A second major bank is taking action to protect its business amid an uncertain economic outlook, as the crisis in the Middle East continues to weigh.

National Australia Bank has flagged higher provisions due to a rise in credit impairment charges and will discount and partially underwrite its dividend reinvestment plan to raise extra funds.

“In light of the volatility in markets following the conflict in the Middle East, National Australia Bank (NAB) has reviewed its credit provisioning and capital settings to better reflect the risks now inherent in our business,” the business-focused bank said.

Last week, Westpac revealed the conflict had dented earnings contributions from its treasury and markets trading division.

The unit’s net interest margin contribution will fall to seven basis points in the second quarter of 2025/26, from 15 basis points in the first. 

NAB will book a $706 million credit impairment charge when it reports its first-half results on May 4, which would be around 68 per cent higher than the previous first half.

That will include a $152 million “economic adjustment” charge reflecting the changing outlook for Australia’s economy, which is expected to weaken as the conflict continues.

The bank will also allocate $201 million in adjustments for potential stress that may emerge in energy-related business sectors likely to be impacted by fuel supply issues and costs related to the conflict.

NAB chief economist Sally Auld warned in March that the macro-economic outlook appeared to be heading for a more treacherous phase and that the impact of large shocks to oil prices would be amplified by tighter financial conditions.

“As forecasters, this development leaves us worried about downside risks to growth,” she said.

Ms Auld is predicting Australia’s economy to grow by just 1.8 per cent in 2026 and 2027, compared with a previous forecast of two per cent for each year. 

The rise in the price of retail fuel is also expected to drive inflation to an annual rate of five per cent in the second quarter, while unemployment could peak at 4.75 per cent in 2027, Ms Auld said.

NAB shares fell more than three per cent in morning trading on Monday to $41.01.

Australians are reporting record-low life satisfaction as war in the Middle East sends fuel prices surging and workers fear AI job losses.

The population is now less satisfied than during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the latest survey from an Australian National University series finds.

The fall between December 2025 and March 2026 was not as dramatic as the dive in average life satisfaction when pandemic stay-at-home orders were issued, however, and was from a lower base. 

“Life satisfaction was already depressed, making the current reading the culmination of a sustained deterioration rather than a sudden fall,” head of the ANU School of Politics and International Relations, Nicholas Biddle, said. 

“Australia in March 2026 is a country under considerable strain.”

The sample of more than 3600 views was the first ANU poll since the Iran war triggered the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Prices at the pump responded quickly to less oil supply, punishing not only motorists but adding to the cost of transporting goods and threatening broader economic consequences.

The university’s latest test of the public mood was also the first to capture the full shift in sentiment following the terrorist attack in Bondi.

In March, Australians were reporting difficulty getting by on their current incomes in record numbers and have grown increasingly nervous about job security.

“The unemployment rate in Australia is a little over four per cent, which is low by any standard,” Prof Biddle told AAP.

“Despite that, more than a quarter of the people who are currently employed expect to lose their job over the next 12 months.”

The troubling economic outlook may be playing a role as well as the emergence of artificial intelligence tools, with nearly a third of Australians specifically concerned machines will replace them.

Fear of automation job losses has nearly doubled since 2018.

The survey was taken after the local tech firm Atlassian axed 1600 jobs, 500 in Australia, citing AI-caused changes in workforce needs.

Despite the sour outlook among the population, democratic attitudes remain strikingly resilient.

Evaluations of how well democracy is working in Australia have held relatively steady, with nearly two-thirds satisfied or very satisfied.

Migrants from non-English background were found to support democratic norms at similar levels to the rest of the population, and be more confident in the direction of the country than Australian-born citizens. 

Hollywood actor Rebel Wilson will swap glitz and glamour for a more austere setting when she takes centrestage in a real-life drama that has overshadowed her directorial debut. 

The Pitch Perfect star directed, co-produced and starred in The Deb, a musical comedy set in rural NSW, the release of which was delayed due to various legal battles.

She is being sued by lead actor Charlotte MacInnes over social media posts claiming she confided in Wilson that she had felt uncomfortable with co-producer Amanda Ghost. 

The former co-stars are both set to testify in a fiery nine-day hearing in the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday. 

MacInnes has denied making the complaint to Wilson and says she has been seriously harmed by the older actor’s suggestions she retracted the alleged comments in return for a lead role and a record deal. 

The social media posts damaged her professional reputation and created doubts about her trustworthiness before she could even enjoy the benefits of playing her first lead role in a film, MacInnes claims.

The posts blamed her alleged lies for blocking the film’s release and portrayed her as selfishly prioritising her own career over the hundreds of cast and crew who toiled on The Deb, according to her statement of claim. 

The up-and-coming actor is seeking aggravated damages for serious harm caused as well as a court order preventing Wilson from repeating the allegedly defamatory claims online. 

Wilson accepts in her defence that she uploaded a series of posts which were available to her 11 million followers for 24 hours, but denies that two of the posts were about MacInnes.

The Bridesmaid actor maintains the younger actor complained to her about being uncomfortable around Ms Ghost and claims MacInnes was being untruthful when she denied it.

MacInnes lied to have a positive relationship with co-producers Ms Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden, from which she derived significant career benefits, Wilson alleges.

She is set to take the stand in the second week of the Federal Court hearing, along with her pregnant wife.

The internationally acclaimed star is also facing a separate legal battle in the NSW Supreme Court brought by Ms Ghost, Mr Cameron and Mr Holden over alleged breaches of contract and damaging statements. 

The Deb premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in September 2024 but had been blocked from wider distribution by the ongoing legal disputes. 

The film was released in Australia on April 9, with some local reviews praising it as “joyous” and “filthy, fun, but most of all moving”, while another said “many moments fall flat”.

Cutting red tape will form a key part of the federal budget as businesses and advocates for social services issue competing demands for the financial blueprint.

Two visions for reform have been put forward ahead of the budget’s release in May: one in which red tape is slashed to make businesses more productive and the other in which gas exports are taxed and housing investor incentives are wound back.

In a pre-budget submission, a group of peak bodies led by the Business Council of Australia called for a stocktake of existing regulations, an overhaul of planning rules and new strategies to boost research and development.

Recent research from the Australian Institute of Company Directors and consulting firm Mandala found firms were spending almost $160 billion a year to comply with federal laws.

“That kind of red tape adds cost, slows things down and makes it harder to keep goods moving and shelves stocked,” Business Council chief executive Bran Black said.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the budget would have an important focus on reducing regulation and slashing compliance costs.

“Business groups are right to focus on better regulation and reducing the regulatory burden,” she said.

“The budget will have more to say and we will continue to listen to the business community on practical ways to improve regulation.”

Changes to recently introduced national environmental laws could make an immediate difference to supermarket prices, National Farmers Federation chief executive Mike Guerin told AAP.

“If you particularly talk to Queensland and north Australian graziers and growers, (the new laws are) having an enormous impact on them right now, that level of uncertainty and the regulations that follow,” he said.

“It’s a real moment for thinking boldly and bravely about reform.”

Labor has flagged the 2026 budget will be finalised later than usual due to uncertainty caused by the war in the Middle East.

While businesses want less regulation, more than 50 advocacy groups are calling for a raft of reforms including a 25 per cent levy on exported natural gas – a measure fiercely opposed by the resources sector.

The policy would raise up to $17 billion every year, allowing the government to spend more on housing, energy efficiency upgrades and support payments including JobSeeker, the coalition of organisations said.

They also want the capital gains tax discount for investment properties reduced by half and negative gearing phased out over five years.

Labor is widely tipped to pare back incentives for property investors in the budget, although details of the planned changes have not been revealed.

The war in the Middle East had heightened the need for big reform to help the nation’s most vulnerable, Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Cassandra Goldie said.

“The last thing we need to see is a budget that’s going to be slashing spending,” she said.

“We need to get serious progressive tax reform to the top of the list and then to be doing very targeted, careful spending to protect people who need the help the most.”

Rat poison has been found inside a jar of HiPP baby food, Austrian police ‌say after the product was recalled from 1500 SPAR supermarkets in the country over safety fears.

A statement ‌from police in Burgenland said that a sample from one of the 190-gram jars of carrot with potato baby food reported by a customer in the Eisenstadt-Umgebung district had tested positive for rat poison.

HiPP had said on Saturday that it could not be ruled out that a dangerous substance was introduced into the product and that its HiPP Vegetable Carrot ‌with Potato jars ‌may have been tampered ⁠with.

Consuming the contents could be life-threatening, HiPP said.

Austrian authorities believe the company is being blackmailed.

The police statement said the affected ​jars had a sticker with a red circle on the bottom of the jar and a lid that had already been opened or damaged or missing a safety seal, or had an unusual smell.

They said initial lab tests on similar jars seized by police in the Czech Republic and Slovakia showed the presence of a toxic substance. 

The statement gave ⁠no further details.

HiPP confirmed to Reuters on Sunday that the ‌jars did contain ​rat poison and that affected retail partners in both countries immediately removed all HiPP baby food jars from ​sale as a precautionary ‌measure.

The police also said that authorities in Austria were warned about the risk after investigations in Germany. 

They ​provided no further details.

“Products and distribution channels in Germany or other European countries that are not part of the investigations are not affected,” HiPP said.

HiPP said on Saturday: “According to our current knowledge, this critical situation involves ​an ​external criminal interference that affects the SPAR Austria ​distribution channel.”

SPAR Austria said on Sunday that it had removed ‌the HiPP products in all countries where it runs businesses including Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia and northern Italy.

SPAR stores in other countries are not part of SPAR Austria, it added.

SPAR and HiPP advised customers not to consume the contents of the jars bought from SPAR Austria. 

They said customers would receive a full refund on returned products.

Police advised customers ​to wash hands thoroughly if they came into contact with a jar.

The Austrian Agency for Health and Food ​Safety said that medical help must ⁠be sought immediately if babies consumed the contaminated baby food.

with DPA

Decorated veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has vowed to use his upcoming trial on allegations of war crimes to clear his name.

In his first public statement since his highly publicised arrest, the Victoria Cross recipient struck a defiant tone as he pledged to fight the charges against him.

“For the past 10 years, my family and I have been subject to a campaign to convince Australians that I have acted improperly in my service in Afghanistan,” he told reporters at the Gold Coast on Sunday.

“As I have always maintained, I categorically deny all of these allegations. And while I would have preferred these charges not be brought, I will be taking this opportunity to finally clear my name.”

Australia’s most decorated living soldier described his arrest – which happened on the tarmac at Sydney Airport – as an “unnecessary spectacle” and requested privacy for his family, with whom he had been travelling at the time.

“I understand this is an unprecedented case and the public interest is huge, and the media has a job to do, which they should be allowed to do,” he said

“But I would ask that the media please allow my family their privacy at this time, particularly my children, who have already unfortunately suffered through a deliberate, sensational arrest that was made last week, an unnecessary spectacle.

“I understand this journey will be long. I understand this journey will be difficult, but I can promise everybody that I have never run from a fight in my life.

“I will never give up and I will always be in the fight.”

Roberts-Smith, who did not take questions after completing the prepared statement, walked out of prison for the first time in a week on Friday after being granted bail in a Sydney court.

The former SAS soldier was arrested in April charged with murdering or ordering the murders of five unarmed detainees while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

The prosecution described the allegations against him as gravely serious, describing the case against Roberts-Smith as strong with eyewitnesses to the alleged murders.

The decorated veteran has been accused of directly murdering two Afghan individuals and aiding, abetting or procuring the murder of three more.

There was evidence of the use of throw-downs – objects placed on dead non-combatants to make it appear like they had been involved in hostilities – in some of the cases, the court heard previously.

Roberts-Smith has consistently proclaimed his innocence, including during a failed defamation action against publisher Nine over articles detailing the alleged war crimes.

A Federal Court judge found the accusations of murder were, on the balance of probabilities, true, findings the 47-year-old failed to overturn in subsequent appeals.

Events in the Middle East are again overshadowing developments in the domestic economy as the Iran conflict stretches into its eighth week.

The benchmark oil price fell below $US90 a barrel for the first time in more than a month after Iran announced on Friday night, AEST, that the Strait of Hormuz would be open to commercial shipping for the duration of a 10-day truce between Israel and Lebanon.

But traders were left in limbo by Sunday after Iran again closed the vital waterway in retaliation to an ongoing US blockade on Iran’s use of the strait, leaving hundreds of vessels stuck in the Persian Gulf.

Eyes will be fixed on Islamabad, which has been hosting talks between the warring parties, as the clock ticks down to the end of a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday stressed the strait needed to be kept open permanently and international plans to restore maritime security would continue until then.

With the last ships allowed to pass before the war started due to unload their cargoes in the coming days,shortages of vital commodities such as oil, helium and fertiliser are set to worsen in the short-term.

Before Saturday’s announcement, Commonwealth Bank commodities analyst Vivek Dhar anticipated the benchmark Brent oil price could rise as high as $US135 a barrel by the end of April, from just under $US100.

But with the price sitting at a touch under $US92 a barrel on Sunday, markets remain bullish. 

Shares hit record highs on Wall Street after US President Donald Trump said the prospects of a deal were “looking very good”, AMP chief economist Shane Oliver noted.

“We continue to lean to the view that Trump will find a way to stay on the off-ramp from the war,” he said.

Pressure on the president to back down is increasing, with opinion polling showing little support for the war and falling approval ratings as affordability begins to bite.

“The Republicans are seeing increasing odds that they will lose both the House and the Senate in the mid-terms,” Dr Oliver said.

“And likewise, pressure on Iran to reach a deal is high, as the US switch from bombing (which can unite a population) to even tougher economic sanctions via the blockade of Iranian oil exports will intensify popular discontent with the Iranian government.”

Wall Street investors were optimistic about a deal to end the war and the decision to open the Strait of Hormuz.

Two of the three main indexes rallied to a third successive record close in New York on Friday, while the other marked its highest finish since late February.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.79 per cent to 49,447.43, the S&P 500 gained 1.20 per cent to 7,126.06 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.52 per cent to 24,468.48.

Australian share futures surged 82 points, or 0.91 per cent, to 12,680.

Preceding the announced reopening of Hormuz, the S&P/ASX200 fell 8.1 points on Friday, down 0.09 per cent to 8,946.9, as the broader All Ordinaries lost five points, or 0.05 per cent, to 9,168.5.

On Tuesday, ANZ and Roy Morgan’s weekly consumer confidence index will give another look at how Australian households are responding to the crisis and the prospect of further Reserve Bank interest rate hikes.

Reserve Bank officials Sarah Hunter and Andrew Hauser spoke in Washington DC during the previous week, reiterating the importance of inflation expectations remaining anchored to avoid the risk of runaway price growth similar to the 1970s and 1980s.

Pope Leo has sharply decried the exploitation ‌of natural resources in Africa,  criticising “despots and tyrants” who guarantee wealth but do not deliver on their promises, leading to suffering and deaths.

In a speech ‌in oil-rich Angola, the third stop on his four-country Africa tour, Leo called on Angolans to work for a society free from the “slavery imposed by the elite who are laden ‌with much wealth but false joys”.

In the Angolan capital Luanda, Leo lamented that “powerful interests lay their claim” ‌on the former Portuguese colony’s ‌natural resources, an apparent ⁠reference to foreign companies benefiting from Angola’s oil and diamond sectors and its nascent critical minerals sector.

“All too ​often people have looked – and continue to look – to your lands … in order to take,” the Pope said in remarks delivered to Angolan President João Lourenço and other political leaders.

“How much suffering, how many deaths, how many social and environmental disasters are brought about by this logic of extractivism!” the Pope said.

Leo, originally from Chicago, kept a relatively low profile for a pontiff in his first 10 months but in recent weeks has become outspoken on a range of issues.

He has issued sharp ⁠denunciations of war and inequality on the 10-day Africa tour, one of the most ‌complicated ever arranged for ​a pontiff, with stops in 11 cities and towns in four countries, traversing nearly 18,000km over 18 flights.

Despite being one of the leading oil-producing countries ​in sub-Saharan Africa, Angola’s ‌population of 36.6 million people is still confronting extreme poverty, with more than 30 per cent living on less than $A3 per day, according to the World Bank.

More ​than half of the country identifies as Catholic.

Leo called on Angolans “to break this cycle of interests, which reduces reality, and even life itself, to mere commodities”.

He urged the country’s political leaders to focus on helping all their people, and not just corporate interests.

“History will then vindicate you, even if ​in ​the near term some may oppose you,” he said.

Earlier on Saturday, before flying to Angola, Leo celebrated a farewell ‌Mass in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde, urging participants not to lose hope despite the challenges faced by the central African country, which include a simmering conflict that has killed thousands.

“In moments when we seem to be sinking, overcome by adverse forces, when everything appears bleak … Jesus is with us always, stronger than any power of evil,” the pontiff told a crowd the Vatican estimated to number 200,000, which would make it the biggest event of his tour so far.

“In every storm, he comes to ​us and repeats: ‘I am here with you: do not be afraid’,” Leo said.

Crowds greeting the Pope on his visit to Cameroon were enthusiastic, including an ​estimated 120,000 people who attended a Mass on ⁠Friday in Douala, lining the streets along his routes and wearing colourful fabrics featuring images of his face.

Everyone is hoping petrol prices keep falling but no one is confident.

Australian motorists woke on Saturday to news Iran had reopened the contentious Strait of Hormuz.

Yet by the time they’d soaped and hosed off the family ride and stepped inside for a coffee, Tehran was threatening to reimpose the restriction.

The United States says a convoy of oil tankers is crossing the crucial shipping channel in a first major movement of supplies since it and Israel launched war on Iran seven weeks ago.

Yet late on Saturday, Australian time, confusion swirled, with reports Iran had fired on a ship attempting to pass.

Anthony Albanese was earlier positive a reinvigoration of maritime commerce would spell good news for Australian petrol and diesel prices.

He was at pains to stress the arrangement was fragile, following an overnight summit on Friday of some 50 countries to support an ongoing Middle East ceasefire.

The clock is ticking on the pause in hostilities, which could fall apart as soon as Wednesday.

“We want to see de-escalation, we want to see the Strait of Hormuz opened and we want to see no privatisation and no tolls,” the prime minister told reporters in Sydney.

“We want to see this fragile arrangement confirmed and we want to see those ships being able to pass.”

Australian bowser prices have dipped below $2.10 a litre and are under $3 for diesel for the first time since February across major cities.

However it may take time for consumers to feel the full impact of the Hormuz reopening even if it holds.

While recent falls in global oil prices are translating to cheaper fuel, markets are volatile, according to National Roads and Motorists Association spokesman Peter Khoury.

“Wholesale prices have been falling and they should continue to fall,” he told AAP.

“We are focusing on the wholesale prices in Australia because that’s the clearest indication of what going to happen at the bowser.

“It takes about seven to 10 days for those falls in oil prices to flow on in the Australian market.”

Reprieve aside, Mr Khoury is urging motorists to remain cautious, saying it is still unclear whether the cheaper fuel will last.

“Trying to predict what’s going to happen in the Middle East is the quickest way to get made a fool of yourself,” he added.

“We’re really careful not to get too far ahead of ourselves but the trajectory has been in the right direction, it’s been positive and we really need that to continue.”

Energy Minister Chris Bowen says Australia has 46 days of petrol in reserve and 31 days’ worth of diesel.

The number of petrol stations without fuel is also dropping and there are about 120 without diesel across the nation.

Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association’s Rowan Lee told AAP the issue facing consumers was fuel price rather than supply. 

He said price pressures were expected to continue for at least the next six months.

“It’s just really uncharted territory and that is not underplaying it,” he said.

Energy Economics and Financial Analysis spokesman Kevin Morrison told ABC News it could take six weeks before Australia gets 80 per cent of the oil that’s been affected coming back online if peace holds.

“I don’t think we can expect cheaper oil prices in the foreseeable future,” he said.

Thousands of Australians have taken to the streets to call for action on the root causes of domestic violence and improved support for survivors.

Protesters marched through Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Wollongong, Tamworth, the Gold Coast and Toowoomba on Saturday as part of What Were You Wearing Australia’s events to oppose gender-based violence.

Many held posters with statistics illustrating the scale of the issue in Australia, while others wore shirts commemorating loved ones lost to domestic or family violence.

Some took aim at “manosphere” culture and men’s behaviour as the internet has increasingly become a platform to showcase and encourage misogynistic content.

“Domestic violence is often swept under the rug by politicians and media,” participant Rachel Garrett told AAP at the Sydney event.

“So many women are silently suffering as they live in fear of the men in their lives.

“In the current cultural climate, when young men are being radicalised by public figures like Andrew Tate, it’s really important to call on our government to do better and stand in solidarity with women worldwide.”

Victim-survivor and advocate Brittany Higgins appeared with her husband at the Melbourne rally as event organiser Sarah Williams spoke.

“Sexual violence thrives in silence and stigma,” Ms Williams told AAP.

“When survivors are asked what they were wearing, where they were or what they were doing, the focus is placed on the survivor instead of the perpetrator responsible.”

The rallies were first hosted in the wake of the 2024 Bondi Junction shopping centre attack, during which a man armed with a knife killed six people and injured a dozen others, the majority of them women. 

This year, the organisation has called for the federal and state governments to better fund frontline services, including men’s behaviour change, legislate an AI duty of care to stop abuse facilitated by the controversial technology, and offer free counselling and support for all victim-survivors.

“Our sector is running every day as Australia’s fourth emergency service,” Women’s Community Shelters chief executive Annabelle Daniel told the Sydney rally.

“Every phone rings off the hook and every day, services have to say no to people who should never be turned away.

“We cannot continue to run on goodwill alone, we cannot ask women and communities to absorb what our systems simply refuse to carry and we cannot ask women and children to carry the burden of being resilient when the front lines are running on empty.”

About one in seven Australians has experienced sexual violence since the age of 15, with more than one in five women and one in 16 men reporting abuse. 

Rallies will be held on Sunday in Ballarat, Perth, the NSW Central Coast, Dubbo, Cairns, Sunshine Coast, Canberra and Hobart.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028