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In this bulletin;
- Opposition leader Peter Dutton calls for Energy Minister Chris Bowen to be fired;
- A man arrested and charged for allegedly making an online bomb threat toward an Islamic school;
- And in sport, Real Madrid beats city rivals Atletico Madrid to reach Champions League quarter-finals.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton says Energy Minister Chris Bowen should be fired due to an expected increase in energy prices for Australian consumers.
The Australian Energy Regulator expects household power bills will rise between 2.5 per cent and 8.9 per cent in southeast Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales, following a draft decision to raise caps on how much retailers can charge for electricity.
Energy regulator Chair Clare Savage says the price spikes come due to high demand amid outages at coal-fired power stations as well as low solar and wind output.
The price hike provides another obstacle for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's election chances due to his government coming to power in 2022 promising to cut energy bills by $275 in its first term.
Peter Dutton has blamed the Albanese government's energy policy.
"I think it's time for Chris Bowen to be sacked and I think the Prime Minister should accept that Chris Bowen has been a total failure as the Energy Minister in this country. Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese have presided over a broken promise of a $275 electricity cut which was made on 97 occasions before the election. Chris Bowen has been a disaster and he has let Australians down and there should be a price to pay for that."
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New South Wales Police have arrested and charged a man for making an alleged online bomb threat toward an Islamic school in southwest Sydney.
The threat was allegedly made in the comments of a TikTok video posted by Bankstown mayor, Bilal Al-Hayek, after visiting Al Faisal College in Lakemba last month.
The 53-year-old Bradbury resident is alleged to have written “kaboom” followed by three bomb emojis.
Police say he's been charged with stalking or intimidation with intent to cause fear of physical or mental harm and the use of a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.
He has been granted conditional bail to appear at Bankstown Local Court on the 27th March.
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Clive Palmer claims over 20,000 people have become members of his new political party Trumpet of Patriots since it launched last month.
In an address to the National Press Club, the billionaire mining magnate has outlined the platform of his new Donald Trump-inspired party.
This includes calls to reduce migration, cut government spending, and stop the legal recognition of transgender and gender-diverse people.
Clive Palmer has previously been elected to federal parliament, and at the last federal election spent over $120 million on a campaign for his former political party, the United Australia Party - which secured just one Senate seat.
He says his new party isn't just about winning seats.
"It's not just standing for elections. It's not just getting candidates elected. It's a bundle of ideas. We need new ideas in this country. We need to be reinvigorated. We need to set sail for much better sunset than what we're experiencing at the moment. And that's one of the reasons why I'm helping in this campaign."
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In football,
Real Madrid beat city rivals Atletico Madrid 4-2 on penalties to reach the Champions League quarter-finals following an enthralling last-16 battle which ended 2-2 after extra time.
An early goal from Atletico midfielder Conor Gallagher saw the second-leg match finish at one-nil or two-all on aggregate, while Vinicius Junior missed a late second-half penalty for Real, leaving the match to be decided via penalty shoot-out.
Atletico were fuming after Julian Alvarez had his shootout penalty ruled out after slipping and accidentally touching the ball with both his left and right foot, invalidating the strike.
Antonio Ruediger converted the winning spot-kick for Real, leaving the Spanish side to face Arsenal in the last eight.
Real coach Carlo Ancelloti conceded the match could have gone either way, praising Atletico's performance.
"I have no idea of what can make the difference in penalty shootouts. I think you need to choose the coldest players and those who really feel like it. I still think the penalties are a lottery that can be heads or tails, it went heads for us, but I think Atletico leaves this competition keeping their heads up, because they've played up to their best level."
