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TRANSCRIPT:
A fire at one of Australia's two oil refineries has caused significant damage.
The refinery at Geelong can process up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day.
That's represents half of Victoria's fuel consumption, and 10 per cent of national consumption.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen says he is getting advice about how the fire will affect production.
"It will impact on production - at this point petrol, rather than diesel and jet fuel. But we are going to continue to really work closely with Viva, the company, and really monitor and work together on any impacts."
Fire and Rescue Victoria spokesperson Mick McGuiness says the fire has been contained to 30 square metres in size.
"Isolation valves have been activated to isolate as much of the plant as possible. And we have also monitored with our specialist fire and rescue Victoria hazardous materials crew, to ensure we have no contaminant going into our waterways."
He says there are no reports of workers being injured.
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Meanwhile, t he energy crisis caused by the war in the Middle East is prompting states to break away and take their own approaches to secure fuel supplies.
Western Australia has created its own emergency stockpile of diesel reserves, and New South Wales is thinking about doing this too.
Victoria has made public transport free, to encourage people to drive their cars less, and fares will be half the normal price from next month.
Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie has told Channel 9 the federal government needs to coordinate a more national response.
"The Prime Minister does need to call a National Cabinet and get everyone on the same page. Because the people who grow your bananas live in a different state to you and the people that produce your beef live in a different state to you."
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Overseas now, and Iran is threatening to block all of the ports in the Persian Gulf after the United States launched a blockade against Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US Central Command says that no vessels has broken through its naval blockade in the two days since it started.
Meanwhile, Pakistani officials have travelled to Iran to try and lay the groundwork for a second round of peace talks between Iran and the US.
The leader of Iran's atomic energy agency, Mohammad Eslami, says the US needs to recognise Iran's legal rights.
"If Iran’s rights and interests, which are the legal rights of a nation, are recognised and its dignity respected, naturally the negotiation can be fruitful. But if it continues, as it usually does, relying on deception and, in fact, on a lack of commitment and failure to adhere to agreements and set terms, then it naturally cannot succeed."
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Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has outlined plans to increase investment in defence spending to three per cent of GDP.
That's in line with a request from the United States.
Mr Marles says spending will increase by $53 billion over the next decade as the government responds to changes in the global environment.
He says Australia's new defence strategy will transform the defence forces and prepare the country for a less certain future.
He's told the National Press Club that the new funding is a major milestone.
"We're spending more on this day than any other equivalent like-minded country in the Indo-Pacific, and more than most countries of NATO, more than all the G7 countries in NATO, with the exception of the United States. "
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Unemployment has remained at 4.3 per cent according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Employment rose to include just under 14.78 million people, which had been widely predicted by economists.
This is the first economic data to be released since the Strait of Hormuz was largely closed by the war in the Middle East, but analysts say it is too soon to see the full picture of how that conflict will impact the economy.
The Reserve Bank of Australia will be looking closely at these numbers when it considers if it should raise interest rates at its next meeting on the 4th and 5th of May.
