8m ago23.08 BST

Fuel companies comply with NSW order for information

Penry Buckley

Major fuel companies have complied with an order to provide information about their distribution of fuel under emergency powers in NSW, the state government has announced.

The companies had until late last week to respond to information notices issued under an emergency power, or face a non-compliance penalty of $220,000. The government says the responses will be now used to support planning for “for further potential actions if required, such as maintaining supply to regional communities”.

Under the state’s energy act, the government has wide-ranging powers to control the distribution of fuel in a supply emergency, including rationing.

The NSW energy minister, Penny Sharpe, says:

I issued these information notices to get a clear picture of how fuel is moving across NSW. This information puts us in a strong position to work with industry and keep supply flowing where it is needed most.

As of the latest update yesterday, 39 service stations in NSW were without fuel of all types, while 260 were out of at least one type, and 142 were out of diesel or premium diesel. The government says sales during the early stages of the fuel shock were as much as five times higher than normal levels for some distributors.

Attorney general says government remains committed to gun buyback scheme

Rowland said the federal government would continue to press ahead with its gun buyback scheme, despite some resistance from state and territory leaders.

The New South Wales government is so far the only clear supporter for the gun reforms, with Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory all ruling out their support. The federal government recently said those localities are “standing in the way” of an effort to remove dangerous weapons from the streets.

Rowland maintained it is up for those leaders “to explain to their constituency why that is the case”.

But the fact remains that we will continue to prosecute this case through our national cabinet processes. The government’s committed to it.

She said it is supposed to be a “national” buyback scheme, and states and territories should recognise it won’t work without a national buy-in.

Attorney general says Australia should continue to call for de-escalation in Iran amid Trump critiques

The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, was asked about Trump’s remarks on RN Breakfast this morning.

She said Australia’s position remains calling for “an urgent de-escalation of this conflict”, adding:

Australians and innocent people right around the world and in the region are being impacted by events that they didn’t cause, but it is having lasting impacts. It’s having impacts on our supply chains and causing real anxiety for Australians.

Rowland said the best thing Australia could do would be to continue those calls, saying it’s not the first time Trump had made inflammatory remarks.

I think ultimately the United States will need to answer for itself.

Nick Visser here to grab the reins. Let’s get to it.

Tropical Cyclone Maila could hit the coast of far north Queensland this weekend, three weeks after the same area was smashed by Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle, the Bureau of Meteorology said last night.

It was tracking halfway between Solomon Islands and Papua New Gunea at 10.45pm last night, according to the latest update from the bureau.

The BoM said:

Maila is expected to remain well away from the Queensland coast during the next few days, but confidence is increasing in Maila moving towards the far north Queensland coast later in the week, potentially crossing the coast on the weekend.

The storm is classed as a category three, with sustained winds near the centre at 150km/h and wind gusts up to 205km/h.

Read our full story here:

1h ago22.18 BST

Australia ‘didn’t help us’, Trump says of US effort in Iran

Nick Visser

The US president, Donald Trump, has criticised Australia for what he said was a lack of help during the ongoing war in Iran.

At a media conference, Trump continued to take a hard line against Iran, saying he believes the US military is doing “unbelievably well” in the Middle East while threatening that Iran could be “taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night”.

He added that he remained frustrated with Nato, calling the bloc a “paper tiger” the US “didn’t need”.

“They haven’t helped at all,” he said, adding:

It’s not just Nato. You know who else didn’t help us? South Korea didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Australia didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Japan.

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Nick Visser with the main action.

Road safety advocates say the subject must be better embedded in school curriculums after another deadly Easter period in which at least 14 people have been killed on the nation’s roads. Deaths on Australia’s roads rose 4.4% in the year to February. More coming up.

Tropical Cyclone Maila could hit the coast of far north Queensland this weekend three weeks after the same area was smashed by Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle, the Bureau of Meteorology said last night. More coming up.