solution. The continuation of the war in Lebanon puts at risks the current regional deescalation, which we have welcomed and must be fully respected by all parties.

We welcome the initiative by President Aoun to open direct talks with Israel and the acceptance by Israel to start the talks facilitated by the United States. We call on both parties to seize this opportunity. Direct negotiations can pave the way to bring lasting security for Lebanon and Israel as well as the region. We stand ready to support them. We therefore call upon all parties to urgently deescalate and seize the opportunity offered by the ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

We condemn in the strongest terms the attacks of Hezbollah against Israel which must cease immediately. We also condemn in the strongest terms the massive Israeli strikes on Lebanon conducted on 8 April which, according to the latest information shared by the Lebanese authorities, resulted in the death of more than 350 persons and wounded more than 1000. Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.  

We also condemn in the strongest terms the attacks against UNIFIL and we reiterate that the safety and security of UN peacekeepers must be ensured at all times.  

We express our full solidarity and our steadfast support for the Lebanese people and authorities. We stand ready to provide emergency assistance to the more than one million displaced persons in Lebanon, in coordination with the Lebanese government.

We reaffirm the importance of respecting for Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and for the full implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). We will continue to support the Lebanese state to exercise its full sovereignty over the whole Lebanese territory. In this context, we commend the decision of the Lebanese government to ban Hezbollah’s military activities, as well as its decision to reinforce the full imposition of state authority over Beirut and to have the sole monopoly on weapons, and we encourage full and swift implementation.

The Victorian Greens are calling on the Allan Labor Government to immediately introduce laws to cap political donations ahead of Victoria’s state election in November as the High Court has ruled that Labor’s existing donation laws are unconstitutional. 

The Victorian Greens say that Labor has botched these donation laws from the start by including a sneaky loophole that allows Labor and Liberals to collect millions of extra dollars through their ‘nominated entity’ slush funds. 

This dodgy loophole has caused the High Court to throw out Victoria’s donation laws entirely, meaning Victoria now has no cap on donations from corporations and billionaires to elections, putting our democracy at risk and allowing big money from the likes of Gina Rhinehart, the gambling and fossil fuel industry to flow to Labor, Liberals and One Nation.

The Greens say that immediate action must be taken, otherwise Labor is allowing big corporations and billionaire donations to influence the state’s election later this year. 

Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell: 

“In Labor’s desperate attempt to cling onto their political slush funds, Labor have completely botched these donation laws. As a result, the Victorian state election this November could be influenced by multi-million dollar donations from big corporations, Gina Rinehart and other billionaires who want to buy our democracy for their own gain.”

“If Labor doesn’t take immediate action to cap donations to political parties, they’re giving big corporate interests and billionaires free reign to influence this year’s state election. We cannot afford to have a system like the United States where billionaires and big corporations can buy politicians and elections.”

Defence Minister Richard Marles today used his National Press Club address to launch Australia’s 2026 National Defence Strategy, a document billed as a landmark reset of Australia’s defence posture. It was anything but, it has Labor doubling down on its dependency on the US, while applying tricky accounting on defence numbers to placate the Murdoch media and the increasingly volatile US leadership.

Greens Senator and Defence Spokesperson David Shoebridge: 

“It is astonishing that nowhere in his “landmark” defence speech did Defence Minister Richard Marles even mention Donald Trump or the chaotic behaviour of the US and its military. That tells you everything about how detached this strategy is from the world we actually live in.

“Minister Marles has looked at the last twelve months of global chaos and decided China is the main threat to peace. Someone should check if he owns a television.

“Minister Marles still talks of “impactful projection” with his plan to project Australian military force anywhere on the planet to police global trade. This is a foolish and dangerous strategy that inevitably embeds us into global US military deployments.

“At its core this new strategy is doubling down on the US alliance, while still pretending it is based on a “shared commitment to rules, sovereignty and self respect.” You can only deliver this message if you actively ignore all the evidence of the US actively trashing international law and peaceful norms. 

“For all the trumpeting of increased spending it’s worth noting it’s primarily delivered by an accounting trick where defence pensions get rebadged as defence spending and most of actual budget increases are being sunk straight into the AUKUS submarine black hole. 

“This current strategy is a frantic attempt to convince News Corp and the US leadership of our unquestioning loyalty, it has nothing to do with pivoting towards a genuinely sovereign defence force that would protect us here at home. 

“The US is an increasingly rogue actor pursuing its own interests, not ours and any rational review of national defence needs to acknowledge this. 

“Real human security means investment in defensive capacity plus investment in renewable energy, housing, health and education. The things that actually keep Australians safe.”