The fuel crunch is now the story shaping everything else in Australian politics and business. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called another national cabinet meeting for Monday, as shortages spread and prices surge. Hundreds of service stations have run out of at least one fuel type, and the flow-on effects are hitting freight, waste collection, and other essential services.⁠⁠​ Agriculture is the latest sector to be put on notice, with supplies of fertiliser set to run short within weeks, potentially hitting crops. Peak group GrainGrowers yesterday warned of serious ramifications for Australia’s grain harvest. Vegetable growers are also reporting fertiliser shortages, with shipments halted because of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

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News in brief

The federal government has signalled support for an above-inflation pay rise for minimum wage and award-reliant workers, in its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual wage review. Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth described the goal as an “economically sustainable real wage increase”, although the government didn’t put a figure on the proposed increase.⁠⁠​

Qantas could experience a sharp hit to earnings if the conflict-driven fuel shock persists. Modelling by its former chief economist suggest earnings from flying could fall to around $544 million this financial year in a prolonged conflict scenario, versus earlier forecasts above $1.1 billion.⁠⁠​

Westpac has flagged higher costs for its technology simplification program, known as Unite, as it tries to bring its mortgage systems onto a single platform. The expected cost of creating a single mortgage technology system has risen to $285 million, up from $265 million projected last November.⁠⁠​

A US jury has found Meta and Google’s YouTube liable in a landmark social media addiction trial. The case was brought by a young woman who said addictive design harmed her mental health. The verdict could have implications for many similar lawsuits.⁠⁠​

Five commercial products – fossil fuels, ultra-processed foods, chemicals, alcohol and tobacco – are linked to nearly one-third of deaths each year, a provocative new study in the New England Journal of Medicine warns.

Fear-o-meter

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox calling on the government to ‘put everything on the table’ for fuel.

“It is increasingly clear from feedback from employers across the national economy that the impact from current and anticipated fuel shortages is already significantly biting into productivity and output with greater deterioration to come.

"The Federal Government should now lay every option on the table ... These options should include a possible cut to fuel excise, consideration of structured fuel rationing and discounted public transport fares.

"Employers and employees are grappling with the uncertainty that has been created, both by the global situation and the need for a clear and decisive national response. All Australians need the confidence to plan beyond what are expected to be significant fuel shortages in the coming weeks. 

"There is also an increased focus by employers on the future impact of petroleum shortages on areas such as packaging, plastics, detergents, piping, roofing and insulation among others upon which the broader economy relies.

“Employers also report existing supply chains are becoming more fragile and unreliable as other economies take steps to inoculate themselves. Those impacts threaten to ripple through the economy in the time ahead.”

Fear & Greed Q+A today

On how maritime recovery - retrieving goods from shipwrecks - has evolved to become a potentially investable industry:

 

This world definitely used to be kind of the domain of treasure hunting — it was a bit of a lottery ticket. You didn’t really know what you were going to get and you could score big. But nowadays we’re seeing something much more structured, much more refined and methodical. There are companies now going down, locating these wrecks, working with governments to figure out the split — who gets what when they recover the metals — and then actually recovering them. So it’s still fascinating, but it’s becoming much more of a real industry.

 

The San Jose is the holy grail — there’s an estimated $20 billion worth of gold, silver and artifacts on that ship.

But what’s happening now is a bunch of different groups are fighting over it. Colombia says it’s theirs because it’s in their waters, Spain says it’s theirs because it was their ship, the recovery company is fighting over the split, and even indigenous groups are saying they mined the metals.

It’s basically a lesson in what not to do — they didn’t get clear agreements in place beforehand, and now it’s tied up in legal battles.”

Greed-o-meter

Petrol prices vary hugely from country to country. Here's a snapshot of global petrol prices in Australian dollars from March 23.

Source: globalpetrolprices.com

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