OnlyFans owner Leonid Radvinsky has died at the age of 43 after a long battle with cancer, the company announced.

The reclusive billionaire Ukrainian-American bought Fenix International Limited – the company that owns the adult content site – in 2018 and has been a director and majority shareholder since then.

A spokesperson for OnlyFans said: “We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Leo Radvinsky.

“Leo passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer.

“His family have requested privacy at this difficult time.”

Radvinsky’s deal to buy OnlyFans followed just two years after the site was launched by British father and son Guy and Tim Stokely.

OnlyFans transformed the porn industry by offering content creators a platform to reach their audience directly and taking a 20 per cent cut of the revenues. The content creators keep the remaining 80 per cent, a compelling offer for the mostly adult entertainers seeking to monetise their work.

The firm behind OnlyFans paid out eye-watering dividends to Radvinsky since he acquired the company, with a record $US701 million ($A994 million) paid in 2024 as the streaming site saw user numbers jump by almost a quarter to 377.5 million globally.

The company is headquartered and pays tax in the UK but makes the majority of its money in the US.

Radvinsky had reportedly been in talks to sell a majority stake in the site, with discussions recently believed to have been held with investment firm Architect Capital in a deal that values the service at around $US5.5 billion including debt.

Radvinsky is survived by his wife Katie Chudnovsky and their four children.

Farmers are on edge as Australia and the European Union comb through the final details of a long-awaited trade deal they hope will increase quotas on beef and lamb.

Negotiations that have dragged on for eight years are expected to culminate as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives in Canberra to meet Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The free trade deal is expected to be announced on Tuesday afternoon, after previously being stalled by disputes over agricultural access and geographical naming rights.

The EU has been reluctant to increase beef and lamb quotas, but the National Farmers Federation said this should be a non-negotiable. 

“With everything going on globally, there couldn’t be worse timing to lock in an agreement that sells Australian agriculture short,” federation president Hamish McIntyre told AAP. 

“The NFF is concerned the EU will offer sub-par access for Australian producers while also deploying more billion-dollar subsidies to their producers – a double blow for Australian farmers.”

The NSW Farmers Association said it had been “increasingly nervous” agriculture would be traded off or used as a bargaining chip for a deal.

“And we don’t believe that’s in the national interest,” it said.

Both organisations have declared no deal would be “better than a bad deal”.

Trade Minister Don Farrell held talks with his counterpart Maros Sefcovic on Monday but final details of the deal were yet to be decided. 

Meat and Livestock Australia, which serves as secretariat to the Australia-EU Red Meat Market Access Taskforce, said the agreement was the only opportunity to remedy the competitive disadvantage it faced in the EU. 

“Settling for a sub-optimal outcome at a time of growing global trade uncertainty would weaken Australia’s trade resilience and apply a handbrake to diversification into a market of 27 countries and 450 million consumers,” task force chair Andrew McDonald said. 

“Our preference is that the EU genuinely engages in free and fair trade.”

Former Australian trade official Prudence Gordon said the current quotas were prohibitive and not commercially meaningful for farmers. 

“It’s not really worthwhile for most exporters of beef and lamb meat and other products like rice and sugar and dairy products to enter that market because the quotas are so tiny, but also the tariffs are really high,” Dr Gordon told AAP.

Europe wanted to strip Australian farmers of the right to use geographic naming indicators such as feta, parmesan and prosecco but a compromise appears likely as part of the final agreement.

Dr Gordon said if the quotas were compromised, it would indicate Australia prioritised international collaboration over agricultural exporters.

“The US decision to walk away from its trade agreements has given greater incentive to this negotiation to get it concluded,” she said. 

Ms von der Leyen will become the first female foreign leader to address federal parliament on Tuesday. 

Luxury car taxes and Australia’s world-first social media age ban are also expected to be discussed during her bilateral talks with Mr Albanese.

Truck drivers will receive fast-tracked support as hundreds of petrol stations run out of fuel because of the Middle East war.

The federal government will amend the Fair Work Act to allow truck drivers and transport businesses to make emergency applications for a contract chain order in response to spikes in fuel prices. 

The change removes the six-month minimum wait time for such orders to enable faster intervention as global instability drives up costs and pressures the sector. 

The changes would help spread costs more fairly across the supply chain and support a critical industry, Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth said.

“Truckies and transport operators need to be protected from fuel price rises and it’s important that costs are shared fairly,” she said in a statement.

The measures were vital to keeping essential goods transported around the country, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Catherine King said.

“Fuel price spikes are affecting everyone, but no one is feeling it more acutely than those whose livelihoods are behind the wheel,” she said.

On Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a joint statement with Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong, affirming the two nations’ commitment to energy security and sharing their concerns over the situation in the Middle East.

Mr Albanese said the economic impacts from the conflict would continue after it ended due to the widespread destruction of oil and gas infrastructure.

“Even if we were to wake up tomorrow to the welcome news that this conflict was over, there would still be a long economic tail to reckon with,” he said at a minerals industry dinner on Monday evening. 

“All of this underlines a simple reality. The stable, predictable world of ever-expanding free trade is gone – and it will not be returning any time soon.”

It comes as service stations grapple with fuel supply, with Energy Minister Chris Bowen telling parliament 109 Victorian outlets had run out of at least one grade of petrol. 

He said 47 outlets in Queensland had no diesel and 32 were without regular unleaded, while 37 stations in NSW had run out of petrol.

The shortage would worsen by April as the war dragged on, opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan said.

“People should be deeply, deeply concerned with Chris Bowen’s management of this issue,” Mr Tehan told Sky News.

Australia’s fossil fuel and property industries are gearing up for a fight over tax as the government mulls changes ahead of its May budget.

Treasury is reportedly drawing up changes to make the tax system fairer for younger Australians, including by reducing the capital gains discount for property investors and increasing taxes on gas exporters.

The reports have been welcomed by crossbench members, who have been campaigning for the changes.

But the reception from big business is unsurprisingly more hostile.

Business Council chief executive Bran Black opposed increasing the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT), even if it allowed for tax cuts to boost business investment elsewhere.

“We think it is the wrong approach to be looking at increasing taxes on businesses at this time,” he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

The resources lobby, battle-hardened from its successful fight against the mining tax in 2013, came out swinging against any PRRT changes, which economists argue lets gas exporters off the hook with overly generous deductions.

As oil and gas prices soar and exporters stand to make massive windfall profits, Australian Energy Producers chief executive Samantha McCulloch said now would be the worst possible time to impose a new tax on the energy sector as it would stop investment in new supply.

Greens Senator Larissa Waters said it was natural for the gas industry to complain.

“Any big company will when their profits are at stake, but these greedy gas corporations are taking the piss,” she said.

Senator Waters joined calls from unions, other crossbenchers and left-leaning lobby group the Australia Institute for a 25 per cent tax on gas exports.

Independent MP Sophie Scamps said Australian voters had wised up since the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years, citing an Australia Institute survey that found more than 60 per cent support for the levy.

International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol said Australians were the real owners of its resource endowment and it was important they get their fair share of the profits.

But Australia’s triple-A reputation for regulatory predictability would be threatened by abrupt changes to taxation, which would risk further investment in gas supply, he said.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government believed Australians deserved a fair return from their natural resources, hence why it had changed the PRRT during the last term to make gas companies pay more tax sooner.

Meanwhile, developer lobby groups also railed against reported changes to property investor tax breaks.

Master Builders chief executive Denita Wawn and Property Council CEO Mike Zorbas said hiking taxes on property would reduce the supply of homes

“The end of the story is that current and future renters pay more, and it’s a tragedy when you reflect on the fact that the critical role of investors in these markets is absolutely essential to building, in particular, new apartments,” Mr Zorbas said.

A recent report by economists at Commonwealth Bank found cutting the capital gains tax discount from 50 to 25 per cent would make rental prices about 0.2 per cent higher over a decade, compared to no change.

Passengers will bear the cost of surging fuel prices as rideshare giants raise fares to provide drivers short-term support. 

Uber and DiDi are among the delivery and transport companies that have introduced additional charges amid growing concern about Australia’s fuel supply due to the Middle East conflict.

Food delivery platform DoorDash has pledged support for its drivers and deliverers, providing workers with immediate relief.

Drivers who complete 100km or more in weekly deliveries will be eligible for cash support from Monday under a plan targeting those in rural and suburban areas who travel greater distances.

“Rising fuel prices have a real impact on all Aussies, particularly those who are making deliveries across our communities,” DoorDash vice president Simon Rossi told AAP.

“We want to back Dashers and provide immediate relief at the pump during this fuel crunch. 

“It will help them keep delivering and earning, while saving families and individuals time.”

The program will continue until April 30.

Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine welcomed the move, saying delivery workers had been hit incredibly hard by rising fuel prices.

Concern about fuel supplies has been mounting after six oil shipments to Australia were cancelled or postponed due to the war.

Iran’s decision to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz – a key global trade route – in response to US and Israeli strikes has sent global oil prices skyrocketing.

Domestic petrol and diesel prices have soared, but the government has repeatedly said shortages in some regional and rural areas were caused by panic-buying rather than supply issues.

Rideshare app Uber will increase prices from next week, and the surcharge will not be temporary

An Uber spokesperson told AAP it regularly reviewed fares to ensure it struck the right balance between drivers’ earnings and affordable rides.

“From next week, we will be updating Uber fares which will increase driver earnings by an average of six per cent across Australia,” the spokesperson said.

“These changes build on work already under way and reflect our ongoing commitment to better supporting driver earnings over time.”

Rival DiDi has added a five-cent-per-kilometre surcharge to help cover fuel costs for drivers.

“To help offset these increasing operating costs, DiDi will increase the temporary fuel surcharge applied to every DiDi trip nationwide,” head of external affairs Dan Jordan said.

“This adjustment is designed to provide additional support to drivers while fuel prices remain elevated.”

Mr Jordan told AAP the rideshare provider would continue to review its pricing structure and service fees.

DiDi and Uber have existing partnership programs for their drivers.

A sodden town has been warned it is “not out of the woods yet” despite avoiding significant further damage from a fast-moving storm.

The Northern Territory on Monday farewelled former tropical cyclone Narelle as it barrelled toward Western Australia, triggering rain and wind warnings as it headed into the Kimberley.

Trees were toppled and power was cut across the Top End but the system caused less damage as it travelled west than was first feared.

“It moved a lot quicker than we were expecting, which is great news for the territory … there is much less damage than what we were expecting due to those fast speeds,” NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said.

However, Ms Finocchiaro warned Katherine, southeast of Darwin, was “not out of the woods yet” as the town braced for more flooding in Narelle’s wake.

Katherine homes and businesses are still reeling from floodwaters earlier in March after heavy rains filled catchments in the Big Rivers region.

Warnings remain in place for the nearby Katherine River, which was set to reach moderate flood levels later on Monday, potentially inundating roads and some buildings.

Major flood warnings are current for the Adelaide, Daly and Waterhouse rivers as Narelle – now classified as a tropical low – heads toward WA.

Katherine Mayor Joanna Holden said her community was better prepared this time around after a major sandbagging effort. 

There were no heavy downpours overnight and falls in the river catchment area had mostly been less than 100mm, she told AAP on Monday.

“So I think people are feeling mildly optimistic, but … we can’t become complacent.”

The power was off and a boil-water alert was issued in Adelaide River, where the major flood level was reached and residents self-evacuated overnight after four homes were inundated.

“There are a couple of big trees down and certainly water has been lapping the pub there and the service station,” Ms Finocchiaro said.

Hundreds of people airlifted to safety from the Gulf of Carpentaria community of Numbulwar will begin returning home from Monday afternoon after assessments showed the passing storm caused minimal damage.

But the Daly River township, northwest of Katherine, remains underwater with more flooding expected as hundreds of evacuated residents wait in emergency shelters in Batchelor, south of Darwin.

Flood watches were still in place and a coastal hazard warning had been issued for damaging surf for the NT’s western coast, including Darwin.

NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole said emergency services were monitoring river systems.

He warned drivers not to try to cross flooded roads including the Stuart Highway.

Narelle weakened to below cyclone strength after crossing the coast in remote eastern Arnhem Land on Sunday, with trees down but no reports of major damage in Gulf communities.

The ex-cyclone is forecast to continue its path into WA, bringing heavy rain and damaging wind gusts to northern parts of the Kimberley.

Catchments were already saturated across the region, meaning rivers and creeks would rise quickly with heavy rainfall, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Roads could be affected and some communities might become isolated, it warned.

The clean-up is continuing in far north Queensland after Narelle struck on Friday.

State schools have reopened and power is being restored across the remote region after the cyclone uprooted trees and blew off roofs, causing little structural damage.

Police have delivered fuel to Cape York communities to help locals recover from the storm.

“The community’s dodged a bullet, big time,” Lockhart River Mayor Wayne Butcher said.

Australia’s only manganese alloy smelter has been placed into voluntary administration, with the task of finding a buyer declared an immediate focus.

Liberty Bell Bay, in northern Tasmania, has been sitting idle since May when it paused operations due to ore supply issues and global price volatility.

The smelter is a subsidiary of GFG Alliance, owned by Sanjeev Gupta, who has got into trouble elsewhere in Australia, previously running the under-administration Whyalla steelworks. 

British multi-national EY announced on Monday it had been appointed as Liberty Bell Bay’s administrator.

They will work with unions and state and federal governments to explore avenues to support operations and will meet with its 216-strong workforce as soon as possible. 

The primary objective is to secure the restructure or sale of the company and its assets, the administrator said. 

“Our immediate focus is on stabilising Liberty Bell Bay operations and initiating a sales process to find a new owner for this critical piece of infrastructure,” EY’s Morgan Kelly said.

Additional funding is being sought by EY for operational costs, including payment of employee wages. 

The existing management team will remain in place.

The federal and state governments have said they will work closely with the administrators. 

“GFG has failed to deliver on its commitments to restart operations and provide certainty to Tasmanians,” Tasmanian Industry and Resources Minister Felix Ellis said. 

“(The) news will be difficult for workers, their families and the local community who have already endured prolonged uncertainty.” 

A GFG Alliance spokesman said the company would fully co-operate with administrators and assist their efforts to achieve the best possible outcome for all.

“Liberty Bell Bay had faced a challenging 20 months due to the force majeure declared by its main ore supplier, a significant deterioration in market conditions worldwide, and rising costs,” the spokesman said. 

“GFG Alliance had been pursuing a sustainable future for Australia’s only manganese smelter to protect 216 Tasmanian jobs and support local industry.”

In August, Tasmania’s government loaned Liberty Bell Bay $20 million to purchase ore with the goal of resuming operations.

When operations didn’t restart, the government in January appointed receivers and managers to protect the ore stockpile, accusing the company of breaching loan arrangements.

In May, the national corporate regulator lodged legal action to try to wind up Liberty Bell Bay over a failure to lodge tax returns.

GFG Alliance in November said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with a Georgian company to operate the smelter for up to five years.

An electrician who researched rockets for the Islamic State but later denounced its extremist ideology will be keenly watched by federal police when he returns to his quiet, rural town.

Haisem Zahab, who has been denied parole twice, will be released from prison when his nine-year sentence expires on Friday.

The 52-year-old was jailed in 2019 by the NSW Supreme Court for supporting a terrorist organisation after researching and developing a laser warning receiver, rockets and rocket guidance methods for IS.

During a hearing earlier in March, police asked the Federal Court to impose interim control orders allowing them to supervise the electrician when he returns to live with his family in the rural town of Young.

Justice Stephen Burley on Monday imposed the order, deeming it appropriate and all of the police-proposed conditions as necessary.

The judge’s full decision has been suppressed until Tuesday to give the parties time to suggest redactions.

The conditions include electronic monitoring, therapeutic programs and educational support.

At the earlier hearing, the Australian-born man’s barrister unsuccessfully argued that post-sentence supervision was not necessary.

Zahab had continually denounced his extremist beliefs since April 2019 after pleading guilty to assisting IS, lawyer Riyad El-Choufani said.

The electrician had moved from Sydney to Young and was not working full-time when he created his first Twitter account, he said. 

“Regrettably, what seems to have occurred here is that Mr Zahab fell into the Pandora’s box of social media, fell to the seductive qualities of Islamic State’s propaganda,” he said.

At the time, the Arab Spring had erupted and the electrician came to see IS  as a bulwark against the oppressive regime of then-Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, the court was told.

He later told prison officers he thought the terror organisation was a “force for good” when conducting his research from late 2014. Zahab was arrested in March 2017.

The electrician had completed two jail programs aimed at those with extremist ideologies.

Meanwhile, his family had completed a course on radicalisation so they could notice warning signs.

Police acknowledged the 59-year-old had made some progress.

But, having been radicalised online in private, there remained a chance he could fall back into his old ways, barrister Trent Glover SC said, acting for federal police.

Mr Glover said Zahab had minimised his conduct while in prison, describing his research into rockets as a project within the realm of his interests and hobbies.

The agreed facts of his criminal case stated Zahab researched and used 3D technology to develop the mechanical design and fabrication of a laser warning receiver to provide advanced notice of incoming laser-guided weapons.

He created a 288-page report on the receiver and sent it via secure software to a UK national who later admitted IS membership.

In 2019, sentencing judge Justice Geoffrey Bellew rejected Zahab’s testimony that he’d been in a cult or bubble of IS supporters – including on Twitter where he assumed the alias “Stranger” – and had divorced himself from mainstream news.

The claim that IS was a “force for good” and could  therefore assist civilians fight the al-Assad regime was “fanciful in the extreme”.

A full hearing to confirm, vary or revoke the interim control order will take place on June 1.

Journalists at Australia’s national broadcaster will strike for the first time in years after knocking back a pay deal.

Sixty per cent of ABC staff who took part in a vote rejected the offer, paving the way for a range of industrial actions including a 24-hour strike.

The strike is set for 11am on Wednesday and is expected to impact live broadcasts on both television and radio.

While non-media staff walked off the job in 2023, journalists did not take part.

This time, the strike won 90 per cent support among voting media-union members.

The union said below‑inflation pay outcomes and ongoing insecure work threatened the future of public‑interest journalism.

ABC management’s last offer was confirmed as being rejected on Monday.

It featured limited job security, did not address concerns around staff being stuck on rolling short-term contracts and failed to guarantee jobs would not be cut and replaced by AI, the media union said.

“Experienced journalists and media workers are being asked to do more with less – with fewer opportunities for pay progression, less certainty about their future, and growing workloads,” Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance chief executive Erin Madeley said.

“This isn’t just a workforce issue. When skilled, experienced staff are forced out, communities lose trusted local voices, particularly in regional Australia where the ABC is often the only local newsroom.”

Strike action was also backed by a ballot of non-media ABC staff, represented by the Community and Public Sector Union.

Staff rejected the deal because it featured a pay rise below inflation, along with concerns about career progression, night-shift penalty rates and reproductive health leave, the union said.

“The last thing union members want to do is inconvenience loyal ABC audiences by disrupting programming and services, but key bargaining claims remain unresolved,” the union’s ABC section secretary, Jocelyn Gammie, said.

“Unless the ABC put a fair offer on the table, disruptions are inevitable.”

More than 4400 people work at the ABC, including 2000 in news, the largest division.

ABC is the 11th most used website in the nation ahead of Netflix, according to SimilarWeb.

ABC’s chief people officer Deena Amorelli emailed staff on Monday to inform them the deal had been declined.

“The ABC will now make an application to the Fair Work Commission to assist with resolving bargaining,” she said.

“Further information about next steps, including proposed strike action by MEAA and the CPSU, will be communicated over the next couple of days.”

Australia’s share market has fallen sharply, after Iran responded to a US ultimatum to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with threats to attack its gulf neighbours’ water and energy infrastructure.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 tumbled 131.1 points by noon on Monday, down 1.56 per cent, to 8,297.3, as the broader All Ordinaries slumped 147.7 points, or 1.70 per cent, to 8,484.7.

The All Ordinaries, which comprises Australia’s 500 most valuable listed companies, has dropped 10 per cent from recent all-time highs, wiping $322 billion from the index since the war began on February 28.

US President Donald Trump has now issued an ultimatum to Iran to re-open the Strait of Hormuz – a choke point for a fifth of global oil supplies – within 48 hours, or face US attacks on its power plants.

If Mr Trump follows through, Iran has vowed to attack energy infrastructure and crucial desalination plants in gulf states housing US bases.

“President Trump’s threat has now placed a 48-hour ticking time bomb of elevated uncertainty over markets,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.

The escalating conflict has caused global oil prices to surge, fanning inflation concerns and weighing on the prospects of global growth, pummelling equities markets.

Australian miners have been hit hard, the sector tumbling four per cent by midday, taking its losses to more than 23 per cent since the war began.

Mega miners BHP and Rio Tinto each dipped more than two per cent, while mixed miner South32 tumbled 4.9 per cent to $3.79.

Gold producers were under selling pressure, with Evolution, Northern Star and Newmont all falling seven per cent or more, as the precious metal slipped to $US4,358 ($A6,227) an ounce.

Gold stocks made up the majority of the top-200’s 15 worst-performers.

Local energy stocks traded roughly flat, as Woodside and Santos edged roughly 0.5 per cent higher, but coal miners and uranium stocks fell behind.

The owners of Australia’s two remaining crude oil refineries, Ampol and Viva, gained 0.9 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively.

Industrials stocks traded 1.4 per cent lower, with Qantas down 1.3 per cent to $8.23 and Virgin Australia taking a 7.3 per cent hit, amid ongoing disruptions to global travel and after both airlines announced they would hike airfares to account for surging jet fuel costs.

The heavyweight financials sector faded as all big four banks traded lower, led by a two per cent slump in NAB shares to $44.66, while CBA lost 0.8 per cent to $174.26.

Major insurers bucked the broader trend, with QBE, Suncorp and IAG carving out gains.

In company news, ARN Media shares dived 4.6 per cent to 31.5 cents as shock jock Kyle Sandilands launched legal action against the group after it took The Kyle and Jackie O Show off air and terminated his $100 million contract.

Stokes family-controlled SGH has elevated its Boral subsidiary chief operating officer Matt McKenzie to the top job, to replace current CEO Vik Bansal on April 1.

The Australian dollar was buying 69.95 US cents, down from 70.86 on Friday at 5pm.