>>24355021

>>24363919

>>24400123

>>24411596

Australia, Singapore to work together on fuel security after shipments cancelled

A major fuel exporter has thrown Australia a lifeline after several shipments scheduled for next month were cancelled.

Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer - March 23, 2026

Australia and Singapore have agreed to ensure petrol, diesel and gas continue to flow between the two after several fuel shipments bound for Australian ports next month were cancelled.

Anthony Albanese has been fiercely negotiating with Asian counterparts amid revelations six fuel tankers from Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea – Australia’s biggest suppliers – had been cancelled or deferred as their refineries grapple with no oil flowing out of the Middle East.

Following a call on Monday, the Prime Minister and his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong said their countries “share deep concern over the situation in the Middle East and its consequences for our region, such as the impact on energy supply chains and prices”.

“We are committed to working together to strengthen energy supply chain resilience, including by deepening regional co-operation, accelerating renewable energy transition, addressing unjustified import and export restrictions, and maintaining open trade flows,” they said in a statement.

“In this context, we reaffirm our commitment to strengthen energy security, to support the flow of essential goods including petroleum oils, such as diesel, and liquefied natural gas between our two countries, and to notify and consult each other on any disruptions with ramifications on the trade of energy.”

Earlier, cabinet minister Mark Butler suggested Australia could leverage its status as a gas exporting giant to ensure fuel flows from Asia.

“This conflict does look like it’s going to go on for a little longer, and it’s reverberating right through the global economy,” Mr Butler told Nine’s Today show.

“But we are working very hard with our regional partners. They receive energy from us, we receive liquid fuels from them.

“We’re doing everything we can to get supply back into Australia and at the moment those supplies are holding up pretty well.”

Appearing on Sky News later, Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Thistlethwaite also noted that Mr Albanese was “negotiating with our Asian neighbours” and that the government was “doing everything we possibly can to ensure that we can maintain fuel security for Australia”.

“The beauty of Australia is that we are one of the largest distributors of (liquefied natural gas) anywhere in the world,” Mr Thistlethwaite said.

“And South Korea gets almost all of its LNG, it’s liquefied natural gas, through Australia.

“So, they’ve got a vested interest in ensuring that. It’s a two-way street.”

He added that he did not think it would come to Australia withholding gas, and the country “is a very reliable distributor of LNG”, but stressed “we’ve got that advantage in that we can work with our neighbours in Asia Pacific to ensure that they have access to their energy needs and we get access to ours”.

Fuel prices have soared across Australia since the US and Israeli launched strikes on Iran.

The Islamist regime’s retaliatory strikes have targeted oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, effectively shutting the marine passage and cutting off a fifth of the world’s oil supply.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen on Sunday revealed the six fuel tankers were cancelled after dismissing a warning from Malaysia days earlier that it would need to prioritise its own supply if the war against Iran dragged on.

In his comments on Sunday, Mr Bowen said some of the ships cancelled “have already been replaced by the importers and refiners with other sources”.

Reuters reported at the weekend that major fuel companies, including ExxonMobil, BP and Vitol, were shipping record volumes from the Gulf of Mexico.

But the route is significantly more costly, raising questions about its long-term viability.

https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/labor-flexes-lng-as-anthony-albanese-phones-asian-leaders-over-cancelled-fuel-shipments/news-story/b17cb383bcc001d85d6bc38b80668df7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbW0qcs0AZY

>>23959526 (pb)

>>23959554 (pb)

Iran may be using China’s advanced satellite system, ambassador concedes

Amelia Adams and Anne Worthington - March 22, 2026

China’s ambassador to Australia says the country’s military activity in the South China Sea and Tasman Sea shows it can no longer be easily bullied by other big powers.

In a rare interview, ambassador Xiao Qian also conceded Iran could be using Beijing’s sophisticated satellite navigation system BeiDou to target US and Israeli military assets in the Middle East, but said his country was not directly involved.

He described the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in joint US-Israeli airstrikes as a violation of international law.

“The BeiDou system has been there for decades. It’s for everybody’s use, on a public basis or a commercial basis,” he told 60 Minutes. “And we don’t differentiate who can get access to it or not.

“We are asking for an immediate stop of the war, of the military actions, and for negotiations between relevant parties to solve their problems and solve their disputes through peaceful means.”

China has just increased its military spending by nearly 7 per cent and, as the conflict in the Middle East consumes American resources and shifts focus away from the Indo-Pacific, speculation about its plans to take control of Taiwan have been growing.

Late last year, China intensified military actions around Taiwan, a move Xiao described as “a warning” and a “direct response to the large American arm sales to Taiwan”. He said there was no timetable but “in my personal view, as soon as possible. We’ve been capable for decades … we’re waiting for a peaceful reunification.”

Xiao’s comments align with a new US intelligence assessment, which reported that while “Beijing probably will continue seeking to set the conditions for eventual unification with Taiwan … Chinese leaders do not currently plan to execute an invasion of Taiwan in 2027, nor do they have a fixed timeline for achieving unification”.

Nevertheless, Xiao warned that those who did not support China’s reunification, or attempted to obstruct the process, would pay the price.

“There are countries in the world who have been supporting China’s One China policy … but there are also countries who are going the other way around. I expect Australia to keep its promise on One China policy,” he said.

He also rejected claims by the Australian Defence Force that earlier this month a Chinese military helicopter had performed an “unsafe and unprofessional manoeuvre” when it flew dangerously close to an Australian Seahawk chopper over the Yellow Sea.

“The Chinese military has to take actions to protect our sovereignty, territory, integrity, and our reaction was legitimate, reasonable, it was appropriate,” Xiao said.

Last year, in separate incidents, a Chinese fighter jet released flares near an Australian surveillance aircraft in the South China Sea, and a flotilla of Chinese warships circumnavigated Australia and launched live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea.

While Xiao was keen to emphasise the incidents “had nothing to do with the China-Australia relationship”, he admitted they were a clear demonstration of China flexing its military muscle. “We’re no longer a country that can easily be bullied by other big powers.”

He also declared that China – an authoritarian state run by the Chinese Communist Party – was “a democracy in our own way, with Chinese characteristics”.

Tensions between Australia and China have largely thawed under the Albanese government, but the 2020 trade war between the two countries remains a sore point.

Xiao denied Beijing ever placed sanctions on Australian exports in response to the Morrison government calling for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.

“That was a response from the Chinese public. The Chinese public were so unhappy about the Liberal-led Coalition government on China’s question of Taiwan … the talk about China being the creator of COVID. When they are angry, they hate to go to the same shops to buy the same products,” he said.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/iran-may-be-using-china-s-advanced-satellite-system-ambassador-concedes-20260320-p5r641.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBxvcTwVA04

>>24395459

EU leader touches down as PM hopes to land trade deal

Zac de Silva and Andrew Brown - March 23 2026

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Australia ahead of the potential signing of a long-awaited free trade agreement.

The head of the European Union's executive branch landed in Sydney on Monday, where she met Governor-General Sam Mostyn at Admiralty House and was welcomed with an Indigenous smoking ceremony.

It's the first day of a three-day visit to Australia by the president, which is expected to culminate in the final points of a trade deal being agreed to.

The deal has been years in the making, with naming products such as cheese and wine among the sticking points.

Trade Minister Don Farrell and his European counterpart Maros Sefcovic discussed the free-trade deal on Monday.

Previous negotiations have fallen apart largely because of disagreements over the agriculture sector.

The Australian side wants meat producers to be allowed to sell more of their product to the European market - a push resisted by EU negotiators who want to protect their farmers from increased competition.

Some farmers are likely to be disappointed with the level of access to European markets locked in by the deal, but the two sides have made positive progress, a source close to the negotiations who was not authorised to speak publicly told AAP.

Europe had also sought to strip Australian farmers of the right to use geographic naming indicators such as feta, parmesan and prosecco.

A compromise on the dispute is expected to be reached.

The deal is likely to be signed off on Tuesday following talks between Ms von der Leyen and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra.

"This is a milestone moment for the relationship between Australia and the European Union, such an important relationship," Mr Albanese told parliament.

"Two-way trade is worth some $109 billion that represents jobs and economic prosperity and our government has been working constructively to take that to the next level."

Ms von der Leyen will become the first female foreign leader to address the federal parliament.

The trade deal would give Australian exporters better access to a market of 450 million people, Mr Albanese said.

"Agreement with Europe would, of course, strengthen that even further, but as well, we need to engage with Europe on matters of security," he said.

The drive for an agreement showed Europe and Australia were pushing back against US President Donald Trump's overturning of traditional trade systems, former Australian trade official Prudence Gordon said.

"The fact that Australia and the EU are negotiating this trade agreement now really signals their efforts to counter the chaos created by Donald Trump," the executive director of the Australian Centre for International Trade and Investment told AAP.

Mr Albanese has sought to frame the deal as a win for Australian exporters who could rake in an extra $10 billion annually.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9204610/eu-leader-touches-down-as-pm-hopes-to-land-trade-deal/

>>24379483

Anglican church apologises to sexual abuse victim Beth Heinrich

Will Murray - 23 March 2026

The Anglican archbishop of Brisbane has issued an emotional apology to the victim of child sexual abuse perpetrated by a priest, saying the church failed her both as a child, and when she sought help later in life.

"Most grievously, those in positions of senior leadership within the Brisbane diocese, including former Archbishop Peter Hollingworth, failed Beth," Archbishop Jeremy Greaves told his congregation at St John's Cathedral on Sunday evening.

"Rather than responding with compassion, and justice, and accountability, the church's response compounded her suffering, and this was wrong."

Beth Heinrich, now 86, was sexually abused as a teenager by Reverend Donald Shearman in the central-west New South Wales town of Forbes in the 1950s.

She had been a minor in his care at an Anglican-run boarding house.

In 1995, after Mr Shearman had moved to Queensland, she asked the then-Archbishop of Brisbane Dr Peter Hollingworth for help to have Mr Shearman removed from the clergy.

Dr Hollingworth denied that request, despite overseeing mediation in which Mr Shearman admitted to abusing Ms Heinrich.

In 2002, after being appointed to the position of Governor-General, Dr Hollingworth was questioned during an interview with the ABC about his alleged failure to take action against Mr Shearman.

During the interview he suggested that Ms Heinrich, 15 at the time, had instigated the sexual relationship with Mr Shearman, a married priest.

Dr Hollingworth resigned as governor-general in 2003 amid findings by the church he acted unfairly over his handling of child sexual abuse.

In 2023, a subsequent Anglican Church inquiry found he committed misconduct by allowing paedophile priests, including Mr Shearman, to keep working while he was the Archbishop of Brisbane in the 1990s.

Dr Hollingworth accepted those findings and said at the time: ""I made mistakes and I cannot undo them. But I committed no crimes."

Archbishop: 'I honour your courage'

During the traditional Sunday Service, Archbishop Greaves also lamented the additional harm that was done to Ms Heinrich by the church's failure to act in a timely manner against Mr Shearman, who wasn't defrocked until 2004.

"Beth, what happened to you was not your fault," he said.

"On behalf of the Diocese of Brisbane, I apologise to you for the abuse you suffered, and for the distress, isolation and harm caused by our failure to respond with integrity and care when you sought help."

At the end of the apology, the two shared a tearful embrace.

It's a moment Beth Heinrich has waited decades for, and she travelled from regional Victoria to attend the service.

"[Archbishop Greaves] is the first that appears to believe me, that I haven't been treated properly by previous archbishops and previous church supporters," Ms Heinrich said.

"I want to encourage others … if I can do it, others can do it too."

More than 70 years on from her abuse, she spoke of the pain of trying to seek the assistance and redress through senior church officials, only to be disbelieved or pushed aside.

"When they deny you something, it's like you're being abused again," she said.

"And the more that happens, the bigger the restitution has to be because the problem in you grows and grows."

While she said the apology brought to an end her years of struggle with the church, she hoped others would be inspired to seek their own justice.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-23/anglican-church-apologises-to-sexual-abuse-victim-beth-heinrich/106483594

>>24379483

>>24416011

Anglican Church issues formal apology to 86-year-old child sex abuse survivor Beth Heinrich

SARAH ELKS - 23 March 2026

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Under the grand stone-vaulted ceiling of Brisbane’s St John’s Cathedral on Sunday night, Anglican Archbishop Jeremy Greaves formally apologised to church child sexual abuse survivor Beth Heinrich.

More than seven decades after her abuse at the hands of bishop Donald Shearman, and years after then-archbishop Peter Hollingworth blamed her for her own assault, Ms Heinrich, 86, sat in the cathedral’s pews and watched as Archbishop Greaves stepped down from the pulpit and said sorry.

A survivor of sexual abuse himself, Archbishop Greaves clearly and frankly apologised for the failures of his predecessor Dr Hollingworth in his handling of Shearman, who died in 2019, and that bishop’s mistreatment of Ms Heinrich.

Shearman began grooming Ms Heinrich when she was 14 in the 1950s, sexually abusing her at 15 when she was sent to a church hostel. In 1977, Ms Heinrich fled a violent marriage and returned to Shearman, where he continued to exploit her vulnerability.

At the end of Sunday’s Evensong service, Archbishop Greaves said Ms Heinrich was subjected to abuse by Shearman in the context of “power and trust” and when she found the courage to speak to the church about what happened, she wasn’t listened to and her “voice was dismissed” by Dr Hollingworth.

“Most grievously, those in positions of senior leadership in the Brisbane diocese, including Archbishop Peter Hollingworth, failed Beth,” he said.

“Rather than expressing compassion, justice and accountability … the victim-survivor was blamed, while the person responsible was defended or excused.”

He stood in front of Ms Heinrich and told her that what happened to her was not her fault, apologised for the Brisbane diocese failing to act with integrity and care, and acknowledging the response had caused her terrible pain.

When Archbishop Greaves finished, he walked towards Ms Heinrich and the pair hugged.

Dr Hollingworth resigned as governor-general in 2003 after a Brisbane inquiry found he mishandled allegations of sexual abuse against pedophile priest John Linton Elliot. His exit from the nation’s top vice-regal office came the year after he told the ABC’s Australian Story that what happened to Ms Heinrich was “not sex abuse”.

“There was no suggestion of rape or anything like that. Quite the contrary. My information is that it was rather the other way around.”

Dr Hollingworth insisted the ABC’s reporting was wrong and his statement did not refer to Ms Heinrich. He apologised to her about 10 days after the television appearance.

Ms Heinrich has campaigned for years for justice, for herself and other victim-survivors.

Outside the cathedral, Ms Heinrich said she had pleaded with the church for years for help, and for understanding, but her trauma had been ignored, until Sunday’s apology.

“This is the end for me. I’m making an example and I want to encourage others … they’re to keep fighting if that’s what they need to do, (don’t) get dissuaded by knock-backs because you’ve just got to keep knocking at the door,” Ms Heinrich said.

She said Archbishop Greaves was the first person from the church “that appears to believe me, to believe that I haven’t been treated properly … by previous archbishops”.

(continued)

>>24416043

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Child safety expert Chris Goddard sat with Ms Heinrich on Sunday night. A long-time supporter of Ms Heinrich, Professor Goddard said he believed it was the first time an archbishop had apologised to a victim of child sexual abuse in a cathedral anywhere in the world.

He said he was in awe of Ms Heinrich’s strength and courage.

Earlier this month, Archbishop Greaves told The Australian he knew from experience how exhausting it could be to be a survivor of child sexual abuse.

“Victim-survivors so often carry shame and guilt that belongs to the perpetrators and others who have failed them,” said the Archbishop, who was a teenager in the early 1980s when he was assaulted by a Scouts leader. He became Archbishop of Brisbane in 2023.

“They are also at the mercy of legal and other processes that move incredibly slowly and can re-traumatise people again and again as they have to retell the story of their abuse … If a public apology and admission of the church’s failures can help Ms Heinrich, in even a small way, move one more step on her journey of healing, then it’s a good thing.

“There are so many parts of these processes over which I have no control, but I can do this one thing.”

If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline (13 11 14), the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467), Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636) and Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800).

https://www.1800respect.org.au/

https://www.lifeline.org.au/

https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

https://www.kidshelpline.com.au/

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/anglican-church-issues-formal-apology-to-86yearold-child-sex-abuse-survivor/news-story/dad59ec1bca0e3ff0808b5cb79edbe7a

https://qresear.ch/?q=Beth+Heinrich

https://qresear.ch/?q=Peter+Hollingworth