US President Trump is considering banning diesel exports as his domestic support wavers following record-high fuel prices amid the war in Iran.

It comes after the president called for a ban ahead of a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart on Tuesday. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright have both confirmed the administration is examining the proposal.

Diesel prices have reached record highs in both the US and Europe as the war in Ukraine and Iran cut exports from some of the world’s biggest products such as Russia and Saudi Arabia.

In Australia, which consumes the most diesel per capita, the price of diesel has risen by seven per cent to nearly $3 a litre, according to the federal government’s latest fuel data. Australia does not directly import diesel from the US, instead relying on refineries in the Asia-Pacific, such as South Korea, Japan and Singapore.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said a ban would be “a very concerning development for the global economy”. The government also faces questions on whether it would reintroduce its fuel excise cut, which was ruled out by Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles who said the government was not considering the policy.

The chief executive of Anthropic will turn down an invitation to appear at a Senate committee hearing on AI this week.

The invite came after the prime minister’s revelation that OpenAI’s agents had infiltrated systems run by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Victoria’s Department of Health, the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, and the Medicare statistics reporting service portal of Services Australia.

It is understood the company’s local team is not in Australia, and the invite was considered last-minute. An alternative date for the hearing has been sought. However, the company will make an appearance before another committee early next week.

The finance and government services minister, Katy Gallagher, flagged new mandatory reporting rules could be introduced for AI data breaches. After criticism of the government’s slow response to the incident, Services Australia has put in place new procedures to ensure real-time monitoring of information sent to the public-facing email address used by OpenAI to report the hacking.

The Victorian Ambulance Union (VAU) says it was left in the dark over a major government initiative that will see paramedics take the primary lead in mental health crisis call-outs, raising key concerns over front-line worker safety.

Under newly announced state protocols, emergency responses to mental health incidents will transition to a health-focused model. Paramedics will serve as primary responders where safe and feasible, while Victoria Police and protective services officers transition into secondary support roles—a move intended to allow police to focus on crime while offering more care-focused help to individuals in crisis.

Health Minister Ingrid Stitt defended the framework, stating that people experiencing mental health distress “deserve a response that puts their health and wellbeing first while keeping them and the community safe.”

Although the state government confirmed that the Department of Health, Victoria Police, and Ambulance Victoria signed off on the agreement, union leadership expressed serious reservations about how the policy was rolled out.

VAU General Secretary Danny Hill revealed he only learned of the framework through news reports, noting that neither union representatives nor front-line paramedics were consulted beforehand.

While Hill acknowledged that a health-centered approach can lead to better outcomes for patients, he highlighted concerns over the potential risks faced by paramedics on the ground. He emphasized that paramedic teams and police frequently need to respond side-by-side due to the risk of violence, aggression, and unpredictable conditions during complex mental health calls.