Tara and Michael have confessed their TV edit wasn’t exactly true to life.
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But the reality was quite different, Tara explaining: “On our first date, it was already very clear that there wasn’t going to be a kiss for us. We knew that we weren’t there yet.
“The first date was going to be more of a getting to know you… but there definitely was a lot of romantic tension between us and a lot of gazing into each other’s eyes.”
She also addressed an editing blunder later in the season, when they were shown having their first kiss on their second date – despite promos showing them locking lips in an earlier challenge.
“But by the time the knight challenge rolled around… we were ready for that moment,” she says of their actual first kiss during the medieval challenge.
Their actual first kiss happened during the knight challenge.
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Tara also debunked rumors that the crowd chanting for them to kiss at the challenge was added in post-production, confirming it really did happen.
While she and Michael were clear that the love story we saw on TV had been edited, they insisted the romantic moments were totally genuine.
READ NEXT: Which Beauty And The Geek 2022 couples are still together?
“They weren’t showing moments that didn’t exist,” Tara says.
“But there was more to it than what was able to be shown in the timeframe that they had. It was a simplified version.”
Tara shocked us by confessing Michael is her first serious boyfriend.
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Tara also surprised us all by revealing Michael is her first ever boyfriend, though the geek has a bit more relationship experience under his belt.
Though he’d been single for almost two years before meeting Tara on BATGprior to that he’d been in a four-year relationship and had been with other girlfriends before.
“I’ve been in a relationship before, I’ve learned everything you need to know about being tender and learning how to make a long-term relationship work,” he adds.
“When I learned that Tara had never been in a proper long-term relationship I was like, ‘I am extremely honored to be your first and I promise I will make it all worth your while’.”
READ NEXT: New photos PROVE theory Beauty And The Geek’s nerds are fake
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Australia’s fading star of Formula One, Daniel Ricciardo, is about to be dropped by the McLaren team in favor of his highly-rated countryman Oscar Piastri, according to multiple Grand Prix sources.
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Embattled Australian Formula One ace Daniel Ricciardo – who has more often than not been outpaced by his younger teammate since a switch to McLaren 18 months ago – has reportedly been given his marching orders by the British team and will vacate his seat at the end of this season a year before his contract expires, multiple Formula One insiders are reporting.
News of the impending switch emerged yesterday in Europe at the end of a tumultuous week in Formula One, which saw four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel announce his retirement, and two-time champion Fernando Alonso switch from Alpine to Aston Martin to replace Vettel in 2023.
Rising Australian star Oscar Piastri, 21, has been linked to a number of spots on the F1 grid next year, including the possibility he could replace Ricciardo.
It is worth noting Ricciardo’s shock switch is for now unsubstantiated speculation – and the driver has repeatedly stated he is contracted to McLaren until the end of 2023 – however the widespread overnight coverage has been reported by seasoned F1 journalists with impeccable contacts in the sport.
The Renault-owned Alpine squad thought it could promote Piastri from reserve driver to its full-time squad for next year as Alonso’s replacement, but the 21-year-old Australian quickly denied the move as he became the subject of rumors about a transfer to McLaren for 2023.
The next step in the saga, first reported by RacingNews365.com citing sources in Australia, has Ricciardo on the way out after receiving the news of his sacking a year early by McLaren with – most likely – his fellow Australian arriving to take his place alongside Highly-rated British driver Lando Norris.
Although it is unclear at this stage, an early termination of Ricciardo’s services at McLaren could still see him paid the balance of his contract to the end of 2023 – reportedly close to $AU20 million – while earning a salary at his next job, if he can secure a seat on the F1 grid.
Nothing official has been said yet by McLaren, despite widespread reporting of Ricciardo’s likely departure from the team.
The dispute over Piastri could still be decided by the Contract Recognitions Board, which is responsible for adjudicating on disputes between drivers and teams in Grand Prix racing.
In the past, former world champion Jenson Button was the focus of a contract dispute involving the then-Benetton team and Williams that was only decided by the Board – and Alpine currently believes it has a deal for 2023 with Piastri.
What appears certain is Ricciardo’s early departure from McLaren with a multi-million dollar payout and his search for a fresh spot in Formula One.
The eight-time Formula One winner – who last year delivered McLaren’s first victory since 2012 – has significantly under-performed since joining McLaren, despite claiming the 2021 Italian Grand Prix for the team, and has been consistently slower than Norris in qualifying and behind him at the finish of Grand Prix races this year.
Ricciardo’s only likely F1 option is at Alpine, but that could be problematic as he took a giant paycheck – believed to be more than $30 million a year – to move to the Renault factory team from Red Bull Racing in 2019, and then jumped out of the squad after only two years to move to McLaren where he is today.
Still, a return to the French-owed team would solve a lot of problems for both Ricciardo and Alpine.
Full details of the Piastri move are yet to emerge, but his manager – fellow Australian and past Grand Prix winner Mark Webber – is one of the key players and has apparently been looking for the best team to take the highly-regarded Piastri into Formula One .
Webber’s connections – McLaren’s team manager Andreas Seidl, who headed Porsche’s Le Mans racing program when the Aussie was driving for the German sports car company, is one – are key players in the story.
Another is Webber’s one-time manager – former Grand Prix team owner and Formula One power player Flavio Briatore – according to the best background information on the developing story.
The world’s oldest motorsport publication, Motorsport Magazine in the UK, you have reported all the latest driver movements and the inside workings of Formula One – often described as the ‘Piranha Club’.
But there is still plenty to come as the three Australian musketeers of Formula One – Ricciardo, Piastri and Webber – continue their dealings over the summer break in this year’s Grand Prix schedule.
Paul Gover has been a motoring journalist for more than 40 years, working on newspapers, magazines, websites, radio and television. A qualified general news journalist and sports reporter, his passion for motoring led him to Wheels, Motor, Car Australia, Which Car and Auto Action magazines. He is a champion racing driver as well as a World Car of the Year judge.
“We don’t have much space, we don’t have much tree cover. That’s where our canopy is. If you go there, that’s where all the birds live. That’s where all the shade is,” she said.
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Liby said the council’s stadium strategy indicated the facility could have as many as six courts and 320 car parking spaces. She said a stadium of that size would take up about 14,000 square meters of space, about the size of 30 house blocks.
“That’s how much of the park would be gone. And there’s really just not much actual parkland that’s left there,” she said.
The council has said that an indoor stadium at McIvor Reserve was only “an idea, not a proposal” and that it was gathering feedback from people who use the park before making any further decisions.
At a council meeting this week, Maribyrnong chief executive Celia Haddock said no determination had been made on the stadium’s design or location.
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“I again reiterate that no decision has been made on McIvor Reserve. Council is simply investigating it as an option,” she said.
However, Liby said that she believed there was more going on behind the scenes than the council was willing to reveal.
She highlighted opposition to plans for Melbourne Victory to build a soccer academy at Footscray Park and the Yarraville “Arab Spring” parking meter saga as other examples of poor consultation by the council.
“They are not high schoolers that are cramming for an exam that are going to pull it out at the last moment,” she said.
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“They’re not being transparent about so many things, which leaves the community with very little confidence that they’re being forthcoming with us about what’s really going on.”
Barbara Hart, who has lived in a house overlooking the park for 16 years, said she was concerned.
“Why aren’t they looking at disused industrial sites in the area? There’s a lot of them and the council could be looking to purchase that sort of land,” she said.
“We all acknowledge that there needs to be more basketball and netball courts, but not at the expense of green open space.”
Another resident, Kylie Michel, said the COVID-19 lockdowns had demonstrated the importance of having open space close to where you lived.
She said the western suburbs were often identified as an area with a shortage of tree cover and green space.
“It’s such a beautiful space, but we know once it’s taken away, it can be lost forever,” she said.
An online community forum to discuss the McIvor Reserve master plan will be held by Maribyrnong City Council on August 8.
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Senate Democrats have reached an agreement on changes to their marquee economic legislationthey announced late Thursday, clearing the major hurdle to pushing one of President Joe Biden’s leading election-year priorities through the chamber in coming days.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., a centrist who was seen as the pivotal vote, said in a statement that she had agreed to changes in the measure’s tax and energy provisions and was ready to “move forward” on the Inflation Reduction Act.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said lawmakers had achieved a compromise “that I believe will receive the support” of all Democrats in the chamber. His party needs unanimity to move the measure through the 50-50 Senate, along with Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote.
Schumer has said he hopes the Senate can begin voting on the energy, environment, health and tax measure on Saturday. Passage by the House, which Democrats control narrowly, could come next week.
Final congressional approval of the election-year measure would complete an astounding, eleventh-hour salvation of Mr. Biden’s wide-ranging domestic goals, though in more modest form. Democratic infighting had embarrassed Mr. Biden and forced him to stop down a far larger and more ambitious $3.5 trillion, 10-year version, and then a $2 trillion alternative, leaving the effort all but dead.
This bill, negotiated by Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin, the conservative maverick Democrat from West Virginia, would raise $739 billion in revenue. That would come from tax boosts on high earners and some huge corporations, beefed up IRS tax collections and curbs on drug prices, which would save money for the government and patients.
It would spend much of that on energy, climate and health care initiatives, still leaving over $300 billion for deficit reduction.
Sinema said Democrats had agreed to remove a provision raising taxes on “carried interest,” or profits that go to executives of private equity firms. That’s been a proposal she has long opposed, though it is a favorite of Manchin and many progressives.
The carried interest provision was estimated to produce $13 billion for the government over the coming decade, a small portion of the measure’s $739 billion in total revenue.
It will be replaced by a new excise tax on stock buybacks which will bring in more revenue than that, said one Democrat familiar with the agreement who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deal publicly. The official provided no other detail.
Though providing no detail, Sinema said she had also agreed to provisions to “protect advanced manufacturing and boost our clean energy economy.”
She noted that Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough is still reviewing the measure to make sure no provisions must be removed for violating the chamber’s procedures. “Subject to the parliamentarian’s review, I’ll move forward,” Sinema said.
“Tonight, we’ve taken another critical step toward reducing inflation and the cost of living for America’s families,” a statement from Mr. Biden read. “The Inflation Reduction Act will help Americans save money on prescription drugs, health premiums, and much more. It will make our tax system more fair by making corporations pay a minimum tax. It will not raise taxes on those making less than $400,000, and it will reduce the deficit.It also makes the largest investment in history in combatting climate change and increasing energy security, creating jobs here in the US and saving people money on their energy costs.I look forward to the Senate taking up this legislation and passing it as soon as possible.”
Schumer said the measure retained the bill’s language on prescription drug pricing, climate change, “closing tax loopholes exploited by big corporations and the wealthy” and reducing federal deficits.
He said that in talks with fellow Democrats, the party “addressed a number of important issues they have raised.” I have added that the final measure “will reflect this work and put us one step closer to enacting this historic legislation into law.”
Says SOEs will not be listed on CSE where a few can benefit
Calls for changes in the CSE and says if not a new institution will be set up
President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday raised concerns about the manner in which the country’s capital market, the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), operates, and asserted the need for the entire system to change.
He said that shares of State-Owned-Enterprises (SOE) will not be listed on the Colombo bourse as a part of restructuring efforts as it is controlled by a few investors.
Highlighting the market manipulation that takes place at the CSE, Wickremesing he stressed he would not list the SOEs on the CSE so that a few investors can benefit from such a move.
“The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is not recognized by the London Stock Exchange. There are many questions about the stock exchange that a few people control it. And a few people rig it.
“Now can I put an SOE shares on to that?” said Wickremesinghe while questioning the credibility of the stock market operations in Sri Lanka.
The President called for changes to take place at the CSE, failing which he said a new institution will be set up. “I don’t want any arguments on that. If we are to use the present stock exchange, we all should be satisfied that it is neutral and will benefit all,” asserted Wickremesinghe.
This has changed to: “The centrality of the artist: supporting the artist as a worker and celebrating their role as the creators of culture”.
A Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts spokesman did not address why the reference to “telling Australian stories” had been omitted, but rather described the call-out for submissions as a way to start a debate about what a national culture policy should be.
Hatherley argued it was “technically possible” to “support excellence and the special role of artists and their creative collaborators” while making Hollywood movies in Sydney.
“But that overlooks the opportunity to support Australian ideas, the development of Australian IP, and the sharing of Australian stories,” she said.
Leonie Marsh from Screen Vixens, a group of female Australian film and television producers, agreed, adding that it was critical to “define Australianess and Australian stories”.
“Otherwise it will be others, like Hollywood, that will do it for us, with potentially vested interests that don’t represent our cultural values as a nation,” Marsh says.
This week Oscar-winning producer emily shermansinger-songwriter Jaguar Jonze and theater and festival director Wesley Enoch were handpicked by federal Arts Minister Tony Burke to join a 15-member panel that will guide the government on the formation of a national cultural policy.
panton hits the town
David Panton at the Mercedes-Benz launch with the night’s host Erin Molan.Credit:Esteban Tessa
desde Julie Bishop‘s “plus one” to solo Sydney socialite, the recently unshackled david panton leapt into the cocktail milieu with gusto at Thursday night’s epic Mercedes-Benz party to launch its new electric EQS.
Besties: Sally Obermeder and Kerri-Anne Kennerley at the Mercedes-Benz launch.Credit:Esteban Tessa
As a parade of vintage Mercs passed by, including a priceless 1969 280SL Pagoda, it was the vintage silver fox Panton who appeared more enamored with the young ladies in his line of sight. I have assured PS that, contrary to reports, he is single.
Meanwhile, it was a happy meeting for Kerri-Anne Kennerley and sally obermeder. KAK revealed that back in 2013, when she was checking into the Mater Hospital for breast cancer surgery, she discovered Obermeder, whom she did not know, was having her surgery on the same day. “Something in me made me seek her out of her. Before I had been diagnosed I had followed her story of her, and thought she was incredibly inspiring. I just wanted to say hi,” Kennerley said.
The women became firm friends, privately sharing the highs and lows of their respective orders, and both are grateful to still be here.
Catlin’s Southern Discomfort
It wasn’t just the Macquarie Street antics capturing all the headlines this week. South of the border, the resignation of Victorian Liberal leader Matthew Guy‘s chief of staff Mitch Catlin piqued PS’s interest.
Mitch Catlin in action in the Birdcage in 2018.Credit:jesse marlow
As the Age reported, Catlin proposed a donor make more than $100,000 in payments to his marketing company, Catchy Media Marketing and Management, for services described as “supporting business interests”.
But Catlin, who is more at home pimping celebrities, is also well known around that other Melbourne institution, Flemington’s birdcage enclosure during the spring racing carnival.
After the 2018 Melbourne Cup, it was conveniently leaked to the press that Catlin had been retained in a “top secret” operation to rebuild then embattled Today host Karl Stefanović‘s image. Stefanovic apparently “opened his own wallet to secure the services of marketing guru Mitch Catlin”.
Liza Minnelli in the Birdcage in 2009. Credit:rebecca hallas
Um, guru? Catlin was best known for walking celebrities – from Liza Minelli and elle macpherson to Nicole Kidman and a cardboard cut-out of kim kardashian (no joke) – into marquees at the Melbourne Cup.
Catlin’s gig with Stefanovic was short-lived, and he’d pretty much disappeared from PS’s radar until this week’s revelations surfaced.
Jewels fit for a margarine queen
Woollahra has become the bling capital of Australia as two of Queen Street’s leading auction houses put some of the most extravagant and intriguing jewels in the country up for sale.
One of Joan Crebbin’s pieces up for auction at Bonhams.Credit:Bonham’s Australia
Bonhams is previewing pieces ahead of next week’s Australian Jewels auction. The collection includes items from the late Joan Crebbin‘s estate, who with her also deceased husband Dick Crebbinwere arguably the “king and queen of margarine”, their company Marrickville Holdings making the Miracle and ETA brands of the spread.
The couple were also arts patrons, lived in a Walter Burley Griffin-designed home in Castlecrag and avid jewelery collectors. Bonhams is offering 64 lots of Crebbin’s jewellery. She died two years ago, aged 94, but she had started collecting the jewels in the 1950s, including avant-garde pieces by Andrew Grim, Rod Edwards and Gerald Benney.
A few doors along Queen Street and Leonard Joel auction house is going for size rather than backstories in its Important Jewels sale, which is expected to fetch up to $8.5 million collectively.
A ruby and diamond ring, featuring a 5.29 carat ruby from Burma, selling for $700,000 to $900,000, at Leonard Joel’s Important Jewels auction.
Among the highlights is a rare natural cut-cornered square modified brilliant-cut diamond weighing 21.13 carats, which could fetch up to $900,000, the same price expectation for an equally rare 5.29 carat Burmese ruby and diamond ring. PS understands both pieces have come from international vendors.
Little’s creative big talent
He was best known as television personality jeanne “Ooooh aaah! Dahhhling!” Little’s husband, but three years after he died, former Sydney decorator Barry Little‘s archive has been included in the Caroline Simpson Library and Research Collection, joining the works of Leslie Walford and Marion Hall Best.
Barry Little with his wife Jeanne and their daughter Katie, at home in the early 1970s. Credit:Courtesy of Katie M Little
The collection of scrapbooks documenting his many projects was donated by his daughter Katie Little.
Eccentric Jeanne Little in her egg hat.
In the 1960s and ’70s, Sydney’s leading interior designers were household names, their opinions on design sought after by the media and their photos appearing in the social pages.
Barry Little served as president of the Society of Interior Designers of Australia (SIDA) for five years between 1971 and 1976.
Both he and Jeanne worked out of their own dedicated rooms in their Paddington home. While Jeanne’s frenetic workshop was strewn in fabric, sequins, chicken wire and pots of glue to create her eccentric wardrobe, Barry’s was a study in serenity featuring bespoke carpets made in Hong Kong and Japanese temple blinds.
As for Jeannie’s famous collection of hilariously over-the-top gowns, those still surviving are in storage, though her daughter is confident that they will eventually end up with the Powerhouse Museum.
Many of the gowns, hats and accessories were made of perishable objects, like the Easter bonnet which featured sausages and mash scattered with peas which she wore on The Mike Walsh Show.
Jeanne Little with Mike Walsh in a dress made of toast.
Jeanne asked Mike if the sausages were still warm. “I only cooked them this morning in case you felt like one. Everyone likes a sausage. Do you want one darling?
She made jackets out of tin foil and dresses covered in balloons, or pale pink prawn crackers and milk bottle caps.
“I still have about a dozen of her dresses she made for television, including one that is covered in Christmas decorations which I stupidly wore, not realizing she had wired the holly onto the gown … I was in agony,” Katie told PS .
“They have both left a great creative legacy that really captured an era.”
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Miles Bergman is attracting interest from a number of Victorian clubs, reports SEN’s Michelangelo Rucci.
The 20-year-old has found himself in the senior team throughout the last several weeks after recovering from shoulder surgery and playing SANFL earlier in the year.
He was a first-round draft pick out of the Sandringham Dragons back in 2019. Despite signing a two-year extension back in 2020 and with a year to run on his current deal, Rucci predicts he’ll be tempted by a move home.
“We know there’s going to be an enormous trade market, but it’s not just going to be players falling out of contract,” Rucci told SEN SA’s The Run Home.
“Miles Bergman is under contract until 2023, the end of next season. But he has – what I’ve been told – fair interest from a few Victorian clubs to lure him back to Melbourne.
“He was a first-round draft pick, number 14 for Port Adelaide in 2019, has a Rising Star nomination last year and had a difficult past 12 months with COVID.
“If he gets tempted to move, Port are going to have some interesting talks with clubs about what they want back.
“I don’t think (he will be at Port next year).”
Bergman’s best game of the season came against Melbourne in Round 18 when he booted two goals and took eight marks from 16 disposals.
The Power are already up against it to keep wingman Karl Amon from departing Alberton at the end of the year, however the club is reported to have expressed an interest in out-of-contract Bulldog Josh Dunkley.
Reducing access to humanities degrees will reduce critical thinking among the population and disadvantaged regional students, academics have warned, as Federation University prepares to ax its Bachelor of Arts (BA) program from 2023.
Key points:
Federation University is preparing to ax its Bachelor of Arts degree from 2023
The Federal Education Department will review recent fee-hikes for humanities degrees
Academics say art degrees play a critical role in teaching young people to think critically
Making the decision less than two years after the former federal government doubled fees for humanities degrees, the university blamed the cut on declining enrollments from international and domestic students.
“Student commencements have failed from 87 in 2018 to just 27 in 2022,” acting vice-chancellor Professor Wendy Cross said.
“The Federation will continue to offer many of the courses that were part of the BA program … and we will redeploy staff where possible.”
The Federation operates two main campuses, in Churchill and Ballarat, as well as other smaller locations.(Supplied: Federation University)
A ‘short-sighted’ move
The move was labeled “short-sighted” by Ballarat-based professional historian Lucy Bracey.
“Cutting off access to this, not only does it limit future students — it particularly disadvantages regional students,” Ms Bracey said.
Professional historian Lucy Bracey believes the fostering of critical thinking is at risk.(Supplied)
She said undertaking a degree in humanities taught young people critical thinking.
“You learn to evaluate sources, to learn to research,” Ms Bracey said.
“You learn to look at what you’re reading, [and] think about who created the source [and] why it was created.
“Critical thinking is allowing you to not just accept what you’re reading in the newspaper or told on the TV.”
Job-ready Graduates to be reviewed
The former federal government decided in 2020 to hike fees dramatically for humanities degrees under its Job-ready Graduates package, which simultaneously reduced the cost of science, engineering, nursing, health, teaching and maths degrees.
A federal Department of Education spokesperson said a “review” into the program would begin in the second half of this year.
“The government will appoint eminent Australians to conduct a universities accord, which will work with universities to consider things like affordability and accessibility,” the spokesperson said.
The Job-ready Graduates package will be reviewed this year.(pexels.com)
Arts apart from the ‘ecosystem’
Queensland University of Technology Professor Sandra Gattenhof was the chief investigator for the Australian Research Council linkage project, The Role of the Creative Arts in Regional Australia: a Social Impact Model.
“From our research it shows that any kind of arts engagement, whether it be the small crafting groups, to big events, to things like courses at regional university … they’re all part of an ecosystem,” Professor Gattenhof said.
“And the minute you take one bit of the ecosystem out, it means… the connections that are within that community begin to fragment.”
She said arts and humanities played a vital role within regional areas to create greater social inclusion.
“Often when we talk about regional community, we often talk about statistics — regional trade and tourism statistics,” Professor Gattenhof said.
“But we forget that arts, culture, and creativity, in and of itself, is a wellbeing indicator.
“If you have that in your community, your community is what we call, ‘thriving’.”
Federation University has blamed low enrollments for ending its Bachelor of Arts program.(ABC News: Mark Leonardi)
A disappointing anniversary
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Victoria’s Education Act, which made education free, secular, and compulsory for young students.
Ms Bracey said it was disappointing to see a reduction in student opportunities in 2022.
“There’s a current thinking in society that is, if you’re not doing something that has an immediate job outcome at the end of it… it’s not worth doing,” she said.
“And there’s so many things wrong with that.
“There are over 500 professional historians, working across Australia, who all have an arts degree background.”
Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse and Democrat Doug White will advance to the general election out of the top-two primary in Washington’s 4th Congressional District, CNN projects.
Newhouse is one of the 10 Republican House members who voted for then-President Donald Trump’s impeachment in January 2021 following the attack on the US Capitol. Trump had endorsed Republican challenger Loren Culp in the district.
Washington holds open primaries in which all candidates, regardless of party, appear on the same ballot, with the top two finishers advancing to the November general election.
Despite facing anger from his own party over his impeachment vote, Newhouse had a number of factors going his way this week: The incumbent handily outspent his challengers, the field was large and fractured, and Washington state’s open primary system allowed people to vote for any candidate, regardless of affiliation.
Newhouse’s victory is a loss for Trump, who made defeating the 10 House Republicans who joined Democrats to impeach him a central goal to his post-presidency. By moving on from the primary, Newhouse is likely to keep his congressional seat from him. His district of him, which stretches from Washington’s borders with Oregon and Canada, overwhelmingly leans toward Republicans.
Aside from White and Culp, the field also included former NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler and state Rep. Brad Klippert.
Local Republican operatives, many of whom censored and criticized Newhouse after his impeachment vote, worried that many people had moved on from impeachment and caused Republicans to focus on other issues as they went to the polls on Tuesday. Newhouse also seized on his agriculture expertise, using it to appeal in the largely rural district and draw some of the focus away from impeachment.
This story has been updated with additional background information.
Australia’s cost of living crisis has been laid bare after Sydney residents rushed to a local petrol station upon hearing that prices were much lower than normal.
By the time most arrived, however, the price had fluctuated and was back to a more expensive level.
On Saturday morning, just past 9am, a thoughtful resident spotted that petrol prices were unusually cheap at a service station in Randwick, in Sydney’s east.
She took a quick snap and shared it a local community group, prefacing the image with “Cheap petrol Clovelly Rd.
“I don’t drive but plenty of cars buying.”
It was as low as 115.8 and 129 cents per liter (unleaded and premium unleaded respectively) but just an hour later, the prices had jumped to 161 and 175 cents per liter.
The original poster promised to notify her community if she spotted low prices again.
The current average price for regular unleaded fuel in Sydney is at 169.1 cents per liter, according to the NRMA’s weekly fuel report.
It comes as Australia has been caught in the throes of a cost of living crisis as inflation, rising interest rates and supply chain issues have made it harder to get ahead financially.
In the last quarter, transport costs rose 13.1 per cent as the price of fuel rose to record levels for the fourth quarter in a row.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously said he would not extend the 50 per cent fuel excise cut, due to expire September 28, due to the cost to the budget bottom line.
To extend it for another six months would cost the government $3 billion.
Last month, data found that Australians were spending nearly three-quarters more on petroleum each month than they were less than a year ago.
In June, the average monthly spend on petroleum in Australia was $192.63, an increase of $82.05 (74.19 per cent) from September 2021.
These heavy prices have made Australians become more strategic and considered with their driving habits, with more than 60 per cent now shopping around for cheaper fuel.
