Cyclone Narelle builds to category four storm as it nears Queensland coast
Northern Australia is braced for what could be the biggest cyclone “in living memory” as tropical cyclone Narelle heads toward far north Queensland.
Narelle is now a category 4 system, with a severe impact likely on Friday.
The huge system is expected to cross near Coen, north of Cairns, triggering evacuations, with warnings it could tear off roofs and propel debris at deadly speeds.
Read our full report here:
Key events
Agriculture minister says government monitoring any price gouging of fertiliser
Julie Collins, the federal minister for agriculture, said the government is monitoring any price gouging for fertiliser amid the turmoil in the Middle East.
Much of the world’s fertiliser is made in the region, which is then shipped around the world via the strait of Hormuz. The shipping channel is effectively blocked as the war continues.
Collins said the government is in the process of making sure price gouging is addressed, urging Australians to act in the national interest. She told RN Breakfast:
I think our government has been very clear that this should not be seen as a commercial opportunity for anybody. This is about what is in the national interest. This is a conflict that is impacting globally, and what we need Australians to do is to act in the national interest, and that includes everybody along that supply chain.
The team, which flew into Istanbul on Tuesday, took a flight to Iğdır in eastern Turkey on Wednesday morning local time.
The players emerged from Iğdır airport pulling their luggage and chatted in front of the terminal before boarding a bus to the border. One of them briefly smiled and waved at a TV camera before the bus departed.
After a trip of around two hours to the frontier, they went through passport control at the Gürbulak border gate before crossing over into Iran.
The team’s Asian Cup campaign began just as the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated from the tournament more than a week ago.
Five of those who had sought asylum in Australia subsequently changed their minds and decided to return home, with the latest withdrawal on Monday.
They rejoined the rest of the squad in Kuala Lumpur, where the team had been staying since leaving Sydney last week.
The Iranian Football Association (FFIRI) said last week those who had changed their minds would travel home with the rest of the team “to once again be embraced by their families and homeland”.
Two players are still in Australia and have been pictured training with a local A-League club.
Iranian women’s footballers arrive home
The Iranian women’s football team crossed the Turkish border into Iran overnight to complete a fraught return journey from Australia, after five members withdrew asylum claims they had lodged there, Reuters reports.
Australia had granted humanitarian visas to six players and one support staff member after they sought asylum, saying they feared possible persecution if they returned to Iran.
دختران فوتبالیست تیم ملی و کادر فنی، فرزندان عزیز این آب و خاک هستند و مردم ایران آنان را در آغوش میکشند.
دختران ما، علیرغم تمام خباثتهای دشمنان این کشور آنان را از خود ناامید کردند و تسلیم اغواگری و ارعاب ایرانستیزان نشدند و با افتخار به خانهٔ همیشگی خود ایران بازخواهند گشت.— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) March 18, 2026
In a post on X, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the players were Iran’s “dear daughters” and praised them for resisting the “temptations” of life in Australia:
The female footballers of the national team and the technical staff are the dear daughters of this land and water, and the people of Iran embrace them.
Our daughters, despite all the malice of the enemies of this country, have not become disillusioned with themselves; they have not surrendered to the temptations and intimidation of the Iran-haters, and they will return with pride to their eternal home, Iran.
Concerns over their safety surfaced when several players failed to sing the national anthem at a Women’s Asian Cup match earlier this month after the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran.
Iranian state television had labelled them “wartime traitors”.
People welcoming Iran’s women’s national football team as they returned to the country by land. Seven players had applied for asylum in Australia after the war began, but five of them later withdrew their applications and returned to Iran. pic.twitter.com/ZP9aP6pUiN
— IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) (@iribnews_irib) March 18, 2026
Cyclone Narelle builds to category four storm as it nears Queensland coast
Northern Australia is braced for what could be the biggest cyclone “in living memory” as tropical cyclone Narelle heads toward far north Queensland.
Narelle is now a category 4 system, with a severe impact likely on Friday.
The huge system is expected to cross near Coen, north of Cairns, triggering evacuations, with warnings it could tear off roofs and propel debris at deadly speeds.
Read our full report here:
Good morning, and happy Thursday. Nick Visser here to tackle the day’s news. Let’s get to it.
Australia and other counties denounce Iran’s obstructing of shipping channel
Tom McIlroy
Australia last night co-sponsored an emergency declaration condemning Iran’s attacks on seafarers and merchant vessels in the strait of Hormuz.
The declaration was moved at the International Maritime Council.
Drafted by the United Arab Emirates, the declaration demands that Iran immediately refrain from “actions aimed at closing or obstructing the Strait, which have triggered severe global energy shocks, causing oil and fuel prices to surge”.
As part of the move, Australia will join international partners in calling for coordinated measures to prioritise the safe passage of stranded seafarers.
The emergency special session of the IMC was convened at the request of the UAE, with the support of Australia and other countries, in response to Iran’s attacks in and around the key strategic waterway, which have transformed one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes into a theatre of coercion and conflict.
A spokesperson for the transport minister, Catherine King, said Australia was working with partners to reinforce the importance of the safety and security of seafarers.
This is just one of the measures our government has taken since the beginning of the conflict to protect our fuel supply and defend our national interests.
This government will continue working constructively with industry, unions and our international partners to keep people and goods moving freely.
Adeshola Ore
Dan Tehan says government should consider Covid-style support for trucking sector
The shadow energy minister, Dan Tehan, says national cabinet should consider Covid-style government support for the Australia’s trucking industry amid the fuel crisis.
Anthony Albanese will meet state premiers and chief ministers today to discuss fuel supply concerns linked to the Middle East conflict. The government is also expected to name a supply chain coordination tsar.
Speaking to the ABC’s 7.30 last night, Tehan said national cabinet should consider financial support for the nation’s trucking sector:
That’s one of the things I would hope that the prime minister will be looking at. These are all the questions that need to be answered.
If that support is needed to make sure that we can get the fuel to where the shortages are, that’s something that absolutely should be looked at.
Tehan said the government also needed to ensure it had identified areas hit by fuel shortages.
Patrick Commins
Economists predict interest rate rise in May
The treasurer’s fifth budget comes amid a global energy shock that Treasury officials say, if persistent, could drive inflation above 5% and slash $16.5bn from the economy by 2027.
As petrol prices soar, the Reserve Bank is on track to deliver a third interest rate hike at its next meeting in early May, economists predict, in a move that would ratchet up the pressure on the Albanese government to deliver an inflation-busting budget amid a global energy shock.
Chalmers will say:
We’re working on substantial savings options for this budget.
This will build on the savings we’ve made to date, addressing some of the fastest growing structural spending pressures and making difficult decisions in other areas.
Experts warn that Australia’s lacklustre productivity performance has undermined future prosperity and made it harder to grow the economy without sparking inflationary pressures.
Chalmers said the next wave of reforms “will have a sharper focus on unlocking productive investment, better regulation, even faster approvals, more open trade, skills, and ensuring Australia captures the upsides of AI”.
Analysts at all four major banks maintained their rate rise calls for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s next monetary policy board meeting on 4-5 May.
Independent economist Chris Richardson said the prospect of another rate hike days out from the 12 May budget sent a stern message to the treasurer that the inflation threat “is serious and we really need to do something”.
The government had a historical opportunity to pursue serious reforms across tax policies and spending measures to boost the country’s productive capacity, alleviate inflationary pressures, and shore up the fiscal position, he said.
“Good policy is needed and it’s more possible than it has been true for multiple decades.”
Treasurer to pledge ‘ambitious tax reform’ in pre-budget speech
Patrick Commins
Jim Chalmers will today promise to deliver a trio of “ambitious reform packages” in the May budget that will rebuild fiscal buffers, make the tax system fairer, and lift the nation’s lagging productivity performance.
In a major speech in Melbourne today, the treasurer will commit to “make hard decisions” in the upcoming budget, amid an ongoing US-Israel war on Iran that “is adding to inflation risks, weighing on growth and increasing already elevated uncertainty”.
In extracts from the address to the Australian Business Economists, Chalmers spruiked Labor’s existing tax policies – including upcoming income tax cuts – but flagged no final decisions had been made on future changes.
We are working on more tax reform in the budget – how much we can do in May depends on fiscal considerations, international developments and cabinet deliberations.
There is a broad expectation the budget will include a plan to scale back the 50% capital gains tax discount but the treasurer cautioned that no final decision had been made.
He said tax reform “would be guided by some clear principles”.
They included addressing intergenerational equity, incentivising productive business investment – “if we can afford to” – and making the system “simpler and more sustainable”.
We recognise an outdated tax system is weighing on the opportunities faced by younger Australians and future generations.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
Jim Chalmers will today promise to deliver a trio of “ambitious reform packages” in the May budget that will rebuild fiscal buffers, make the tax system fairer and lift the nation’s lagging productivity performance. The treasurer will be speaking at an event in Melbourne at 12.30pm. More coming up.
The background to Chalmers’ speech is the global energy crunch brought on by the US-Israeli war on Iran, which Treasury models suggest could push inflation past 5%. Anthony Albanese will today hold a virtual meeting of the national cabinet from Tasmania to discuss how to respond to the crisis, which has seen panic-buying of petrol and fears about shortages. We’ll have more when it happens.
Tropical Cyclone Narelle could be one of the biggest storms ever to hit northern Australia when it makes expected landfall tomorrow. We’ll have regular updates on what’s happening.
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2026-03-18 15:43:55
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