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Dezi Freeman killed by police in Victoria's north-east after seven-month hunt

Tim Callanan and Steve Vivian - 30 March 2026

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Police have shot dead a man believed to be fugitive gunman Dezi Freeman following a three-hour stand-off in Victoria's north-east this morning.

Victoria Police is yet to officially confirm the identity of the man but the ABC understands it was Freeman, who had been on the run since the fatal shooting of two police officers last August.

Freeman, 56, was shot at a property on Murray River Road in Thologolong, on the border with NSW, about 150 kilometres north-east of the site of the police shootings at Porepunkah.

Early on Monday morning police officers surrounded a building, described as a cross between a shipping container and a long caravan, where Freeman had been hiding.

A stand-off began about 5:30am before Freeman was fatally shot about 8:30am after he emerged from the shipping container, police said.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said Freeman was "given every opportunity to resolve [the situation] peacefully, but did not do so".

"Everything I have seen, everything I have briefed upon, tell me that our officers acted appropriately," he said at a press conference late this afternoon.

Chief Commissioner Bush said he had seen footage showing the person leaving the shipping container on the property and pointing a firearm at police.

"We tried everything possible, every tactical option that we have, to encourage the deceased to end this in a safe and peaceful manner," he said.

"They weren't taken."

He said that, in video he had seen, Freeman was wearing something like a blanket over his shoulders when he emerged from the shipping container.

He said it was from this cloak that he produced a firearm and pointed it towards police.

Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said a "very formal identification process" had to be carried out before the man's identity could be confirmed.

"The very first people to be made aware of the outcome of this operation were the families of the officers tragically killed on the 26th of August and all of the members that were involved on this day.

"Should it be confirmed that the deceased is Freeman, this brings closure to what was a tragic and terrible event."

Aerial footage from a helicopter show the remote property at a secluded location on the banks of the Murray River.

Photos of the property show heavily armoured police vehicles in attendance, parked next to derelict vehicles and shipping containers.

Chief Commissioner Bush said police believed Freeman was alone on the property.

"The information I have at the moment is that over the last 24 hours … there has been no one else except for the deceased at the property," he said.

He said it was quite possible the weapon found at the scene was a firearm taken from one of the slain police officers.

Earlier, Chief Commissioner Bush declined to provide detail on what led to police locating Freeman.

"The perseverance and the persistence of this investigation team exploring every other avenue that was open to them is what's led to this," he said.

"I'm not at liberty to share any confidential information."

He said the shooting brought to a close one of the biggest search operations in the history of Victoria Police.

"It was a horrendous crime where two of our officers were murdered and one was seriously injured. For that reason, it was our primary investigation," he said.

"It brings closure for every member of Victoria Police, not just those who have been directly involved."

Victoria Police said no officers were injured in the operation on Monday.

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Neil Sutherland, a resident of Thologolong on the border with NSW, said he was woken up at about 5am by the sound of a police helicopter near his home.

"I heard a chopper turn up, doing tight circles, tight laps," he said.

Mr Sutherland then heard a siren and a voice speaking over a loud speaker but couldn't quite make out what was being said.

"I heard a shot. But I didn't really know what was going on," he said.

He got up when he heard the helicopter and saw it outside. Even though it was dark, he said police were using a spotlight.

The state coroner will attend the scene and Victoria Police's Professional Standards Command will oversee the investigation into the shooting of Freeman.

On Monday afternoon Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said: "Today an evil man is dead and it's over, and it's good that this individual is no longer a threat to the Victorian community".

"But for the families of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, this will never be over," she said.

'It's a good day,' says friend of slain officer

Freeman, a self-proclaimed "sovereign citizen", fled into bushland at Mount Buffalo National Park after the Porepunkah shooting on August 26.

On that day, 10 officers went to his property and officers Senior Constable Thompson and Senior Constable De Waart-Hottart were shot dead.

Emergency services swarmed the regional town at the foot of Mount Buffalo, 300 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, after the shooting, but Freeman escaped into dense bushland.

The search area included steep, rocky terrain littered with caves and mineshafts.

A disability pensioner, who was born Desmond Filby, Freeman had previously tried to arrest a magistrate and was linked to an attempt to have former premier Daniel Andrews tried for treason.

Before the shooting, he left an online trail of angry tirades and anti-authority rants.

John Bird, who was close friends with Senior Constable Thompson, said he felt a sense of relief after hearing the news of Freeman's death.

"It's a good day," he said.

While it wouldn't bring back his friend, Mr Bird said "at least the person who caused it is not drawing breath anymore".

"It's just a relief … it doesn't change anything much, but it is closure on that side of things," he said.

Ashley Drummond, who lives at Mount Alfred near where Freeman was shot, said he was driving along Murray River Road when he was stopped by an unmarked police car.

"They were in front of me with their vehicle across the road and they were just sort of standing there … stopping any traffic that was going to try and go down," Mr Drummond said.

He said it was "quite amazing" that Mr Freeman had been found so far from Porepunkah.

"Given how far away from where he originally was, yeah, it's a strange location to be," he said.

A Police Association Victoria spokesperson said the shooting of Freeman was "a step forward".

"It doesn't lessen the trauma, give back the futures that were callously stolen or lessen the collective fear and grief that this tragic event has instilled in police and the wider public," the spokesperson said.

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Chief Commissioner Bush said police had investigated more than 2,000 leads over the course of the seven-month investigation into Freeman.

Victorian Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny expressed support for the Porepunkah community and "of course, the families of the two police officers killed in that tragic incident almost six months ago".

Following the shooting in August, the town of Porepunkah was placed in lockdown for several days, with locals initially sent emergency text messages telling them to remain indoors with their doors and windows locked.

The emergency advice then changed to urging locals to remain vigilant and avoid any unnecessary travel, but the alerts were sent to a wider area as the search for Freeman failed to result in any confirmed sightings.

Alpine Shire mayor Sarah Nicholas said the August shootings and their aftermath had "deeply affected" her community, which includes Porepunkah.

"These recent events … have had a significant impact on many individuals and families," she said in a statement following Freeman's death.

Peter Tolsher, the mayor of Towong Shire, where Freeman was killed, said the news had drawn a variety of reactions from the community.

"People are just in shock," he said.

Wife had urged Freeman to surrender

Early in the search, Freeman's wife Amalia and their son were arrested and questioned by police in relation to allegations of obstructing police.

She was released without charge as investigations continued.

Several days later, Ms Freeman issued a statement urging her husband to surrender.

Police remained mostly tight-lipped about their search operation in case Freeman was able to monitor media reports.

More than 100 properties in the region were searched as police investigated whether any associates were helping Freeman evade arrest.

In December, cadaver dogs assisted in a targeted five-day search for Freeman's remains.

In February, police said there was a "strong possibility" Dezi Freeman was dead in Mount Buffalo National Park as another targeted search got underway.

One of the two police officers killed in the August shooting, Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, was a member of the Public Order Response Team.

He had a passion for scuba diving and motorcycling with friends, and was fluent in English, French, Spanish and Flemish.

The 34-year-old's parents live in Belgium, his younger brother in Switzerland, and he had extended family in Melbourne.

His fallen colleague, Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, was a 38-year veteran of the police force who was due to retire just days later.

He planned to spend his retirement walking across South America, fishing with his mates, hunting deer and working on his King Valley home.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-30/dezi-freeman-shot-dead-police-search-victoria/106510112

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

https://qresear.ch/?q=Dezi+Freeman

>>24443520

>>24443520

Firearm found near Dezi Freeman’s shipping-container hideout

MOHAMMAD ALFARES - 30 March 2026

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A discarded pistol has been found by police near the scene of the deadly confrontation between accused double cop killer Dezi Freeman and heavily armed police near the fugitive’s shipping-container hideout.

Photographs taken by The Australian from a helicopter clearly show the discarded weapon with a crime scene number placed beside it at an isolated property outside of Walwa in northeast Victoria.

The firearm photo emerged as it can also be revealed police video captured the deadly moment Freeman, wanted over the double shooting murders of two police officers in Porepunkah last August, pulled a gun on heavily armed cops as they surrounded him in his isolated country hideout.

Victoria’s top cop Mike Bush confirmed in a late afternoon press conference at the scene of the fatal climax to a 216-day manhunt had been recorded on police cameras.

Chief commissioner Bush revealed he had seen video of Freeman leaving the building, which appears to be a converted shipping container, and displaying a firearm at officers.

“That action took away any discretion our officers had to resolve this peacefully,” Mr Bush said.

Mr Bush said as far as police knew, there hadn’t been anyone apart from Freeman at the property in the past 24 hours.

“That doesn’t mean there haven’t been in the past,” he said.

He said police were yet to locate and speak with the owner of the property, believed to be Richard Arnold Sutherland. There is no suggestion Mr Sutherland knew Freeman was on the land.

Mr Bush said it was possible Freeman’s weapon had belonged to one of the officers shot dead in August.

He said police had been at the property for over 24 hours and began negotiating with Freeman at 5.30am.

“During those negotiations the deceased did share information to confirm who he was,” he said.

Freeman came out of his hiding spot wrapped in a blanket before exposing a weapon.

Victoria Police confirmed “it is understood a number of police discharged their firearms” during the confrontation around 8.30am.

Premier Jacinta Allan welcomed the development on Monday afternoon.

“Today an evil man is dead and it’s over,” Ms Allan said.

“And it’s good that this individual is no longer a threat to the Victorian community.”

Ms Allan said her thoughts were with the families of the killed police officers and the community of Porepunkah.

“The threat may be over, but for you the mourning will never end,” she said.

Mr Bush revealed on Monday that a 216-day manhunt for the accused cop killer had come to an end when police shot Freeman dead at a property in the northeast town of Walwa.

Special Operations Group police led the raid on the property.

At the late afternoon press conference at the scene of the confrontation, Mr Bush said the state coroner would lead the independent investigation into the shooting.

Mr Bush said the coroner would be supported by Victoria Police, but that he was “very comfortable” with the actions of officers.

“Everything I have seen, everything I have been briefed upon, tell me that our officers acted appropriately,” Mr Bush said.

“It’s quite clear to us now that the deceased was given every opportunity to resolve this peacefully and did not take that option.”

“Everything I know at this point tells me that this shooting was justified,” he said. Mr Bush said the police operation was conducted by professionals.

“There was an appeal to encourage the person to come out … it did result from a standoff. He then exited the building. There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully, which he did not. We strongly believe he was armed,” Mr Bush said.

Freeman, according to a report in the Herald Sun, was shot dead after he emerged firing a hand gun taken from one of the police he is suspecting of killing in Porepunkah. The Herald Sun has revealed the SOG surrounded the property overnight and threw stun grenades before the shootout.

The police raid started around 5.30am, the chief commissioner said. Mr Bush has stopped short of naming Freeman as the victim but said the families of the dead police had been informed.

A Filipino couple may become a key focus for investigators as they piece together his life on the run.

(continued)

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Where was Dezi Freeman found? Details from Walwa

“It’s a very remote community,’’ Mr Bush said of the property he was shot at.

“To my knowledge no-one else was in the immediate vicinity.’’

Mr Bush had no idea who had helped him, but did say he had been hiding in a structure was a cross between a shipping container and caravan.

The shootout erupted at the property about 8.30am Monday. Freeman confronted the officers with a firearm before he was shot dead. It’s believed he was being harboured by a sovereign citizen.

“I confirm that this morning … Victoria police fatally shot a man,” Mr Bush said, before adding that police were not able to confirm the man was Freeman until a formal identification process was complete.

The 56-year-old was located on Monday morning before being shot by heavily armed police, ending a complex search operation that has lasted six months.

Freeman has been on the run since August 26, 2025, in a manhunt that lasted 216 days.

He was shot about 150km northeast of Porepunkah in the Mt Lawson State Park, near the NSW and Victorian border. No police officers were injured during the incident.

The area — which is basically inhabited except for small outstations, scattered homes, farms and campsites — is situated on the banks of the Murray River near the small rural Victorian region of Burrowye and around 15 to 20 minutes from the small township of Walwa.

The town of Walwa had a population of just under 200 in the 2021 census.

There is a growing police presence in the area. The area was hit by the Victorian bushfires earlier this year and one source with knowledge of this morning’s operation said Freeman was found very close to where the fire — which was ignited by lightning — commenced at Mt Lawson State Park on January 5.

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The Porepunkah shooting: A timeline of events

Victoria Police officers Vadim de Waart-Hottart and Neal Thompson were killed as they entered the bus Freeman lived in on the property on the outskirts of Porepunkah.

The Police Association said on Monday morning “our members said they would find him. They did”.

“Closure isn’t the right word,” an association spokesperson said.

“This represents a step forward for our members, for the families of our fallen members and for the community.

“It doesn’t lessen the trauma, give back the futures that were callously stolen or lessen the collective fear and grief that this tragic event has instilled in police and the wider public. “Today, we won’t reflect on the loss of a coward. We will remember the courage and bravery of our fallen members and every officer that has doggedly pursued this outcome for the community.

“They have worked tirelessly. During the emergency, in the operation that followed and the months thereafter, members across the state have devoted themselves to this singular pursuit. “Days like today offer a sobering reminder that policing happens while you sleep, when the media spotlight on an investigation dims and when everything seems lost and forgotten. RIP, Vadim and Neal. Today we remember you.”

State Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said it was a “developing situation” and she was just briefed on the incident.

“Our thoughts, our concerns and our support are with the Porepunkah community, and of course the families of the two police officers how were killed in that tragic incident nearly six months ago.

“This is a developing situation and we’re just being briefed on this at the moment and further information will follow and we’ll be able to say more in due course.”

“I think it is really important to think about the Porepunkah community. I know it has been six months now.”

Victoria Police recently announced they will not proceed with charges against alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman’s estranged wife and two other people. Amalia Freeman, also known as Mali, 42, and a 56-year-old man were investigated by police for obstruction following the deadly shooting of two Victoria Police officer at a Porepunkah property almost six months ago.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/dezi-freeman-found-shot-dead/news-story/0e1b9dd6ef28c6bea80e6e54f8495095

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVU3ltBBdvE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGqV3tU2UXc

>>24443520

>>24443533

How Dezi evaded cops and secretly moved 200km during seven-month manhunt, as police reveal ‘strong theory’

Harrison Christian and Cydonee Mardon - March 30, 2026

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Police have a “strong theory” on Dezi Freeman’s movements in the days after shooting dead two police officers in August.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush did not share that information with reporters on Monday, but said it would have been “very difficult” for the fugitive cop killer to travel alone almost 200 kilometres to the remote container where he was found.

Sources told the Herald Sun that a Filipino couple had been hiding Freeman at the property and he emerged from a container firing a hand gun he stole from Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson in August.

Thompson was one of two police officers who Freeman allegedly shot before going on the run for seven months.

Officers had surrounded the container early on Monday morning in a three-hour siege and deployed flash bangs before Freeman emerged with the gun blazing, sources said.

Police confirmed a man had been shot about 8.30am at a property in northeast Victoria as part of the seven-month operation to locate Freeman, with no officers injured during the incident.

Cops were tipped off that Freeman was hiding in a container on a property near the isolated town of Walwa, 188km or a two-and-a-half hour drive northeast of Porepunkah, where he was last seen on August 26.

Chief Commissioner Bush said on Monday morning that police still had to “run through a very formal identification process” to confirm the man who was fatally shot was Freeman.

While the Professional Standards Command would investigate the shooting, “everything I know at this point tells me that this shooting was justified,” the Chief Commissioner said.

“There was an appeal to encourage the person to come out - we’re examining the sequence of events.

“It did result from a stand-off, the deployment of tactics; he then exited the building. There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully, which he did not.

“We strongly believe - yet to be confirmed as well - that he was armed.”

Chief Commissioner Bush described the dwelling where Freeman was shot as a “cross between a container and a very long caravan”.

He said “everyone in that environment will be spoken to” to see whether or not they assisted Freeman.

“It’s a rural property, at some point we’ll be able to describe it. It’s a very remote community. To my knowledge, no one else was in the immediate vicinity.”

Police were still investigating whether anyone had helped Freeman to travel from the Porepunkah area where the hunt began to where he was found, and aided him while he was on the run, Chief Commissioner Bush said.

“It would be very difficult for him to get to where he was - if that is in fact him - without assistance.”

‘Rat-like cunning’: How Dezi survived seven months

Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro said Freeman had been found close to where the manhunt began because the area was a “safe haven for him” and he had used “rat-like cunning” to escape the law.

“He was able to evade people. He’s an intelligent man. Or he was, to survive like that for as long as he did - I think speaks to his capacity to survive in the bush,” Mr Watson-Munro told 7 News.

“So living in a container would not necessarily be that arduous for him.”

The psychologist added that the sovereign citizen ideology meant Freeman must have believed the law didn’t apply to him.

“They think that they create their own laws.

“So for him to commit the murders that he did to evade detection, he would think it’s his sovereign right not to be caught and not to be held accountable. It’s all part of their thinking.”

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Another expert said it was “very possible” Freeman had external help to evade cops.

“Given it’s been six months, it’s very possible he had assistance of some type,” criminologist and former detective Dr Vincent Hurley told news.com.au.

“But I think it’s unlikely someone let him camp out on their property. They could be charged with harbouring him, and I suspect police would have had him under surveillance for a while before they decided to arrest him.

“The police would not have just rushed in, because they would want to make sure if he was acting alone.”

It was possible the container where Freeman was found was abandoned, Dr Hurley said, but he acknowledged it might also have been “owned by someone who knew him”.

He added that he was “surprised he (Freeman) lasted this long”.

“Given his social isolation - not many would have sympathy for him locally, therefore there was lack of support for his survival.

“He survived through snow and summer heat.”

Shootout came after police said he was likely already dead

Chief Commissioner Bush said on Monday that there was “a lot to suggest that Freeman had taken his own life, but I can tell you standing here that our investigators, that’s why they’re professionals, keep their mind open to every possible outcome and every possible lead”.

In November last year, police said they were unsure if the fugitive was dead or alive after extensive searches of caves, mines and rivers in the dense bushland.

“Even though we’re getting information, we’ve had no positive sightings and we’re still no clearer as to whether he’s dead or alive,” Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said at the time.

A month later, the language shifted as police said their new focus was on “identifying and locating evidence or the body of Freeman”.

But the strongest language to date came in an interview in February, just two months ago, when police said they “strongly believed” the cop killer was dead.

“There has not been any proof of life since the 26th of August last year,” Victoria Police Detective Inspector Adam Tilley said.

“We are comfortable that we don’t believe he is here alive.

“We do believe, strongly, that he is in this area deceased.”

Detective Inspector Tilley stressed there were still two other theories that couldn’t be ruled out.

“The same three possibilities remain open to us — Freeman is either dead, being harboured, or has gotten out from the area and surviving alone,” he said.

“At this time there is no intelligence to move us away from these possibilities or to make any one the more likely scenario, so we have to keep an open mind.”

Two officers killed before Dezi fled in August

Freeman, formerly Filby, allegedly gunned down two police officers at his remote Porepunkah property, in Victoria’s northeast, on August 26 while they were trying to execute a search warrant.

Detective leading senior constable Neal Thompson and senior constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart were tragically killed, and a third police officer was seriously injured during the alleged shooting.

Police last saw the 56-year-old flee into bushland near the Rayner Track property after the fatal incident armed with guns.

The self-described sovereign citizen was a married father of two and an experienced bushman who had previously been hostile towards police and the judicial system.

A large-scale manhunt involving 450 Victoria Police officers, Australian Defence Force members, Australian Federal Police and officers from other states searched for the alleged double-murderer using heat detecting assets and other technology.

Heavily armed officers in Bearcats and police vehicles were seen searching Freeman’s property.

More than 100 properties in the Porepunkah region were also searched by police in the hunt for the alleged gunman.

Freeman’s wife, Amalia (Mali) Freeman, was interviewed regarding indictable obstruction of police during the search, but police announced earlier this month there was insufficient evidence to charge her.

There was speculation Freeman could be hiding underground in one of the hundreds of mineshafts in the area or was being harboured by sympathisers.

A $1 million reward was offered to anyone who provided information that led to his arrest.

https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/how-dezi-escaped-the-law-for-six-months-unlikely-he-had-help-at-remote-container-property-expert-says/news-story/b048ab68020eae9e171f7cca598e7eb5

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

>>24355021

>>24440485

>>24440495

Fuel price cut for Easter as fears grow nation will be in recession by Christmas

Mike Foley - March 30, 2026

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Excise tax will be halved for three months to deliver a 26¢ cut to a litre of petrol, Labor has announced, as economists warn the Iran war could force interest rates up three more times by August and drive the economy into a recession by Christmas.

The dire economic outlook followed the release by national cabinet of a fuel crisis plan, to co-ordinate national response to the international energy crunch caused by the loss of 20 per cent of global oil supply from the Middle East.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia’s fuel supply remained secure into May, as the volume of fuel imports was expected to stay at normal levels, and he encouraged motorists not to ditch their plans for travel over Easter.

“People should enjoy their Easter. And it’s important as well that we keep the economy going. Easter is an important time for tourism destinations, for jobs,” he said.

The cut in excise will kick in on Wednesday, April 1, but further relief could come as state premiers consider a possible easing of the 10 per cent GST on fuel sales.

Australia imports 90 per cent of its diesel and petrol, and the fuel plan outlined four steps to keep the economy moving if supply runs short.

The nation is already at stage two of the plan under which the government seeks to boost fuel supplies. That includes releasing strategic reserves, underwriting the cost of importing petrol and diesel and lowering fuel standards.

State and federal governments are consulting industries about how, if the war drags on, to roll out the rest of the plan. That includes fuel-saving measures such as encouraging carpooling and working from home.

Fuel rationing would kick in under stage four if there are “significant” gaps in supply. This could include forcing motorists and non-essential industries to curb their use, with priority given to critical sectors such as agriculture, food distribution, transport and mining.

Panic buying has drained fuel at hundreds of service stations across the country and helped force prices to record levels. Regular unleaded petrol has reached $2.53 per litre, up 40 per cent compared to prices before the war began on February 28, while diesel is now at $3.10.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said he was working with industries about any potential fuel rationing.

“A lot of work is going into these different phases, and level three and level four are still under consideration and consultation,” Minns said.

Albanese, who made a plea to US President Donald Trump for a “de-escalation” of the war, also announced that the heavy vehicle road user charge, which affects companies that supply the nation’s supermarkets and food retailers, would be axed for the three months.

A fuel industry source, not willing to speak publicly, said the national plan would help alleviate panic buying, while spelling out later measures would have made things worse.

“There is nothing the government could have announced that would not have spurred panic buying,” they said.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said reductions in government taxes on petrol were designed to take “some of the sting” out of fuel prices sent skyrocketing by the war in the Middle East. He said it would result in a $19 reduction in the cost of filling a 65-litre petrol tank, and cost the budget an estimated $2.55 billion.

“This is timely. This is targeted. This is responsible cost-of-living relief to help people get through a difficult period,” Chalmers said.

But shadow treasurer Tim Wilson said the government had to take responsibility for an increase in inflation.

“Australia’s persistent inflation fire may be given extra oxygen from international events, but mortgage holders would be breathing easier had the government snuffed the fire before these events,” he said.

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High petrol prices could be the least of home buyers’ problems. Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis, a former Reserve Bank assistant government, said the RBA could increase interest rates at its May, June and August meetings to go with its hikes in February and March.

That would take the cash rate to 4.85 per cent, its highest since the depths of the global financial crisis in late 2008, and add almost $300 to the monthly repayments on a $600,000 mortgage.

She said the war in Iran, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, would push up inflation and force the Reserve Bank to take action that would result in unemployment reaching 5 per cent.

“It also reflects the surprisingly rapid pass-through of higher fuel and other oil-derived product prices into other prices in Australia,” she said.

HSBC Australia chief economist Paul Bloxham, also a former RBA economist, said the impact of higher oil prices on households - who account for more than half of all economic activity - would result in the economy going backwards in the June quarter.

“Whether it falls again in September quarter - and thus Australia has a technical recession - depends heavily on how soon events in the Middle East de-escalate and oil prices fall, amongst other factors,” he said.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said the states were still negotiating how the GST - all of which is returned to the states - is applied to fuel and discussions were continuing.

Victorian Treasury officials were on Monday modelling the financial impact of GST discounts which would see the amount of tax per litre frozen or capped at pre-crisis levels and deliver a further saving to motorists.

However, Premier Allan was tight-lipped on what was being considered.

“We’ve not resolved as state and territories any changes…to GST arrangements,” she said. “There’s some discussions around what could be considered.”

At the start of the crisis, the national average cost of unleaded petrol was $1.69 a litre, which included 15 cents a litre on GST. If the states agree to charge motorists 15 cents a litre GST from 1 April, it would represent a saving at the bowser of about 6 cents a litre.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/fuel-excise-cut-for-three-months-as-pm-announces-national-fuel-plan-20260330-p5zjxd.html

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

>>24355021

>>24433108

Albanese: I want ‘certainty’ from Trump on Iran war aims

Matthew Knott - March 30, 2026

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Canberra/Washington: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called for more clarity from Donald Trump about his aims for the war in Iran, as the US president muses on the possibility of seizing the regime’s oil supplies.

Albanese’s more forceful language after a month of war in the Middle East came as Trump insisted that the war could end soon after progress in negotiations, even as the Pentagon orders the deployment of 10,000 more troops to Iran.

“I want to see more certainty in what the objectives of the war are, and I want to see a de-escalation,” Albanese told reporters on Monday. “So a de-escalation is in the global economy’s interests.”

Trump told the London Financial Times in his latest interview that the US military had “another couple of thousand targets to go” in Iran and that “a deal could be made fairly quickly”.

But in the same interview, Trump said he wanted to seize Iran’s oil resources, a move that would mark a major escalation in the conflict.

“To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran, but some stupid people back in the US say: ‘Why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” he said.

Taking Iran’s oil would require a risky military operation involving the invasion and occupation of its main export hub, Kharg Island, which also houses an Iranian naval base. Trump said that taking Kharg Island “would also mean we had to be there for a while”.

The US has sent dissonant messages about the next stages of the war. Trump has pushed for ceasefire talks with Iran even as the military ramps up forces in the region.

Thousands of US troops amassed in the Middle East at the weekend, including an amphibious assault team that arrived on Saturday. Members of the 82nd Airborne Division were also on their way.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night (Washington time) that Iran “gave” America most of the 15 demands it issued to Tehran to end the war, even as it remained unclear whether either side was negotiating.

“They gave us most of the points. Why wouldn’t they?” he said, declining to specify what concessions Iran had offered.

Publicly, Iran has rejected the US’ 15-point list of ceasefire terms delivered by the Trump administration via intermediaries in Pakistan, and has countered with five conditions of its own – including maintaining sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

The president said on Sunday that the US and Iran had been meeting “directly and indirectly” and that Iran’s new leaders have been “very reasonable”, claiming they would permit 20 more oil cargo ships through the Strait from Monday (Washington time) as a “sign of respect”.

But negotiations did not preclude further military action.

“We’re doing extremely well in that negotiation,” Trump said. “But you never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up.”

Trump also suggested that the US had already achieved its goal of regime change, saying: “We’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before” following the killing of many of Iran’s senior leaders, including supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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Albanese said he regarded the Iranian regime as “abhorrent and reprehensible”, but was unsure whether foreign military intervention could achieve true regime change.

“Whether that is going to occur or not is something that I think needs to be outlined,” he said.

Albanese said that “history tells us that regime change imposed from outside is very difficult. [It] tends to happen from the bottom up within a country, rather than being imposed from outside, because military action against a nation will tend to promote nationalism within that nation.”

He did not go as far as Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie, who at the weekend described the war as “a huge miscalculation” and criticised Trump’s lack of consultation with allies.

Albanese said he believed the US and Israeli strikes had “clearly” achieved the other two aims: stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and degrading Iran’s ability to fund terror proxies throughout the region.

Iran is still believed to possess 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, which would probably require a complex ground operation to remove.

Iran’s parliamentary Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused the US of sending messages about possible negotiations while at the same time planning a ground invasion. Tehran was ready to respond if US soldiers were deployed, he said.

“As long as the Americans seek Iran’s surrender, our response is that we will never accept humiliation,” he said in a message to the nation.

https://www.theage.com.au/world/middle-east/albanese-i-want-certainty-from-trump-on-iran-war-aims-20260330-p5zjy1.html

https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/idRW851330032026RP1/