Associates of a prominent anti-immigration group were among those ejected from an Anzac Day dawn service after the cohort was accused of heckling acknowledgement of Country ceremonies at other events.

Marking 111 years since Australian troops landed in Gallipoli, tens of thousands turned out to commemorate Anzac Day nationwide on Saturday.

But the sombre occasion was blighted by a small but disruptive and vocal minority, who heckled and booed during traditional Indigenous acknowledgements at the start of dawn services.

Official events in Sydney and Melbourne were disrupted, prompting condemnation by politicians and RSL leaders for the lack of respect shown.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said the booing was inappropriate and should not have happened, but he understood people’s frustrations about the “overuse” of acknowledgement of Country ceremonies.

“I would like to see them used less and therefore not devalued as I think they have been over time,” he told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

Five people reportedly linked to the anti-immigration March for Australia group were ejected from the Anzac Day dawn service in Perth.

WA Police said they issued several move-on orders to the cohort, who were identified as members of issue-motivated groups.

“Due to your association with the March for Australia group and their actions in the eastern states, you’re being removed from the ceremony due to the belief that you will interrupt it,” a police officer was recorded telling the group in footage shared on social media.

“Your association to that group has unfortunately ruined your opportunity to remain at the ceremony.”

March for Australia has been behind a series of anti-immigration rallies nationwide, some of which have also featured neo-Nazi speakers and attendees.

Fifteen move-on orders were issued across the state, with 14 in the metropolitan area and one in regional WA. No arrests were made.

NSW Police arrested and charged a 24-year-old man in Sydney with committing nuisance, and he will appear in court on June 3.

Several other people among the 11,000-strong Sydney crowd were moved on.

The fact that some Australians booed elders, including those who had fought for the nation, was disrespectful to Indigenous servicemen and women and to other Anzacs, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner Katie Kiss said.

“Australians are starting to stand up to that and we saw that yesterday in the thousands of people who stood with our elders during what was a disgraceful display of vilification,” she told ABC News.

It was up to Traditional Owners and event organisers to determine if an acknowledgement of Country was appropriate, she said.

Almost 2000 people attended the dawn service at Anzac Cove on the shores of Gallipoli in Turkey on Saturday.

More than 8000 Australian soldiers died in the failed effort to wrest control of the Dardanelles in 1915.

But the battle is credited with helping to galvanise the nation’s national identity.

Across major cities in Australia, tens of thousands of people lined the streets to honour veterans and their families at annual Anzac Day marches.

Among those marking the date was Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living soldier and now an accused war criminal.

The 47-year-old Victoria Cross recipient attended a ceremony on the Gold Coast just over a week after being released on bail following the laying of multiple war crime-related murder charges against him.

“I’ve never thought about not coming. I was always going to be here,” the veteran, who denies the allegations, said.

With formalities concluded, many people migrated to hotels to indulge in another Anzac Day tradition: two-up.

The gambling game can only legally be held on Anzac Day after midday.

The initial impact of the Iran war on Australia’s economy is set to be laid out when pivotal inflation data is released.

The first set of inflation numbers since US and Israeli strikes on Iran led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and skyrocketing oil prices will be unveiled on Wednesday.

A large inflation spike in March is expected by economists, off the back of sharp increases to petrol and diesel prices which have filtered through to other sectors of the economy.

Commonwealth Bank economists have tipped inflation to rise almost a full percentage point for the month, from 3.7 per cent to 4.6 per cent.

The trimmed mean inflation, which removes the more volatile price increases such as petrol costs, will nudge up from 3.3 per cent to 3.5 per cent, they forecast.

The Reserve Bank favours the trimmed mean as a true measure of inflation, with the figures already well above the bank’s target band of between two per cent and three per cent.

The release of the fresh inflation numbers will take place less than a week before the central bank’s board meets in May, when a third successive interest rate rise is on the cards.

Even before the war against Iran started, RBA governor Michele Bullock expressed concerns about high inflation levels.

The Commonwealth Bank said the RBA was more likely than not to hike rates again off the back of the forthcoming inflation data.

“The data will be keenly watched given the RBA is due to hand down its decision on interest rates on May 5, with money markets suggesting a 72 per cent chance of a 25 basis point rate hike,” the bank said in a statement.

While other pieces of economic data have been released since the start of the Middle East conflict, the inflation figures will provide some of the first indications of the war’s wider economic impact.

Inflation is tipped to rise even further in the months following March’s figures, NAB’s head of Australian economics Gareth Spence said.

“We expect inflation to peak in quarter two with trimmed mean at 3.9 per cent year-on-year and headline at 4.9 per cent,” he said in a research note.

“We expect trimmed mean inflation to be cumulatively 0.5 percentage points higher over the course of 2026 due to the cost shock emanating from the Middle East.”

Meanwhile, Wall Street investors are seemingly optimistic about possible negotiations between the United States and Iran to end their war, or at least about the prospects of a ceasefire between the nations holding, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing at ‌record highs.

The former gained 56.68 points, or 0.80 per cent, to finish Friday at 7,165.08 and the latter picked up 398.09 points, or 1.63 per cent, to 24,836.60.

A surge in Intel shares extended a rally in semiconductor stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 79.61 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 49,230.71.

Australian share futures slipped three points, or 0.03 per cent, to 16,666.

The S&P/ASX200 slipped 6.9 points on Friday, down 0.08 per cent to 8,786.5, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 17.8 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 9,006.4.

Spending cuts to the National Disability Insurance Scheme won’t be entirely driven by tens of thousands of people with disabilities being kicked off its supports, the minister responsible says.

NDIS Minister Mark Butler has defended controversial reforms to the scheme, which would involve removing 160,000 people and reassessing all participants, regardless of their disability.

The changes are set to save the NDIS $15 billion annually by the end of the decade, but have prompted criticism from disability groups who fear scheme participants will be left behind without federal support.

Mr Butler said measures to cut the cost of the scheme would be in place long before the first tranche of people were removed in 2028.

“The reductions you’ll see in spending don’t reflect people coming off the scheme,” he told Sky News on Sunday.

“This is going to be a much more efficient, but also effective, way in which to give support to people, frankly, who were never intended to be covered by the NDIS in the first place.”

Laws will be introduced to parliament in May to reduce spending growth in the scheme to two per cent each year over the next four years.

National cabinet, which involves federal, state and territory leaders, previously agreed to reduce spending growth on the scheme to eight per cent as NDIS costs swelled, becoming one of the largest items in the federal budget.

The eligibility assessments will be drawn up by a task force and the disability community, but Mr Butler said he expected many people with autism would be removed from the NDIS.

“It really won’t matter what condition or disability you have – you will be assessed through a program or through an assessment process that applies equally across the scheme,” he said.

“Obviously, given that people with autism are such a big part of the scheme’s population, you’d expect them to be a reasonably substantial part of that 160,000.”

Mr Butler said the assessments were necessary, despite people on the scheme with severe disabilities having to go through eligibility requirements all over again.

“What we’re looking at is the ability of people to function in a day-to-day sense,” he said.

“This will be, frankly, much more evidence-based than the diagnosis gateway I’ve talked about really being the way in which people get onto the scheme.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has held talks with Opposition Leader Angus Taylor about the scheme changes.

Opposition assistant NDIS spokesman Henry Pike said the coalition would try to work with the government on the changes.

However, he said he had little confidence the spending growth targets of just two per cent would be met.

“They haven’t delivered any of the reforms they’ve proposed so far, so I’ve got very little faith they’re going to be able to implement what they’re promising,” he said.

“There’s a lot of people outside the scheme who I think deserve support, and there’s a lot of people within the scheme who are very deserving, but also some who have much larger packages than they know what to do with.”

As the worst oil shock in history throttles economies worldwide, more than 50 countries are meeting to thrash out an orderly path away from fossil fuels.

A treaty to formalise a phase-out, fossil fuel subsidies and transition finance for developing nations are agenda items for the multi-day event in the port city of Santa Marta.

Promises to develop country-specific road maps away from climate-polluting fossil fuels and bolstered multilateral alliances could eventuate from the conference co-hosted by Colombia and The Netherlands.

Founding member of The Elders and former Ireland president Mary Robinson says the summit is occurring just as the world is experiencing an energy wake-up call.

“For the past month, the United States and Israel have waged an illegal war against Iran and the consequences have been felt worldwide,” she said in a briefing ahead of Santa Marta.

“High oil prices don’t just stay in energy markets, they move straight into people’s lives.”

A “committee of doers” gathering in the Colombian city is intentionally detached – albeit complementary – to the formal United Nations climate diplomacy process.

Free of fossil fuel lobbyists and producing nations that can impede Conference of the Parties negotiations, the hope is high-ambition countries will have a multilateral space to address the root cause of climate change.

Australia will be attending at a time when it holds a novel negotiating role ahead of the next UN climate talks in Turkey.

COP31 president of negotiations Chris Bowen, Australia’s minister for climate change and energy, will not be attending, with senior officials sent to represent the nation.

While Mr Bowen will be absent, he has been voicing support for the clean energy transition as a long-term pathway towards energy security.

“No war can impede the flow of sun to Australia,” he told reporters earlier in April.

Australia has embarked on an ambitious domestic transition and while it remains a major exporter of coal and gas, has been actively setting itself up to supply green metals and critical minerals to a decarbonised world.

Australia also signed up to the Belem Declaration, a voluntary commitment to a “just, orderly, and equitable” roadmap away from fossil fuels brokered as formal consensus on the issue could not be brokered at COP30.

Brazil has since been using its ongoing COP30 presidency role to continue negotiating an orderly plan away from fossil fuels at the highest political level.

The Santa Marta conference is intended to kickstart global dialogue underpinning the roadmap endeavour.

Australian Conservation Foundation’s Gavan McFadzean, who is attending the summit, will be pushing Australia to use its COP31 negotiating role to drive the fossil fuel transition agenda.

“We will want to ensure the exported fossil fuel trade features strongly and see Australia support this,” he told AAP.

Australia should also be laying groundwork to transition its fossil fuel trade relationships to supplying green metals and other clean products to partners, he said.

While Australia, Canada and Brazil and other fossil fuel-producing nations will be in attendance, the United States, India and China are among notable absentees.

COP30 chief executive Ana Toni advocates a fossil fuel roadmap process that keeps all nations engaged and focuses on bottlenecks to participation.

“We know some countries depend very much on fossil fuels and the income that comes from fossil fuels,” she said during a briefing.

“How can we transition in a way that’s not leaving anybody behind?”

A final summary can be expected that captures outcomes from the main event on 28-29 April as well as accompanying sessions featuring civil society, academia and other groups.

A 2027 conference will be held in the Pacific, a region that has long dominated international climate diplomacy.

Towering over the Moroccan capital’s historical cityscape, a 55-storey skyscraper has opened in a move that underscores the country’s expanding global ambitions.

Named for King Mohammed VI and inspired by a rocket on its launch pad, the $US700 million ($A979 million) Mohammed VI Tower will feature a luxury Waldorf Astoria hotel, offices, shops, restaurants and upscale apartments.

Among Africa’s tallest skyscrapers, the tower is expected to generate 450 direct jobs and 3500 indirect ones, Leila Haddaoui, director of development company O Tower, told reporters.

It stands in Sale, the twin city of the capital Rabat, and was built over eight years with the involvement of more than 2500 workers from more than a dozen countries.

It has already appeared on Morocco’s 200-dirham banknote.

It stands near the Grand Theatre of Rabat, designed by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, and offers views of the Atlantic Ocean and the twin cities.

With the project, Morocco is positioning Rabat and Sale – often overlooked by tourists – on the international stage, as part of a broader tourism push, Haddaoui added.

Already Africa’s most visited country, Morocco relies on tourism economically and is seeking to attract more visitors as regional conflicts are believed to steer travellers toward perceived safer destinations.

The effort comes as it prepares to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

For its founders, the newly inaugurated tower is a symbol of Morocco’s growing soft power in Africa and the Middle East.

It reflects the country’s ambition to position itself as a leading regional player through high-profile development projects aimed at expanding its influence.

Critics say development is concentrated along Morocco’s Atlantic corridor while other areas remain underdeveloped.

Gen Z-led protests last year highlighted grievances over high unemployment and struggling public services.

The tower, with a total area of more than 102,800 square metres, was conceived by Othmane Benjelloun, a 93-year-old billionaire who owns Bank of Africa, a Moroccan bank once state-owned and now highly influential across the continent.

The magnate was invited by NASA in 1969 to a spaceflight simulation ahead of the Apollo 12 mission to the moon, and the idea for the skyscraper was born from that visit, according to a statement by tower management.

Tens of thousands of Australians will gather at dawn services around the country to honour the service and sacrifice of the nation’s veterans.

Saturday marks the 111th anniversary of Australian and New Zealand forces landing on the Turkish coast at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915.

More than 8000 Australian soldiers died during the unsuccessful campaign, which failed to wrest control of the Dardanelles.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will attend the dawn service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, where he will acknowledge the debt owed to all servicemen and women who have gone to war.

“We give thanks to our veterans for all you have given,” he will say.

“We thank all Australians serving now, and we thank your families, who take on both the pride and the burden.

“What their legacy proves to us is that even when peace seems elusive, it is always worth fighting for.”

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor says Anzac Day is much more than an expression of respect and gratitude.

“In remembering our fallen – in reaching into the past – we remind ourselves of who we are as Australians,” he says in a statement.

Anzac Day marches in Melbourne and Sydney will begin at 9am AEST, and Last Post ceremonies will be held in the late afternoon.

A Royal Australian Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft will fly over the national war memorial during the veterans’ march at 9.30am.

Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith is expected to attend an Anzac Day service in Queensland while on bail over war crime charges.

Mr Roberts-Smith denies the accusations.

“Anzac Day is sacred to me and every other veteran,” he told The Australian.

“I will be attending to pay my respects and I encourage everyone else to.”

Mr Roberts-Smith has been charged with five counts of war crime murder, alleged to have been committed during his service in Afghanistan as a special forces soldier between 2009 and 2012.

Anzac Day is commemorated each year on April 25 and recognises the more than 1.5 million Australians who have served in wars and peace operations, including the 103,000 who have lost their lives.

Australia’s share market is on track for a fourth straight session of losses, as the ongoing Middle East conflict and resulting energy shock continue to weigh on sentiment.

On Friday, the S&P/ASX200 fell 19.3 points by midday, down 0.22 per cent, as the broader All Ordinaries dipped 25.4 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 8,998.8.

Wall Street retreated from record highs overnight, after Iran seized two commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz overnight and as the US vowed to attack ships that laid mines in the waterway, which is a key transit lane for a fifth of global oil supplies.

“Markets remain jittery as tensions in the Middle East simmer and what was assumed to be inexorable progress towards a peace deal between the US and Iran hit bumps in the road,” Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said.

“Market participants remain hopeful that it is in both sides’ interests to continue talks and reach a deal, but it will require meaningful compromise on the US side and an unlikely softening by hardliners in Iran, who are reportedly resisting a deal and all but control the Strait of Hormuz.”

As oil prices rose again, energy and utilities stocks outperformed, with only four of the market’s 11 sectors trading higher.

Oil and gas giants Woodside and Santos, along with refinery operators Viva and Ampol, all charged more than 1.5 per cent higher as Brent crude hovered near $US100 a barrel.

Coal producers and uranium stocks were broadly weaker.

BHP and Rio Tinto dragged on the bourse, despite iron ore and copper futures holding onto their recent gains.

Fortescue tumbled 3.7 per cent to $20.19 after it revised down shipment guidance from its Iron Bridge project for the 2026 financial year due to bad weather disruptions.

Gold miners were under pressure as gold eased to near $US4,700 ($A6,590) an ounce, although US-headquartered Newmont, which owns three mines in NSW, bucked the trend with a 2.3 per cent uplift on the back of strong quarterly earnings.

Lithium miner PLS, formerly Pilbara Minerals, also improved after it boosted production 12 per cent in the March quarter, taking advantage of higher realised spodumene prices despite a dip in sales.

Meanwhile, critical minerals producer IGO plummeted roughly 11 per cent after a production downgrade at its Greenbushes project.

The major banks continued to sell off, with NAB under particular pressure, dipping to a nearly four-month low of $39.94.

Most major insurers were in the red, except for Suncorp, which bolted almost six per cent higher after inking a reinsurance deal worth up to $2.4 billion in protection over five years.

IT stocks underperformed the wider market, dropping 1.4 per cent in a broad-based sell-off led by WiseTech, Technology One, and Life360.

The Australian dollar was buying 71.33 US cents, down from 71.52 US cents on Thursday at 5pm, fading since Tuesday as risk sentiment deteriorated.

An extra 100 million litres of diesel has been secured for Australia, with half of that to be prioritised for regional areas.

Two extra cargoes of diesel will enter the nation following a deal struck between Export Finance Australia with fuel companies Ampol and BP.

Of the 100 million litres, 50 million will go to regional centres in Queensland including Townsville, Gladstone and Mackay.

Trade Minister Don Farrell said the deals would allow for further supply to reach areas hardest hit by the fuel crisis.

“Through these early actions and the additional shipments that are expected to arrive in the coming weeks, we are securing supplies that are essential for our industries to keep moving in the face of the continued conflict in the Middle East,” he said.

“Approximately 400 million litres of additional fuel have now been secured as a direct result of the Albanese government’s new strategic reserve powers.”

The measures have allowed the government to underwrite the cost of fuel on the spot market to prevent further shortages.

According to the NRMA, Australia uses almost 94 million litres of diesel a day.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said work was ongoing to get additional shipments of fuel to the nation.

“We are strengthening our fuel supply chain working with industry, and these additional cargoes from our third partner to secure shipments to date is proof of this work,” he said.

The extra fuel comes as Indonesia’s foreign minister assuaged fears it would impose a toll on the Strait of Malacca, where large amounts of fuel ships go through.

An Indonesia minister previously suggested the country would place a toll similar to that imposed by Iran on the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Malacca accounts for almost half of the world’s trade by sea.

Resources Minister Madeleine King said the relationship with Indonesia remained crucial for Australia.

“What’s vitally important is that these trade routes do remain open, all of them,” she told ABC Radio.

“That’s what will always be Australia’s position as a nation that relies heavily on trade, as, of course, does Indonesia.”

A producer at the crux of an alleged sexual harassment complaint will testify in Hollywood actor Rebel Wilson’s blockbuster defamation battle.

Amanda Ghost co-produced recently released musical comedy film The Deb, which is set in rural NSW and stars emerging Australian actor Charlotte MacInnes. 

MacInnes is suing Wilson, the film’s director and co-producer, over social media posts that claimed the young actor reported a sexual harassment complaint and then retracted it to further her career. 

The alleged disclosure centres on the aftermath of a medical episode Ms Ghost suffered after swimming in cold water at Bondi Beach in September 2023.

MacInnes helped her back to an apartment they were sharing with others during the pre-production of The Deb and the producer got into a shower to warm up. 

The young actor said she got into a bath before being joined by Ms Ghost, both in their swimwear, after a suggestion that a bath would warm her more effectively.

Wilson claims her film’s star had confided she had felt uncomfortable after Ms Ghost requested they shower and bathe together, but MacInnes denies making a complaint.

Ms Ghost will testify about the incident and the fallout in the Federal Court on Friday. 

After being informed about the alleged complaint, the producer told a friend she was so angry with MacInnes that she couldn’t look at her, the court was previously told. 

When she gave evidence on Thursday, MacInnes recalled feeling confused and deeply distressed that Ms Ghost was keeping her distance. 

After she found out the reason for the cold shoulder, the actor said it was important that Ms Ghost knew she had never made a complaint. 

“If Amanda believed I made an improper complaint against her, I believe that would have very much harmed our relationship,” she said. 

Ms Ghost supported her as she worked hard to achieve a leading role in a stage production and a record deal and she was worried about the possible impact on her career, MacInnes said.

She claims her reputation has been seriously damaged by suggestions in the social media posts that she is untrustworthy and prioritised her career over the 300 cast and crew of The Deb. 

“(This is) a malignant allegation against my client that she sold the allegation of sexual harassment in exchange for her own professional and commercial benefit,” her barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC previously said. 

But Wilson denies the posts are defamatory and says the young actor’s career has not been adversely affected by the posts. 

The key issue is not whether MacInnes was sexually harassed but rather whether she made a complaint and then withdrew it, Wilson’s barrister Dauid Sibtain SC said.

“Our case is that … she changed her story,” he argued during his opening address.

“She did so to ensure her career as an actress and musician progressed by appeasing Ms Ghost.”

Wilson will testify on Tuesday. 

Social media influencers have been put on notice by Australia’s financial services watchdog for potentially deceiving their viewers.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued warning notices to four finance influencers, also known as “finfluencers”.

They are suspected of providing unlicensed financial advice, like promoting claims of guaranteed returns, which could also be misleading or deceptive.

As younger Australians increasingly turn to social media for personal finance advice, the watchdog is attempting to crack down on bad online actors before anyone gets hurt.

“If someone on social media is promising easy money or guaranteed returns, there is a real risk they’re breaking the law, and you could be the one who loses money,” ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland said.

“What people see online is shaped by algorithms designed to drive clicks and engagement, rather than promoting accurate information.

“This means consumers are more exposed to biased or misleading content.”

While the influencers have not been named, the commission’s surveillance has focused on those targeting Australian investors and discussing products like leveraged derivatives, shares and exchange-traded funds.

The majority of Australians between the ages of 18 and 28 rely on social media for financial information, with more than half saying they somewhat or completely trust the advice from the platforms or their influencers, according to Moneysmart research.

ASIC has urged young Australians to study social media influencers and compare their advice with trusted, evidence-based sources.

They should also check whether a person or business is licensed or authorised before acting on their financial information through the ASIC Professional Registers Search.

Finance influencers must hold an Australian Financial Services license, or operate as a representative of someone with that license, if they want to legally provide advice on financial products.

Those who aren’t licensed or authorised could be imprisoned for up to five years or face million-dollar fines.

In December 2022, the Federal Court found social media influencer Tyson Robert Scholz had provided financial product advice about share trading on the ASX without a licence.

He had delivered training courses and seminars about trading in ASX-listed securities and recommended share purchases, and charged up to $1500 for subscriptions to different levels of share trading training.

Scholz was banned from maintaining a financial services business in Australia and ordered to pay $450,000 to ASIC for the costs of the proceedings.