Australia news live: Chalmers asks regulator to watch service stations ‘like a hawk’ as fuel excise cut ends

Key events

Chalmers maintains fuel excise cut never meant to be permanent

Jim Chalmers said prices have indeed come up over the past month, but they are “substantially lower” than when the excise relief came into effect.

He spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying the cut was “never intended to be permanent”:

Prices have come up a bit, but they are substantially lower than when we first introduced this excise relief. The excise relief has played a really important role in taking some of the edge off these cost of living pressures that have been turbocharged by a war in the Middle East.

It was never intended to be permanent. … It’s done a really important job, but we can’t afford to continue it forever.

He said the government hasn’t been considering bringing them back it petrol prices climb again.

Jim Chalmers. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Chalmers puts service stations on notice … again

Now that the fuel exercise cut has ended, the treasurer has told the consumer watchdog to closely monitor service stations to make sure they’re not price gouging.

After the outbreak of war in the Middle East, the government temporarily cut the fuel excise in half. That was then increased slightly last month, saving about 16c per litre at the wholesale price for an extra month. The excise cut ended at midnight on Monday.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the ACCC will be watching servos and suppliers “like a hawk”.

The regulator will step up its monitoring of fuel price movements. Any price increase that can’t be explained will face serious scrutiny from the ACCC.

We’ve jacked up the penalties for petrol stations that rip off Australians. They face multimillion-dollar fines if they break the law.

Chalmers made the same warning when the fuel excise cut was reduced last month. It’s expected to take a few days for changes to flow through to the bowser.

LinkedIn dragged into news bargaining incentive legislation, despite lobbying from Microsoft

The government has released new details of its news bargaining incentive legislation, with LinkedIn no longer exempt from the agreement – which will force platforms to pay for news content.

The platforms – Google, Meta, TikTok and now LinkedIn – will have to make deals with at least six media organisations (an increase from four under the draft legislation) or pay 2.5% of their digital revenue made in Australia.

The government has announced the changes after consultations with industry.

Photograph: M4OS Photos/Alamy

The charge rate for companies that don’t sign deals has increased, from 2.25% to 2.5% of their digital advertising revenue. The government has changed the rules from the platforms having to pay a percentage of their total revenue made in Australia to just digital advertising revenue.

It means revenue from the phones Google sells, for example, will be exempt from the news bargaining incentive payments – since that doesn’t count as digital revenue.

Guardian Australia revealed last month that Microsoft had lobbied the government in March 2025 to keep LinkedIn and Bing exempt from the new rules. Bing still won’t be liable to pay the incentive, because its digital advertising revenue in Australia is under the $250m threshold.

In a statement, the minister for financial services, Daniel Mulino said the changes “do not alter the intent of the legislation and remain true to the policy rationale”.

We want digital platforms to do deals with a diverse range of media organisations and have shown good faith with both the platforms and media companies during the consultation process.

Good morning

Good morning, and happy Monday. Nick Visser here to get the week’s news going. Here’s what’s on deck:

The high-profile trial of former broadcaster Alan Jones for indecent assault and sexual touching charges begins today in Sydney.

LinkedIn has been pulled into the government’s news bargaining incentive legislation and will no longer be exempt from the agreement. The announcement comes after consultation with the industry, with the government saying the changes “remain true to the policy rationale”.

The treasurer Jim Chalmers, has issued a warning to service stations amid ongoing tension in the Middle East, saying he will be watching them “like a hawk”. The fuel excise cut has now come off but it is expected to take a few days for the changes to flow through to the bowser.

Stick with us.