00:01Donald Trump, we know, has criticised the government several times over the past couple
00:07of weeks, initially for not contributing to its war on Iran, but now for not assisting
00:13in its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
00:16Today, he said he wasn't happy with Australia because we weren't there when he asked us
00:22to be.
00:22Defence Minister Richard Marles, though, says the US has made no specific request for Australia
00:28to assist, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says no new request has been made.
00:33The key words there being new request and specific request.
00:39Both leaders say they'll continue to work with partners and allies and that they're
00:43having discussions with the US administration on different levels at some capacity every
00:49day.
00:49And Australia is also joining a summit hosted by the UK and France tonight to help plan
00:55plan for an operation when circumstances allow.
00:59That operation and those circumstances, the government has previously said, if a ceasefire
01:04were to hold, then the government would look at helping participate in opening the Strait
01:08of Hormuz.
01:09So, that summit is taking place tonight.
01:11But the coalition has been critical of the government, saying they haven't been transparent
01:16about what kind of requests have been made to the government.
01:20Opposition Leader Angus Taylor honing in on some of that language about new and specific
01:25requests.
01:26Here's what he had to say.
01:28What he did say is that there's been no new request.
01:32Well, I'd like to know what the old request was.
01:35What request has the Prime Minister received?
01:39We want the Strait of Hormuz opened up.
01:42That will put prices down at the bowser.
01:45We need that done.
01:48We should work with the Americans and provide whatever support we reasonably can.
01:53So, where does this leave us then?
01:56As Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan described on afternoon briefing earlier, the request from
02:04the United States may not have been direct or formal.
02:08He says that with the way these diplomatic conversations go, there's a likelihood that the US picked up the
02:13phone and said, Australia, if we were to ask you to assist, what would come of that request?
02:19And Australia might have said that wouldn't be in our national interest and that we don't
02:24want to take part in any offensive action.
02:26And therefore, no formal request is made in the end.
02:30We don't know if that is the case, but even if it was, it would be highly unusual as well
02:35for the government to publicly discuss those high-level diplomatic conversations that they're
02:41having with the US administration.
02:43It's not something they ever usually do and would be even more unusual to publicly discuss
02:48the details of those conversations about something as sensitive as a war.
02:52And Isabella, the Prime Minister has returned home early from his trip to Malaysia to visit
02:58the Viva refinery in Geelong.
03:00Do we have any idea yet of how much that fire is going to put pressure on Australia's fuel
03:06supply?
03:07We're getting a better idea, Jade.
03:10The government, sorry, the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Energy Minister Chris Bowen
03:14visited the Viva refinery in Geelong earlier today.
03:17While it's not yet known for how long the damage may affect the capacity for refining
03:23at Viva, the government is remaining optimistic.
03:27The Prime Minister says the fire won't have enough of an impact on our fuel supply for us
03:32to need to ration fuel or take the next step in our four-stage security plan.
03:38So that's that roadmap that federal, state and territory governments agreed to at National
03:43Cabinet a couple of weeks ago.
03:45Here's what the Prime Minister had to say about that.
03:48But the government's put in place the four stages in order to plan and in order to prepare
03:59for circumstances which are predominantly impacted by global events, not by events here.
04:05So the event here will not lead to any change.
04:09We'll give an update tomorrow about fuel supplies that are on hand.
04:15And fuel is continuing to come in.
04:18Now the Prime Minister has just come back, as I said, from his trip to Malaysia and Brunei.
04:23And while he didn't secure any additional fuel deals on top of cementing our existing relationships
04:29and contracts with those nations, there have been some positive announcements in the past
04:33few days.
04:34Viva Energy secured two extra shipments of diesel, 100 million litres worth.
04:39And there's also been a deal signed with Indonesia to secure an extra 250,000 tonnes of fertiliser
04:46urea.
04:47That's set to arrive in June.
04:50Apparently there is enough fuel in the country at the moment to get farmers through this initial
04:55planting season.
04:56But this will help beyond that.
04:58And so while this fire has certainly hit Australia, while we're at a weak spot in terms of fuel,
05:04there have been some positive progress in other areas.
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