Emergency oil supplies released

ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music, and more.

Good morning.

Welcome to AM.

It's Thursday, the 12th of March.

I'm Melissa Clark in Canberra, coming to you from None of All Country, and acknowledging

other custodians.

To the Middle East conflict, Iran has threatened to attack vessels in the Strait of Hormuz,

an overnight UK authorities said three cargo ships had been struck by projectiles.

Global and gas supply through the key shipping lane has been severely constrained by the risk

of attack, causing global supply shortages and soaring prices.

It's led to dozens of countries agreeing to release a record amount of oil from their

emergency reserves, all 32 of the international energy agencies members, including Australia,

voted in support of the action, which gives countries the option of releasing their reserves

over the next 90 days.

The Australian government is now considering whether to do that.

The International Energy Agency's Executive Director, Fati Biroul, says the group is responding

to unprecedented challenges.

IA countries have unanimously decided to launch the largest ever release of emergency oil

stocks in our agency's history.

IA countries will be making 400 million dollars of oil available.

But to be clear, the most important thing for a return to stable flows of oil and gas

is the resumption of transit through the state of Hormuz.

The IA is Fati Biroul there.

Most shipping companies are unwilling to take the risk of transiting through the Strait

of Hormuz right now, but the US President is encouraging tankers to make the journey,

saying the US has neutralised the threat.

Correspondent Barbara Miller is in Washington.

What do we hear from the President on the Strait of Hormuz?

A day ago, we heard that he was very concerned about possible mines in the key shipping lane.

He threatened Iran and said they should remove any mines they had laid.

Now he says that the US has effectively taken out almost all of these mine laying bolts.

And he says that it is now safe for ships to cross the Strait of Hormuz.

It seems that odds with a couple of things, firstly, there have been some unknown projectiles

striking a number of cargo vessels there.

And we also had this message today from US Central Command.

They put it out advised to civilians living close to port facilities along the Strait.

And they said that the regime was using them to conduct military operations that threatened

international shipping.

That would seem to suggest there is still a pretty active threat there.

But let's just have a listen to part of the exchange on this issue.

This is Donald Trump about to board Marine 1, the presidential chopper.

So a lot of background noise, but let's have a listen.

You talk to the CEOs of various oil companies encouraging them to use the Strait of Hormuz.

I think they should.

I think they should use the Strait of Hormuz.

Look, we took out just about all of their mindships in one night.

Donald Trump there.

And Bob, the New York Times has some reporting into the investigation into the strike on

a school in Iran.

What can you tell us there?

Yeah, what the New York Times says is that the preliminary investigation has found that

the target coordinates were false for that strike and that the US was responsible for

hitting a strike.

It says that the US was working on outdated data.

Now Donald Trump was asked earlier about those findings.

He brushed off that question.

He said he didn't know about that.

The White House has said he will accept the results of the investigation.

But they've been trying to, I guess, block the question essentially up until now, saying

the investigation is still ongoing.

I think there's a limit to how long they can keep not answering questions on this.

If we haven't reached it today with this New York Times reporting, I think we're pretty

close to it.

Barbara Miller in Washington.

In Australia, there's been a petrol price spikes and a jump in demand for fuel.

The federal government is warning suppliers they'll face double penalties for misleading

conduct or cartel behavior.

Fuel companies are being called to an urgent meeting with the competition and consumer

watchdog to discuss petrol prices since the outbreak of the war.

The A-Triple C is moving to weekly price monitoring and will work with the sector to coordinate

supply and unlock bottlenecks.

It comes as experts warn Australia remains ill-prepared as any guest reports.

As authorities insist panic buying and stockpiling are causing fuel issues, rather than an

overall supply shortage, former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry agrees, but says Australia

is unprepared regardless.

This is a wake-up call.

We are ironically confronting right now a stalling of the rollout of renewable energy that

is desperately needed in order to reduce the reliance upon fossil fuels.

We should be accelerating this rollout.

It should not be stalled.

Ken Henry, who is the chairman of the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation, says

the lack of progress on some major renewables projects, is because some people are concerned

about land clearing for wind or solar farms.

It's just absolutely crazy that our climate policy is being seen to be in competition

with protection of the environment.

After all the whole point of climate policy is to secure a more livable planet.

Changes to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act, legislated in November, aimed

to address these concerns through detailed mapping called bioregional plans.

It shows which areas can be developed and which need to be conserved.

Ken Henry says this year's budget must provide funding for the changes.

And we're calling for $40 to $50 million over four years to be invested in the development

of bioregional plans.

We're also calling for environment information Australia to be funded.

We think probably $45 million will be required to deliver the critical data that will be

needed to underpin the development of those bioregional plans.

AM approached the Minister for the Environment, Murray Watt for a response.

A government spokesperson says the Commonwealth States and territories continue to work together

on the reforms, including through pilot programs.

The Institute for Integrated Economic Research Australia also wants renewables expedited.

But it's Chairman John Blackburn, who's also the former Deputy Chief of the Air Force,

says the first step is a national energy security assessment.

If you don't understand your risks and you don't understand your vulnerabilities

and you haven't made a strategy in plan, then what you do is you react to the next crisis.

We've got to prepare for a range of crises, not just continue to react.

We reacted to the pandemic because we didn't prepare.

We're reacting to this because we haven't adequately prepared.

We're too complacent.

John Blackburn also asserts that Australia is complacent about certain international obligations.

As a member of the International Energy Agency countries,

we're supposed to have what's called 90 days of net imports.

It doesn't really reflect specific fuel you can use in Australia,

but it's a measure what do you import, what do you export,

what does it mean?

How many days capacity do you have in the country?

We are the only member country of all member countries

that doesn't mean our 90-day requirement is currently 50 days.

The Minister for Energy, Chris Bowen, says the purpose of the International Energy Agency's 90-day requirement

is for selling overseas, if necessary, and is unrelated to domestic supply.

Our minimum stock obligation which this government put in place to be held in Australia,

four Australians at times of crisis is in place.

Nationally, our stocks are good.

We are working cooperatively with the industry to ensure that it is delivered to the regions

that are experiencing shortages as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen there ending Annie Guests' report.

The death toll in Lebanon is now more than 600 after a week of Israeli strikes against claimed Hezbollah targets.

More than 700,000 Lebanese residents are now registered as displaced.

The humanitarian crisis is putting immense strain on the financially crippled country

with people forced to camp intense and charities picking up the slack.

Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran reports.

In the plaza around Lebanon's largest stadium, children are being entertained by volunteers,

trying to keep their mind off. What's happening around?

Camille Shemun Sport City is on the edge of Hezbollah's Beirut stronghold suburb of Dahia.

45,000 people can fill its stands for football matches,

but there are now more than 800 people living in tents underneath.

Well, unfortunately this is a crisis that involves all of Lebanon.

Beirut's mayor is Ibrahim Zedan.

These people have escaped very dangerous situations and they have seek shelter in the city.

We started with 20 locations. Now we've reached 100 locations that we have filled with people

that need aid support and place to sleep in.

The stadium is hosting just a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of people

displaced across the country. Among them is Yasmin, who left her home with her husband and children

when Israel started issuing warnings.

We were barfing the children when they immediately issued a warning to evacuate

the entire southern suburbs of Beirut, so we quickly put off things in a van and left right away.

The van was rented, but then they took the van from us and we ended up in the street.

Israeli strikes across Beirut and beyond are continuing.

As the IDF attacks claimed,

Hezbollah targets after the militant group entered the broader conflict last week

and launched rockets and drones at Israel.

An apartment block outside of Dahia, the latest target.

But as civilians flee their homes, charities are being forced to step in

and provide basic services.

We cannot tell no for anyone.

Mariam's kitchen is one of those organizations.

Its founder is Father Honeytalk.

Normally in our kitchen, Mariam's kitchen will distribute,

we provide 3000 hot meals every day, but with this word and with the place

we are obliged to go with 5000 hot meals every day.

And it's not easy.

One of the women helping in the kitchen is Imhan Jaffal,

a yoga teacher displaced from the city of Taya further south.

The memories of previous attacks still roar.

Imhan said it took her family more than 12 hours to drive

less than 100 kilometers to Beirut because of clogged roads.

Honestly, even the last time we were afraid,

but this time it feels worse.

That's my feeling, but I don't want to think that way.

Hopefully my feeling is wrong.

A sentiment shared across the community.

This is Matthew Doran in Jerusalem, reporting for AM.

The promotion of Conservative Queensland Senator Matt Canaver and to

Leader of the National Party settles the team leading the coalition

after months of internal disputes in both the nationals and the Liberals.

The outspoken backbencher will now work alongside fellow Conservative Angus Taylor

as the coalition tries to rebuild from last year's election loss.

Former Conservative politicians say the challenges ahead are enormous,

but the strategy could pay off.

Political reporter Samantha Dick has the story.

Retired National Senator John Williams says no matter what people think about Matt Canavern,

the rebel backbencher turned National Party leader knows how to cut through to voters.

What can Matt Canavern do? He can sell a message.

Samantha and I think he can be very good at that.

After months of infighting within the coalition,

the nationals have a new look leadership team after the resignation of David Littleproud

with Queensland Senator Matt Canavern elected as leader

and Victorian MP Darren Chester as his deputy.

He's a good man, he's a good politician, he's a good brain, he's an economist.

With Conservative Liberal Leader Angus Taylor working in tandem with Matt Canavern,

it appears the coalition believes the answer to last year's withering election defeat

lies in shifting further to the right.

Former moderate Liberal MP Keith Wallahan,

who lost the seat of men's ease in Melbourne's northeastern suburbs,

says the road to recovery has barely started.

I don't think we're even a base camp of the mountain that we have to climb.

He says the coalition faces the twin challenge of chasing back votes in inner city seats

at risk by teal independence and defending votes in regional areas under threat by Paul

Enhancens, one nation party. 57% of the parliament is metropolitan, but I think at the moment there is

a real political threat in the regions that many nationals and rural and regional liberals

may lose their seats to one nation.

Despite Matt Canavern's vocal support for building new coal-fired power stations

and his strong opposition to a net zero emissions target by 2050,

Keith Wallahan says he doesn't think the senators' key leadership role will deter inner city voters

who want stronger action on climate change.

I think Matt's capable of recognising that and recognising there are legitimate

concerns about the environment and climate change.

Jill Sheppard is an associate professor in politics at the Australian National University.

She says the nationals have taken a risk by electing a divisive backbencher to the leadership,

but it could pay dividends.

If this, you know, pays off and Matt Canavern can take a populist approach to rural voters,

leaving Angus Taylor to speak freely, to inner suburban voters, and I think it's well worth a try

and it may well work.

Once a staffer to former nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, who defected to one nation last year,

Matt Canavern recently spoke out against Pauline Hanson,

overheard latest derogatory comments about Muslim Australians.

Keith Wallahan says it's this kind of behaviour that sets Matt Canavern apart from others in Australia's

right wing.

And so that shows a strength of character in him as a person.

With two years until the next federal election, former national senator John Williams says the

pressure is on to unite the coalition and get on with the job.

Let's face it, if you have a weak opposition, you can have a weak government.

Former national senator John Williams ending that report by Samantha Dick.

Now, you might not think a pinball machine has a place in Australian cultural history,

but five made in Newcastle, more than 40 years ago,

have just been added to the national film and sound archive.

They feature classic Australianer designs and will soon be open to members of the public to test

out their skills. John Franco did Giovanni prepared this report.

It's a world of flashing lights, deafening noise and constant money flow,

and Lord knows where the money comes from.

In 1979, the ABC's Four Corners took a closer look at pinball parlors

and asked if the latest gaming craze was harming Australian teens.

There's a certain addiction, like we have a pinball pilot near the school and I know the guy,

I might get some money off him, you know, some people, they fieve it.

This kid, his mother gave him the rent, the gun pay,

and he went and spent it on pinballs.

I spend about $2 a day in the mornings when I had his kill and just miss out on my lunch.

These days, the pinball machine is remembered less as a moral panic and more as a popular pastime.

Its cultural significance is being recognised by the National Film and Sound Archive,

which has just snapped up five Australian-made machines.

They were developed in the late 70s and 80s by Newcastle Brothers David and Peter Hanken.

David Hanken explains the machines available were expensive to import.

We went into full-scale production of pinball machines.

We had no idea what we were starting, you know, had no idea how complicated it was.

And we were very lucky in that Newcastle University produced some pretty smart young guys

and we were able to look at American pinball machines, how they worked and what they did,

and then design our own electronics.

And that was the big deal.

It took us months and months to produce the electronics for a pinball machine.

Every component was made here, including the boards.

Chris Arneal says it led to some unique looks for a local audience.

He's a digital games curator at the National Film and Sound Archive.

Because Hanken was making these machines with no intention for overseas distribution,

so they could really harness like Australia in the designs we look after Australia's audio

visual heritage.

And yeah, when you see pinball machines that are just so Australian, it's really exciting.

One of the designs featured the Australian car model, the FJ Holden.

Another is dedicated to West Australian fast-bola Dennis Lilly.

And there's the world's first Star Wars pinball machine.

David Hanken still can't believe the company secured a deal with the creator, George Lucas,

who only wanted one machine in return.

We approached him and said he'd be interested in doing something like this or allowing us to do

something like this in the end, so surprisingly it was yes. Happy to do it.

And then we were flabbergasted and here we are, this plant-sized pinball manufacturer.

The complicated designs of the machines made them prone to failure,

but it was the introduction of the arcade game Space Invaders in 1980 that sent them to the tip.

Canberra-based collectors Stephen and Cassandra Smith have been tracking down the

elusive Hanken machines.

We think that there's probably less than 150 across all five of the titles still available.

The only made 1150 across all five.

And that was between 1978 and 1980, so that they're extremely rare and extremely popular.

Is it fun to play?

Oh, they could play. They're great fun to play.

The National Film and Sound Archive will put the almost 50-year-old pinball machines on public

display later this year to be played by kids big and small for generations to come.

John Franco did Giovanni reporting, and that's AM for today. Thanks for your company. I'm Melissa Clark.

Hi, it's Sam Hawley here, host of the ABC News Daily podcast. It can gather intelligence,

pick targets and plan bombings. Artificial intelligence is playing an integral part in the war

in Iran. But while AI reshapes warfare, how can we be sure it's not making mistakes?

Today Toby Walsh, the Chief Scientist at the AI Institute at the Union of New South Wales

on what's unfolding on the battlefield. Look for the ABC News Daily podcast on ABC Listen.