Australia politics as it happened: Israeli ambassador defends death penalty laws; Albanese rules out bigger parliament

Thanks for following our live coverage of federal politics. Here’s what we covered throughout the day:

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that in some cases it may take up to a fortnight for cuts to the fuel excise to flow through to bowsers. The change comes in tomorrow, but it may be some time before petrol stations run out of fuel they purchased at higher prices.
• The prime minister all but ruled out a change to the size of federal parliament, as the government had mooted late last year, after the Coalition formally opposed any move to add more senators and MPs this morning. In question time, the prime minister said he had no interest in the change.
• Israel’s ambassador to Australia said his country should be “commended” for the “low number of uninvolved civilians that were actually killed” in Gaza since October 7, 2023, and argued that there was no genocide taking place in the region.

• Foreign Minister Penny Wong has told the Labor caucus that Australia opposes the death penalty “in all instances”, after Israel passed laws that made the default punishment for a Palestinian convicted of murdering an Israeli death by hanging.

That’s all for the blog today, but we will return tomorrow to cover the final sitting day of parliament before the budget is delivered in May.

In the meantime, you can follow along with our live coverage of the war in Iran here.

A proposed cut to further cut petrol prices on top of the fuel excise reduction will no longer go ahead after states failed to agree on how best to give back the windfall GST collected from higher petrol prices.

The states had agreed not to pocket the extra GST collected, but haven’t been able to come to a consensus on how best to use those extra millions.

The NSW Government wanted to add an extra reduction to the price at the bowser on top of the 26¢ reduction to the fuel excise, which would have been an extra 7-10¢ per litre off the price of fuel.

At a meeting with state premiers and chief ministers this afternoon, not all states and territories would agree to that proposal.

Negotiations are now continuing between the states.

Thanks for following our live coverage of federal politics. Here’s what we covered throughout the day:

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that in some cases it may take up to a fortnight for cuts to the fuel excise to flow through to bowsers. The change comes in tomorrow, but it may be some time before petrol stations run out of fuel they purchased at higher prices.
• The prime minister all but ruled out a change to the size of federal parliament, as the government had mooted late last year, after the Coalition formally opposed any move to add more senators and MPs this morning. In question time, the prime minister said he had no interest in the change.
• Israel’s ambassador to Australia said his country should be “commended” for the “low number of uninvolved civilians that were actually killed” in Gaza since October 7, 2023, and argued that there was no genocide taking place in the region.

• Foreign Minister Penny Wong has told the Labor caucus that Australia opposes the death penalty “in all instances”, after Israel passed laws that made the default punishment for a Palestinian convicted of murdering an Israeli death by hanging.

That’s all for the blog today, but we will return tomorrow to cover the final sitting day of parliament before the budget is delivered in May.

In the meantime, you can follow along with our live coverage of the war in Iran here.

We’ve had a moment of levity in the House of Representatives, after One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce asked a question about the spread of fire ants and their impact on Australian primary industries, flora and fauna.

Rising to answer the question on behalf of Environment Minister Murray Watt, who sits in the Senate, was Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.

Burke began his response by saying the question “effectively” went to the matter of culling wild animals. After a surprised murmur crossed the chamber, Joyce called out “fire ants” at which point it became clear that Burke thought the question was about “firearms”.

As Burke apologised for the mix-up and laughter spread across the chamber, Liberal frontbencher Tony Pasin began miming the act of shooting ants on the ground with a large rifle.

For the record, Burke returned to the question at hand, saying the government was committed to the fight against fire ants “because of the extraordinary damage” they do to the environment.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has batted away a question about expanding the parliament, after Opposition Leader Angus Taylor told a press conference this morning that the Coalition would oppose the move.

Taylor twice asked Albanese if he would support an expansion of the House of Representatives and Senate, as has previously been mooted by the government.

After making a joke about his government’s large majority in the House in response to the first question, Albanese said in response to the second question: “I am satisfied with the current number of seats in the House of Representatives”.

“That’s 150. That’s 150 with 12 senators from each state, point one. Point two is, I’m also very satisfied with the composition of the current parliament. Very satisfied with the current composition.”

“I have been very privileged to have the best campaign director I’ve ever seen in Paul Erickson. If I was to say to Paul Erickson, we got 94 seats, but how about we throw it all up in the air and see how it lands, I think Paul Erickson would have a pretty clear response”.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has provided a state-by-state breakdown of the number of petrol stations running low on supply. Here’s the data he provided:

• NSW: 247 stations are without diesel, 61 have no stock at all
• Victoria: 77 stations are without diesel, 39 have no unleaded fuel
• SA: 20 stations have no diesel, 13 are without unleaded
• WA: 18 stations have no diesel, 14 are without unleaded
• Tasmania: eight have no diesel, 15 are without unleaded
• NT: five stations have no diesel
• ACT: five stations have no diesel, two are without unleaded

Question time is set to resume in the House of Representatives at 2pm, AEDT.

Watch live below.

The Israeli ambassador to Australia says his country should be “commended” for the “low number of uninvolved civilians that were actually killed” in Gaza since October 7, 2023, arguing there is no genocide taking place.

Hillel Newman, addressing the National Press Club, rejected a figure of 70,000 dead in the region, saying it was a number provided by Hamas:

If you take into consideration natural deaths, distinction of those that were combatants and those [who were] not combatants, we know more or less the number of combatants that have been killed. You take into consideration those that were killed by Palestinian fire, and … in the end you come to a ratio of one to 1.5. That’s the lowest ratio of civilian ... casualties in warfare, in urban warfare.

There was no genocide in Gaza. The numbers do not depict what people on the streets think because they don’t look into the numbers and then understand the meaning of the numbers. The ratio [of civilian to combatant casulaties] in the end is the lowest in urban warfare, and therefore, in many ways, Israel should be commended for the low number of uninvolved civilians that were actually killed.”

A United Nations commission of inquiry in September last year found that Israel had committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, accusing the nation of having committed four genocidal acts, “namely killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births”.