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The Albanese Labor Government has announced today that the Federal Budget next week will include an Australian Fuel Security and Resilience package to ensure energy sovereignty and protect our nation’s energy interests.

The package will provide more than $10 billion to secure Australia’s near-term fuel and fertiliser security, establish a permanent Government-owned Australian Fuel Security Reserve of around a billion litres, and lift the Minimum Stockholding Obligation by around 10 days for every type of fuel. 

This will support an overall expansion of Australia’s onshore fuel reserves to ensure at least 50 days of fuel supply and storage of diesel and aviation fuel. 

As part of our plan to deliver energy sovereignty, our Australian Fuel Security and Resilience package will deliver:

• $7.5 billion for the establishment of a Fuel and Fertiliser Security Facility to increase supply and storage of fuel and fertiliser by providing financial support including loans, equity, guarantees, insurance and price support.
• $3.2 billion to establish a Government-owned Australian Fuel Security Reserve of around a billion litres to increase long term diesel and aviation fuel supply and storage in combination with an increase to the Minimum Stockholding Obligation (MSO), to increase Australia’s critical fuel reserves to 50 days. Our Australia Fuel Security Reserve will focus on regional stockouts and supply constraints for essential users in the event of another supply crisis.    
• $10 million to support feasibility studies into new or expanded fuel refining capabilities, to be co-funded with state and territory jurisdictions.

The Government will consult on implementation of the fuel reserve to enable the ability to underwrite or purchase fuel, support storage, and trade stocks as needed to ensure our fuel security during severe or prolonged fuel supply disruption. 

An additional 10 days of fuel holdings through an uplift to the Minimum Stockholding Obligation for all fuels is also supported in the budget with $34.7 million over four years to support ongoing management of Australia’s fuel security, including Government engagement with industry to plan the uplift in fuel holdings. 

It will be achieved by increasing current requirements on refiners and importers holding stocks of aviation fuel, petrol and diesel.  

The changes will take place progressively over time, backed by support to invest in new and refurbished fuel storage to support the uplift in fuel stocks. 

The Government will work with state governments to undertake feasibility studies into new or expanded refining capabilities, building on work with current refinery operators to retain our current refining capability in the decade beyond 2030.

More details of the Australian Fuel Security and Resilience package will be released next week as part of the Federal Budget.

The Albanese Labor Government is setting up young Australians for success in future jobs and industries, through strengthened Asian language education.

Under the Fluency in Asian Languages program, the Albanese Government has announced $2.5 million of support for Asian language learning, shared between nine organisations across Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

The funding is part of the Governments $25 million Community Language Schools program and will support students in Years 7 to 12 build fluency in more than 15 Asian languages, strengthen cultural literacy and remain engaged in language learning.

These schools play a vital role in multicultural Australia, helping young people maintain connection to language, heritage and identity while developing skills that benefit the broader community and economy.

Beyond being a vital national capability, learning Asian languages also delivers significant personal benefits, helping young Australians build stronger connections to their cultural heritage, deepen their sense of identity and belonging, and develop the confidence to navigate multiple cultures

The funding will increase student participation and retention in Asian language learning through community language schools and strengthen the operational capability of schools, enabling them to support sustained and high‑quality language study. It will also support the development of curriculum and learning resources designed to strengthen community language education nationwide..

Languages being supported by grants include: Bengali, Burmese, Filipino, Gujarati, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Malayalam, Mandarin, Nepali, Punjabi, Sinhalese, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Yue (Cantonese).

These include projects by Macquarie University, The University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, and the Australian National University which will be of national benefit.

A sustained decline in Asian language learning has weakened Australia’s Asia capability, with consequences for our social cohesion and national interests. Strengthening this capability is an important priority for the Albanese Government.

Since 2023, the Australian Government has invested $40.6 million to support community language schools, highlighting the Albanese Labor Government’s commitment to strengthening economic and cultural ties with Asia.

$5 million has been earmarked to community language schools take more students through to year 12 and achieve fluency.

This investment is essential to promoting Australia’s national interests globally and ensuring the future of Australia’s Asia capability.

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong:

“Australia’s interests demand we engage in the region more consistently and more deeply.

“When young Australians learn Asian languages, they can build the trust, relationships and capability to engage in our region more effectively.

“This is all about giving the next generation of Australians the ability to succeed in the communities and region that will shape our nation’s future.”

Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Anne Aly:

“Community language schools are central to multicultural Australia, giving young people the opportunity to stay connected to their heritage while gaining skills that will benefit them for life.

“Language skills are a national asset. They create opportunity for young people, strengthen cultural understanding and help build the workforce Australia needs for the future.

“Community language schools make an extraordinary contribution to our nation, keeping language and culture alive while helping shape a more connected and capable Australia.”

Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs, Julian Hill:

“Australia’s future prosperity depends on our ability to engage confidently with our region – the fastest-growing region in the world. At the election we committed to invest $5 million to support more students, regardless of their background, to become fluent in Asian languages throughout their high school years.

“This investment recognises the dedication of teachers, volunteers and families who work every week to keep languages, cultures and community connections strong.

“Having more Australians capable of speaking the languages of our largest trading partners and neighbours is a huge benefit to our nation, opening further employment opportunities and career paths for students, and growing economic ties with our friends and neighbours across our region.”

The big four banks – CBA, NAB, Westpac and ANZ – made a profit of $16.9 billion from owner-occupier home loans in 2025, new data by the Australia Institute shows. 

Over the life of an average 30 year owner-occupier mortgage, the big four banks make nearly $229,000 in profit. That’s just over $11,000 in the first year of a new loan, which equates to $926 each month or $214 per week. 

While owner-occupier loans make up 22.7% of the assets of the big four banks, profit on these loans made up 39.3%. The banks are disproportionately capitalising off owner-occupier mortgages. 

As anxious households await yet another potential interest rate hike, the NAB has announced half-yearly profits of $2.75 billion, while ANZ’s profits rose to $3.65 billion.

The Greens say the big banks are the real winners of Trump’s invasion-induced inflation spike, while owner-occupier borrowers pay the price. And it’s an especially big price for first home buyers.

Greens spokesperson for Finance, Housing and Homelessness Senator Barbara Pocock:

“While households anxiously await another possible rate increase amid rising grocery and fuel prices, the banks are making a motza off the housing crisis and fuel inflation.

“Millions of people are already in mortgage stress, caught in a painful cost of living and housing crisis. Another rate increase will punish households already doing it tough and not the billionaires and big corporations who are profiting off inflation. 

“Anyone with a mortgage with one of the big banks is helping accelerate massive bank profits, while millions of renters cop it through unfair rent rises. 

“Hard working Australians are looking at the big banks’ obscene profits and asking: how is this fair?

“Every time the RBA puts interest rates up, mortgage holders and renters pay the price, while the big banks increase profits directly out of the pockets of owner-occupiers and first-home buyers. 

“For decades the major banks have made enormous profits price-gouging on people’s mortgages, contributing to the pain of inflation.

“Australians have had enough. They’re fed up with seeing the banks and wealthy property investors profit from a housing crisis, while wages aren’t keeping up with house prices and inflation.” 

Today’s interest rate rise will further entrench economic inequality and deliver more money into the pockets of the 1 per cent at the expense of renters and mortgage holders, the Greens say.

Greens Economic Justice Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim:

“This is another kick in the teeth for mortgage holders and renters who are already being smashed by rising costs.”

“This will punish people who are suffering the most and are not responsible in any way for inflation, while the super rich who have cash in the bank will sit back and watch their wealth grow.”

“The top 1% will be popping the champagne corks at the extra money they’ve just been handed by the Reserve Bank and a Labor Government sitting on its hands.”

“Raising interest rates will not stop the war in the Persian Gulf and it will not bring fuel prices down. But it will send many Australian households to the wall.”

“There is plenty that Labor could do to put downward pressure on inflation, like making price gouging illegal and making the top 1% and big corporations pay their fair share of tax.”

Greens spokesperson for Finance, Housing and Homelessness Senator Barbara Pocock: 

“This is not the news homeowners needed to hear today. Millions of Australians are already in mortgage stress, already hurting in a cost of living crisis.

“Another rate hike is simply punishment for homeowners and more profit for the banks already raking it in on home loans. We need to tax the 1%, not hard working people.

“Rates hikes won’t fix the housing crisis but a government that treats housing as a human right will.”

The Minns Labor Government will not accept the Opposition’s attempts to water down nation-leading reforms to remove ‘good character’ as a mitigating factor at sentencing. 

The Opposition’s amendments lodged today would gut the bill and mean victim-survivors would still have to sit through the trauma of hearing their perpetrator described as a ‘good person’ in court.

The amendments would have the effect of removing good character for sexual offences. But they would otherwise retain ‘good character’ as a mitigating factor at sentencing and allow the court discretion as to whether they give this weight.

This means a court would still be able to find someone is of otherwise ‘good character’ despite them being convicted of offending that involves antisemitism like inciting racial hatred, domestic and family violence homicide or dangerous driving causing death.

Our nation-leading reforms announced earlier this year are designed to ensure offenders convicted of serious crimes cannot rely on character references to mitigate their sentence.

The legislation forms part of the Minns Labor Government’s broader agenda to strengthen protections for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence and improve the integrity and consistency of sentencing outcomes across NSW.

Advocates, including road trauma victims and domestic violence survivors, have been calling for these changes for years, arguing the current system allows offenders to benefit from personal testimonials that are often irrelevant to the harm caused.

This NSW Sentencing Council made its position clear about this approach. They said giving courts this discretion would still leave good character operating as a mitigating factor and would not address many of the concerns raised in this review.

Attorney General Michael Daley said:

“The Opposition’s attempt to gut the Minns Labor Government’s nation-leading reforms to ‘good character’ evidence at sentencing is disgraceful and insulting to victims.

“They want serious criminals involved in organised crime, domestic violence and murder to have their sentences mitigated because the Opposition says they are of ‘good character’.

“We will not be accepting the Opposition’s attempts to water down these vital reforms.

“The question for the Legislative Council is simple, whose side are they on? Are they on the side of victims, or are they on the side of perpetrators?”

Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Jodie Harrisonsaid:

“These reforms recognise the lived experience of victim-survivors and ensure the justice system does not compound their trauma.

“Good character references have too often been used to minimise or excuse serious violence, particularly in domestic and family violence cases.

“No victim should have to sit in a courtroom and hear the person who harmed them described as ‘a good person’ or ‘of strong character’.

“We will not support any changes that weaken these protections or take us backwards.

“This is about respect for victim-survivors and making sure the system reflects the seriousness of these crimes.”

Your Reference Ain’t Relevant Cofounder Harrison James said: 

“No survivor should have to sit in court and hear the person who harmed them praised for their so-called ‘good character’ after conviction. That should not be controversial.  

“To then see a watered-down version of this bill put forward as an alternative is deeply disappointing and genuinely disturbing.

“I have reached out to a number of members of the Coalition in good faith because I wanted to have a genuine discussion and offer the perspective of a victim-survivor who has fought for this reform for three and a half years. I have been met with silence.

“For victim-survivors like me, this feels like a slap in the face. We have carried this issue, spoken about our pain publicly, relived some of the worst moments of our lives, and pushed for change because we believed Parliament would listen.”