After another long week, the government will prepare to direct the national conversation towards the budget, which is set to arrive at the end of this month.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he believes Australians understand why petrol prices are going up but made little indication there would be help in the budget through a cut to fuel excise.
"My point is that excise, where it has sat, is not going to change what the fluctuations are in price," the Prime Minister told the Nine Network on Sunday.
This comes after international sanctions against Russia have made fuel cross the $2 per litre line in parts of Australia.
Labor also continues to face pressure on the khaki election angle as defence spokesperson for the party Brendan O'Connor spoke with ABC Insiders host David Speers Sunday morning, saying the party had agreed to support the AUKUS deal but rebuffed being pushed on whether it meant Labor would issue a "blank cheque".
The war in Ukraine is only one struggle this government and opposition is facing as the election draws closer, with the flood cleanup in Queensland and NSW expected to be a long road ahead.
While earlier this week the Prime Minister managed to avoid climate protesters when he toured flood ravaged Lismore on Wednesday, emergency service experts are beginning to ask when governments will learn lessons from previous mistakes around natural disasters.
Economists are expecting the impact of the floods on the east coast of Australia to be felt in the March jobs figures as the unemployment rate could hit four per cent when the latest labour force figures were released this week.
If that wasn't enough to burden the government getting set for an election, COVID cases are set to rise as a more transmissible Omicron sub-lineage of COVID is on track to be "more dominant" in the ACT and Australia.
There are no plans yet for the ACT or other states to put in fresh mask mandates with modelling from ACT Health indicating the increased caseload will not result in more hospitalisations.
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Olivia Ireland
Olivia is a reporter for the Canberra Times. She has covered federal politics and public sector, court and crime, local news, arts, education and business. Olivia started as an intern in August 2021 and began her career with the Times after completing her studies in November 2021.
Olivia is a reporter for the Canberra Times. She has covered federal politics and public sector, court and crime, local news, arts, education and business. Olivia started as an intern in August 2021 and began her career with the Times after completing her studies in November 2021.
