The Easter long weekend is just days away, and most states and territories are forecast to receive some rays of sunshine amongst clouds and scattered showers.

Western Australia and South Australia look to be the winners this Easter, with warm, sunny days on the horizon across the weekend.

Meanwhile, possible thunderstorms will threaten the Northern Territory across the weekend and showers will hang around in other states.

Here's what the weather will be like around the country across the Easter long weekend.

LIVE UPDATES: Dezi Freeman shot dead after seven months on the run; Accused cop killer hiding in remote rural container, refused to surrender

New South Wales

Sydney's looking at a wet Easter weekend, with showers from Friday to Monday.

Friday will be warm and mostly sunny in the morning, with a maximum temperature of 26 degrees and rain in the evening.

The mercury will drop on Saturday, and it will remain cooler for the rest of the long weekend, with maximums of 25 degrees.

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Australian Capital Territory

The weather will be mild and partly cloudy in Canberra over the Easter long weekend.

It will remain mainly dry across the weekend, with maximum temperatures ranging from 25 degrees on Friday to 19 degrees on Saturday.

Queensland

Brisbane has a little bit of rain on the way, with a moderate to high chance of showers on every day of the long weekend.

Thankfully the rain is only expected to total one or two millimetres on each day, and temperatures will be in the high 20s all weekend.

It should cool a little on Monday.

READ MORE: How can Aussie travellers get to Europe now major Middle East airports are shut?

Victoria

There will be a chill in the air and a few showers in Melbourne over the long weekend.

Friday will be cold with a high of 18 degrees and a light shower or two.

Showers will subside on Saturday, when the sun is expected to come out, with a high of 21 degrees forecast.

Sunday will be warm and sunny with a top of 26 degrees.

Monday will be the wettest day, with a 70 per cent chance of rain, but the mercury is still expected to top 26 degrees.

Tasmania

It's going to be frosty in Hobart this Easter, though the chill should abate by Monday.

Friday is forecast for a maximum temperature of just 15 degrees, and Saturday isn't much better, with a predicted high of 17 degrees.

Sunday and Monday will be warmer with highs of 20 and 23 degrees, respectively.

There's a high chance of showers on Monday, accompanied by light northerly winds.

READ MORE: The 39km-wide stretch of water threatening to throw the global economy into turmoil

South Australia

The forecast for Adelaide this Easter is looking ideal for outdoor activities with family and friends.

Clouds on Friday will part for a sunny and warm high of 27 degrees.

Sunday is set to reach 29 degrees, with a slight chance of a shower in the evening.

There's a moderate chance of rain on Monday morning, before a maximum 27 degree-day.

Western Australia

Perth will be treated to a warm, sunny Easter long weekend.

Friday is forecast for a maximum temperature of 28 degrees, then the weather will cool a little with highs hovering at 24 degrees for Saturday and Sunday, and 25 degrees on Monday.

There's hardly any chance of rain all weekend.

READ MORE: How are planes still flying through the Middle East? Are there safe routes for Australians to use?

Northern Territory

It's going to be hot and wet in Darwin this Easter, with possible thunderstorms forecast everyday.

There's a high chance of rain from Friday to Monday, with temperatures between 33 and 34 degrees every day.

Monday will be the wettest day, with up to 15mm rain forecast.

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Opinion: In terms of doom and gloom, we're being bombarded at the moment with bad news.

War in
the Middle East. Skyrocketing fuel prices. Bowsers running dry. Inflation and interest rates
soaring.

In such uncertain times, we crave certainty, but it feels like we're being let down badly by our
leaders.

When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced he was delivering an address to the
nation, expectations were high. Prime-time speeches from our leaders are rare.

The last one
was from Scott Morrison in 2020 during Covid. Before that, Kevin Rudd spoke to Australians
in 2009 about the impact of the global financial crisis. John Howard announced Australia's
involvement in the Iraq war in 2003.

Given the gravity of a national address from our leader, there was also a degree of anxiety
about what Anthony Albanese might reveal, but it turned out to be a major let-down.

No new announcements. Nothing that hadn't already been flagged in press conferences or
media releases. Just an urging for Australians to stay calm, do what we can to reduce our
fuel use, and enjoy Easter.

No details or plans on how the country will cope if the war in Iran drags on, and what we'll do
to keep the country moving after the planned fuel shipments to Australia arrive and the Strait
of Hormuz stays shut, stopping new supplies from getting through.

After that disappointment, the world then watched on as US President Donald Trump walked
up to the lectern in the Oval Office of the White House to deliver a prime-time address to the
American people.

Again expectations were high that big news was coming. Financial
markets rallied on the hope the Commander in Chief would be announcing an end to the
conflict.

Instead, another dud.

Donald Trump simply reiterated the boasts he'd already posted on Truth Social that the US
was winning hard, delivered more justification for bombing Iran in the first place, and in his
usual style had mixed messages on what's coming next.

He claimed the war would be over in two-to-three weeks, but vowed to bomb Iran back into the dark
ages, where he said they belonged.

The financial markets tanked on the back of his aggressive tone, reflecting the uneasy
feeling that comes with even more uncertainty.

The gloom also deepened for the rest of the world being impacted by a war we had no say in
from President Trump's lack of concern about oil shipments being blocked. Just buy more oil
from America he said – or allies should just 'take' the strait of Hormuz themselves.

At least we got something to smile about. The launch of the first crewed mission to the Moon
in more than 50 years with the Artemis II is a rare bright spot. Let's hope the entire 10-day
journey continues in the same way it started – an overwhelming success.

We need all the good news we can get.

Defence lead Marie Dyhrberg, KC, says there was ‘no direct proof of harm’.

The 12-second TikTok of the rat at Middlemore has hit nearly 100,000 views.

In a second 2022 incident, Shannan McPeak said he wished he could hit a student’s bum.

Fresh pictures of Dezi Freeman's High Country hideout provide the closest look yet into the life the double police killer was living on the run.

Police last night left the Thologolong property where the double police killer died in a volley of gunfire on Monday.

Detectives and forensics had spent three days combing through the 35-hectare property in a bid to unearth clues about anyone who may have been helping the fugitive during his seven months on the run.

READ MORE: Marles defends PM's no-news national address

The crime scene has now been cleaned and locked up, but fresh aerial images lay bare the extent of the squalor Freeman had been living amongst.

Two pairs of sunglasses, similar to those Freeman had been photographed in previously, were captured resting on a trestle table next to a portable stove and a dirty plate.

Bullet holes were peppered across a tinny boat behind the container, pointing to how Freeman's last stand may have ended.

Two large gas cylinders and a kitchen sink, featuring a drying rack with crockery and pots, suggest someone had been living in the shipping container, or intended to stay, for a prolonged period.

Also of interest to police were several chairs dotted across the front of the container, including two positioned side-by-side.

READ MORE: DNA confirms notorious killer carried out unsolved 1974 murder

Police left behind fingerprint dustings from several items of interest, which will be tested in the hopes it will help detectives track down Freeman's associates.

It's unknown whether the set-up, or any of the items on the property were owned by Freeman, were transported there by an associate, or belonged to the owner of the property.

Those are questions police are hoping to get answers to when the property's owner, who has been living in Tasmania for several months, returns to Thologolong in the next few days.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his National Press Club speech to fill in some of the gaps left from his rare yet inconsequential address to the nation, including details of a $1 billion plan to help fuel-impacted businesses.

The PM outlined the government's economic agenda as Australians battle spiralling costs triggered by the war on Iran and offered reassurances that there is a plan if the conflict rages on for longer than expected.

His speech was also peppered with key updates on the federal government's sweeping gambling reform and a small preview of the May federal budget.

READ MORE: Donald Trump storms out of Supreme Court as he faces loss

READ MORE: Trump is refusing to deal with the Strait of Hormuz. But he might be bluffing

Fuel-hit businesses to get $1bn in loans

Among the key takeaways from the PM's speech was the announcement of $1 billion in interest-free loans offered to truck drivers, freight companies, fuel and fertiliser producers buckling under the rising cost of petrol and diesel.

The cash will come from the off-budget National Reconstruction Fund and will act as a "shock absorber" for some of the pressures faced by businesses.

"These firms are not just being affected by this crisis, they are essential to Australia getting through this crisis," Albanese said.

"So our government will extend their credit to help them, and the farmers and producers who rely on these supply chains, to weather the storm.

"No government can promise to eliminate the pressures this global crisis will impose.

"But we can be a buffer against the worst of it."

PM defends lacklustre national address

Albanese had been widely expected to offer more details during yesterday's national address, a televised message usually reserved for wart-time presidents or major announcements.

The PM defended his remarks and said it was a device to "talk directly to the nation" rather than deliver any specific news.

"I took the opportunity to talk directly to the nation, that is more important than ever, because of the nature of the noise that is out there… the conspiracy theories out there," Albanese said.

He added that the spike in fuel demand had necessitated his call for calm.

READ MORE: As fuel excise set to be halved, when will fuel prices in Australia go down?

Fuel excise savings to reach 32c per litre

The federal government has reached an agreement with the states and territories to negotiate an increased reduction of the fuel excise.

Combined with the extra cuts, the PM said drivers will now save a total of 32 cents per litre at the pump.

The change was signed into law by Treasurer Jim Chalmers today.

Albanese said he hoped this would immediately impact prices for Australian motorists.

"We want this added relief to start showing up at our petrol stations straight away," he said.

A preview of May's federal budget

The PM also offered a brief preview into next month's federal budget.

The ever-present issue of the cost of living will remain at the top of the agenda, Albanese said.

He flagged it will be his government's "most important" budget since he came into power in 2022.

"One priority remains helping people with the cost of living. And that is the balance that we will strike next month's budget," the PM said.

"It is our government's most important budget to date and ambitious.

"It has to be."

READ MORE: Easter trading hours 2026: When shops are open this long weekend

'We will get through this'

There is a contingency plan in place if the war "deteriorates" our economy further, Albanese said.

He assured Australians that the nation will "get through this" but could not offer any timeline for when the war may end.

"We don't know how long this will go for, we don't know when it will end and therefore the consequences of this are connected with that," Albanese said.

"We'll come through this. And my job is to provide appropriate reassurance which is what we're doing," he said.

Albanese also tempered fears over any COVID-style mandates or lockdowns.

"This will not be like COVID," he added.

"Partly because the nature of this global crisis is very different.

"But also because we have learned from that time – and we are deliberately taking a different approach."

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Australians may have to ration fuel as a "last resort", according to an energy expert, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese encourages people to avoid driving where they can.

The Grattan Institute Energy and Climate Change Program director Alison Reeve said the federal government will likely consider rationing fuel supply if all other contingencies fail.

"The first one is to make sure that we are keeping the Asian refineries supplying fuel to Australia, because that's where most of our refined fuel comes from," she said.

READ MORE: Red meat shortage, price hikes coming if farmers can't secure more fuel

"If those supplies don't end up being adequate, and that may happen because all of those refineries rely on oil from the Middle East, the second layer is that we start importing fuel from further away, so possibly from the US.

"The third layer is an informal demand management situation."

Australia is currently in phase two of its four-point national fuel plan: keep Australia moving.

Fuel rationing could be implemented at phase four if ongoing supply chain disruptions require government intervention to protect critical services.

The federal government has made it clear that it's trying to avoid fuel rationing and any COVID-style interventions. 

But Albanese used his rare national address last night to advise people to switch to public transport if they can to save fuel for those who have no choice but to drive.

READ MORE: Trump told US allies to 'get your own oil'. But he might be bluffing

"Farmers and miners and tradies who need diesel, every single day, and all those shift workers and nurses, who do so much for our country," he said.

Reeve said the remarks were a way to signal "well ahead of time" who would be exempt from potential fuel rationing measures.

"He's building a social expectation around what the priority order will be without actually having to legislate it," she said.

Australia currently has 39 days of petrol, 30 days of diesel and 30 days of jet fuel available and the federal government has secured fuel shipments through to May.

While the figures seem alarming on the surface, Reeve said the reserves are a buffer that can be extended if demand drops.

"If we drop fuel consumption by 20 per cent, the 30 days of diesel reserves will actually last for 150 days," she said. 

READ MORE: Was Albanese's prime-time address really worth all that bother?

The war in Iran seems far from over as US President Donald Trump today declared that operations will only intensify in the coming two to three weeks.

He left it to allies to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, after previously calling for their support and receiving little to none, or suggested they buy their oil from the US.

"They should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on," he said in a national address.

"Build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait and get it, take it. Protect it, use it for yourselves."

The global conflict has raised fuel prices past $3 a litre, caused panic-buying and left hundreds of petrol stations running low across Australia.

Reeve warned that supply chains and fuel prices will never go back to what they were.

READ MORE: WA premier enacts emergency fuel powers as PM urges calm

"We will probably all adjust in the meantime," she said.

"One of the things that happens, and this is similar to what we saw with COVID, it's similar to what we saw in the 1970s and 80s with oil shocks, people actually permanently change their behaviour.

"People buy smaller cars, for example. The big option that we've got now is switching to electric cars. Maybe we start to use fertiliser differently.

"That actually means that things never go back to exactly the same set of supply chains and prices that you had before, but they'll get to a new kind of equilibrium point where everyone's got what they need, and that's because the supply is adjusted, but also because the demand has adjusted."

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has flagged major gambling reform in his National Press Club address today in Canberra.

The federal government is expected to act on some of the 31 recommendations from the gambling harm inquiry, which landed on desks over 1000 days ago.

"We don't want kids growing up thinking that footy and gambling are inextricably linked," Albanese said.

LIVE UPDATES: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to give National Press Club address

He announced sweeping changes to how gambling is advertised in Australia.

There will be a cap of three TV advertisements per hour for betting agencies between 6am and 8.30pm.

Gambling ads will also be banned on radio during school pick-up and drop-off hours.

More significantly, the government will also outlaw gambling advertising on jerseys, jumpers and in stadiums.

Cross-promotion content that mixes commentary with odds will also be banned, as will illegal, offshore gaming sites and online Keno-type products.

Online advertising will only be allowed to be served to users who verify they're over 18, and it must include a means for users to opt-out.

LIVE UPDATES: Iran says Trump's ceasefire remarks are 'false and baseless'

The government also intends to keep building on its BetStop national self-exclusion program.

"We are getting the balance right," Albanese said.

"Letting adults have a punt if they want to, but making sure our children don't see betting ads everywhere they look."

A 2025 report from The Australia Institute found that up to 600,000 underage teens aged 12 to 17 were gambling a combined $18 million annually.

Overall gambling losses in Australia topped $31 billion in 2022-2023, the highest recorded figure in the last 20 years.

Per capita losses were estimated at around $1527, up by nearly $100 from $1461 in 2021–22.

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Donald Trump has vowed to bomb Iran "back to the Stone Age" in a national address in which he claimed victory while palming off responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz to other countries.

In a 20-minute primetime speech, the visibly tired US president made no new announcements and repeated many of his old talking points.

Trump said US operations in Iran are going to get more intense in coming weeks.

READ MORE: Major airport to be renamed for Donald Trump

But he also claimed his strategic objectives were "near completion".

"We are going to finish the job, we're going to finish it very fast," he said.

It's not a new claim from Trump. Throughout the war he has repeatedly claimed it would soon be over.

He threatened the Iranian regime with more violence if they didn't make a deal.

"We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks," he said.

"We are going to hit them back to the Stone Age where they belong."

Trump also expressed his indifference to Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

READ MORE: Trump on shaky ground after Democrats win Mar-a-Lago seat

"We don't have to be there. We don't need their oil. We're here to help our allies," he said.

He claimed Iran would "soon have missiles that would reach the American homeland".

"They had some weapons that nobody believed they would have," he said.

"Their race for a nuclear bomb, a nuclear weapon that nobody's ever seen before. They were right at the doorstep."

He made some odd deviations, including emphasising that Barack Obama's deal with Iran involved a lot of "green, green cash".

Trump began his speech by congratulating the team at NASA over the successful takeoff of the Artemis rocket.

"They are on the way and God bless them," he said.

He then started talking about the military operation in Venezuela in January.

The president "as always, lied" said top Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen.

"Over two weeks ago he said 'we won'. If so, then why are we still there? What's next?" he said on Bluesky.

"All we can count on is more lies from Trump. This delusional man is a danger to our country and the world."

Trump's speech has not been well received on Wall Street.

Dow Jones and Nasdaq futures plummeted during his speech, well below the market close.

Meanwhile crude oil and natural gas prices have skyrocketed.

After dropping to below $US100 a barrel yesterday, it is now over $US104 and climbing.

READ MORE: Donald Trump storms out of Supreme Court as he faces loss

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