Australia news live: competition watchdog warns of upcoming gas shortfalls; rescued Hadi Nazari ‘keen for another hike’ | Australia news

Victoria Police are warning about the dangers of unextinguished campfires, following an incident in Cape Otway earlier this week that led to a bushfire.

Emergency services responded to reports of a bushfire at Blanket Bay Road and Red Hill Track at about 2:20am on Wednesday.

Over 150 people had to be evacuated from nearby campsites, with drop-in centres opened at Apollo Bay Community Hall and Apollo Bay Youth Hall to accommodate displaced campers.

No one was injured during the incident.

The fire was brought under control by 9am on Wednesday, not before around 14 hectares was bunt.

Investigators from Forest Fire Management, Colac Crime Investigation Unit (CIU) and the Arson and Explosives Squad determined that the cause of the fire was an unattended campfire which appears not to have been extinguished.

Police are now treating the bushfire as a criminal investigation and detectives from Colac CIU are appealing for any witnesses.

Police are reminding campers that a recklessly lit fire can have the same outcome as a deliberately lit fire, including significant loss of life, serious injury and property damage.

Mostafa Rachwani

Good morning, Mostafa Rachwani with you to take you through the morning news.

Murder charge

A 72-year-old man is expected to appear in court in Brisbane today after he was extradited to Queensland and charged with the alleged murder of his former partner almost 28 years ago. For more, read our story:

Rescued bushwalker Hadi Nazari will rest when he returns home to Melbourne after 13 days lost in the Australian Alps but is keen to go for another hike, Australian Associated Press reports.

His cousin Hussain Ali told reporters outside Cooma hospital that he had tried to talk him out of another trek:

When he’s completely fit and fine then we’ll see how he goes.

When we found him … he was keen to go for another hike. I was like, “No more hiking for you, that was it.”

Nazari was found by a group of hikers on Wednesday afternoon, near Blue Lake in the Kosciuszko national park, after he was last seen by friends descending the Hannels Spur trail on Boxing Day.

Retail gas prices begin to ease, watchdog says

Sarah Basford Canales

Retail gas prices are beginning to ease but structural shortfalls in supply could emerge from 2027, a new report from the competition watchdog shows.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s latest report into Australia’s gas supplies, released Friday, shows the outlook is mixed, noting price drops in gas are still well above the costs before 2022.

The ACCC said high international gas and oil prices – caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – were still keeping domestic supply costs high but prices under longer-term supply agreements had moderated.

The watchdog said agreements in the first six months of 2024 for 2025 supply were still two times higher than 2021 at about $14.70 a gigajoule. But the price had reduced from the 2023 supply, which was about $12.10 to $20.40 a gigajoule and as high as $30 to $35 a gigajoule in some cases.

The energy minister, Chris Bowen, said the Albanese government’s introduction of an extra 600 petajoules of gas into the east coast market during its term had put downward pressure on prices and secured east coast gas supplies until 2027:

We are making sure our energy grid is reliable and working for Australians by delivering cheaper energy with more renewables coming online and gas ready to firm it when needed.

Under the government’s gas code, energy companies are exempt from the price cap on gas of $12 a gigajoule for the domestic market if they agree to supply commitments to the east-coast market.

The ACCC’s report said the gas code would have minimal influence on east coast gas prices this year but there were significant supply increases forecast from 2026.

The report noted, however:

In the longer-term, further significant volumes of additional supply will be required to avoid shortfalls.

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has had a look at gas prices and supply in a new report and, while it has short-term good news on the former, it has some longer-term bad news on the latter. More on this in a few minutes.

Showers are expected to continue for Sydney and Brisbane throughout much of the coming week but summer isn’t over yet, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. This week south-east Queensland and eastern New South Wales will be “tipping towards wetter conditions”, the bureau says.

And the rescued bushwalker Hadi Nazari will rest when he returns home to Melbourne after 13 days lost in the Australian Alps but remains keen to go for another hike, a relative says. More on that soon too.