Police attended after reports of ‘unlawful activity’.

This is not the first time Davina Reid has tried to be reinstated as a lawyer.

‘A public forum like this is not the way to litigate these,’ he said.

Petrol has jumped up to 50c a litre, adding about $23 to a full tank.

Australian mortgage holders will have to stretch their budgets further following a decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to hike interest rates for the second time in a row.

Today's hike brings the official cash rate target back up to 4.10 per cent after the RBA handed down a 25-basis-point increase February, which took the cash rate up to 3.85 per cent.

Rate tracking by Canstar found after the last hike, the vast majority of lenders passed on the hike in full within two weeks of the announcement.

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So what will this mean for mortgage holders?

Mortgage holders with a debt of $500,000 could pay at least $151 more per month with the cumulative increase from February and March, according to data from Canstar.

For someone with a $600,000 mortgage, the total increase between February and March would be $181 a month.

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Those with a $700,000 mortgage are expected to pay more than $211 a month after the two hikes.

For someone with $800,000 left on their mortgage, the two hikes could add an additional $241 to their monthly repayments.

For those with a debt of $900,000, the culmulative increase could be an extra $271 per month.

Mortgage holders with $1 million of outstanding debt are likely to pay an additional $301 extra a month.

Canstar data insights director Sally Tindall said while the banks were likely to pass the rise through to their variable rate customers in full, there were ways to outsmart the rise.

"Banks might apply a blanket increase to their variable customer base, but still be willing to hand out cuts on a case-by-case basis," Tindall said.

"Often it's just a matter of stating your case."

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A stolen white Ford Ranger was stopped at Karangahape Rd and four people were arrested.

Digital birth certificates are now available in NSW, but only for the state's hundreds of thousands of young people.

From today, people aged 16 to 21 who hold a photo card or driver's licence can choose to set up a digital birth certificate for free on the Service NSW app.

The state government said the digital document was secure and designed to adhere to international security standards.

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"I'm proud that NSW is the first place in Australia where young people across the state can carry their birth certificate securely on their phone, instead of having to rummage through drawers or call mum and dad," Digital Government Minister Jihad Dib said.

"For young people living away from home for work and study, this digital document provides instant convenience when they need their birth certificate to apply for certifications and licences – making it easier to apply for jobs.

"The digital birth certificate offers a secure and convenient way to access one of the most important identity documents, giving people greater control over personal information.

"It's the same as having a birth certificate in your pocket, but much more secure."

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Digital birth certificates can be used to verify identities and apply for licences or certificates, such as the Responsible Service of Alcohol.

The state government said the new digital tool could be used for more services over time. 

Service NSW and the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages are working with businesses and the community to make it easier to use the digital birth certificates. 

It's not clear when the government will roll out this service to other demographics.

The service is free, compared to ordering a physical birth certificate, which costs $68 or $101 for priority services.

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Over 200,000 people are taking advantage of a "loophole" in New South Wales firearms legislation to acquire guns, according to a research group.

In many parts of Australia, people are required to prove they have a "genuine reason" to own a gun.

In NSW, the overwhelming majority of firearms licence holders state that reason as either hunting or sports shooting, the latter of which only requires the holder to be a paid member of a sports shooting club.

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While 253,000 people in the state list being part of a shooting club or recreational hunting as their reason for holding a firearms licence, only 36,000 people actually participated in either activity last year, according to a study from the Australia Institute.

Experts warn the exploitation of the loophole is allowing a flood of gun owners to legally acquire firearms even if they do not plan to use them for the intended purposes they claim.

Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute, claimed it was exposing the "facade" of Australia's gun laws, and was creating a risk for all Australians.

"There are hundreds of thousands of people who don't use their firearms for the reason on their licence, and that is a major concern," he said.

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"Australia's firearm laws are rightly a point of national pride, but they can only keep Australians safe if they remain ironclad. Right now, this genuine reason loophole leaves the door wide open for someone with bad intentions to get around Australia's firearm laws."

The research from the Australia Institute also found there are currently more guns in Australia than ever before, including before the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, which prompted John Howard to overhaul gun laws across the country.

Firearm laws in Australia have come into focus after the Bondi terror attack, where two men who had legally acquired several long-armed rifles shot and killed 15 people.

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In response, the NSW Government strengthened its gun laws, with the federal government also launching the largest gun buyback scheme since Port Arthur.

However, Campbell warns the delay in fixing the genuine reason loophole may have already had too much of an impact.

"Our research shows that our state and territory licencing regimes are undermining the system and potentially putting people at risk," he said.

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The federal government has effectively admitted there is a possibility of fuel rationing if the war in Iran continues for far longer than expected, but insists there is no reason to resort to panic-buying, with supply continuing to come into the country as normal.

On the same day as the country's major fuel retailers were hauled before the competition watchdog to explain the astronomical price rises motorists have had to deal with, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles was asked about whether petrol rationing would be required.

He did not rule out the possibility.

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"Obviously, this is a function of how long this conflict continues, and that's not something that I can answer in terms of what's going to happen," he said. 

"But we are taking the measures that we're taking right now, and it is a matter of people just going about their business normally and calmly."

In a separate interview, Marles said the government has no plans to impose rationing at this stage.

He also pointed to several steps the government has taken in recent days to alleviate the supply pressures caused by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, including releasing 20 per cent of Australia's domestic stockpiles and relaxing fuel standards to allow higher-sulphur products to be used locally.

"All of that is about getting more fuel out there," Marles told Today. 

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"We are targeting the regions, places where there are the greatest needs. So, we are doing everything within our power to see fuel get to where it is required. 

"What we are really saying of Australians right now is to go about your business as you normally would. 

"We very much understand the pressure, particularly in the regions where there are fuel shortages that (are) being felt there, and that's why we are acting in the way that we are."

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, where about 20 per cent of the world's oil – as well as an even greater proportion of natural gas, and significant amounts of fertiliser and other key goods – passes, has created the worst-ever supply shock to the global oil market, according to the International Energy Agency.

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That makes it more disruptive to the supply line than the twin oil crises of the 1970s, when much of the Western world was hit by major shortages and skyrocketing prices brought about by an embargo in 1973 and then the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

While Marles acknowledged the risks of a protracted conflict, he said for now, Australia is still receiving oil shipments.

"Right now, our message to Australians is to just keep going on as you normally would," he told the ABC. 

"As we speak, the same amount of ships that are supplying Australia are doing that."

The blame for petrol shortages at some service stations, particularly in regional Australia, has been pinned on panic-buying catching suppliers off-guard.

"We do acknowledge that in some local communities and particularly regional communities, there have been shortages that we are working with the ACCC and the industry to address," Treasurer Jim Chalmers told Today last week.

"Now the main reason for that is even in regional areas we're told by the suppliers that there was enough for usual patterns of consumption, but not for these elevated levels of buying."

Today, the ACCC is hauling major petrol companies in for a meeting about the sky-high prices motorists have faced at the bowser over the last two weeks.

"Some of the steep increases in petrol prices we saw shortly after the outbreak of this conflict have really raised concerns at the ACCC," Chalmers said today.

"Today the regulator will get a chance to make the retailers and suppliers justify their prices.

"I've made it very clear that if they find evidence of misconduct, we expect the ACCC to throw the book at them."

Since the start of the war, the government has doubled the fines available to the consumer watchdog if it finds petrol companies have behaved illegally.

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Donald Trump has said he will be "taking Cuba", in the latest escalation of his rhetoric on the island nation.

Speaking in the Oval Office earlier today, the US president said he believed "I'll be having the honour of taking Cuba".

"That's a big honour. Taking Cuba in some form," he said.

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"Whether I free it, take it… I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth."

He did not specify whether his ambitions would require military action including ground troops.

"They're a very weakened nation right now," Trump said.

"They were for a long time very violent, very violent leaders. (Fidel) Castro was a very violent leader."

His comments come as the New York Times reports the White House is actively seeking to push Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel from office.

The newspaper reported the Trump administration would not seek wholesale change to the Caribbean country's government.

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But removing Diaz-Canel would be seen as a symbolic win, similar to the US raid that led to the arrest of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro.

Trump spoke about the appeal of taking control of Cuba from a tourism perspective.

"Cuba, in its own way – tourism and everything else – it's a beautiful island, great weather," he said.

"They're not in a hurricane zone, which is nice for a change, you know? 

"They won't be asking us for money for hurricanes every week."

Cuba is very much in a hurricane zone, but is renowned for its capacity to minimise fatalities through coordinated evacuations.

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The country is now in a near-total electrical blackout as a consequence of a US oil blockade.

Cuba previously powered its grid with Venezuelan oil, which has been cut off since Maduro was ousted.

Ten days ago, Trump told CNN that Cuba was going to fall "pretty soon".

"They want to make a deal, and so I'm going to put Marco [Rubio] over there and we'll see how that works out," he said.

"We're really focused on this one right now."

Rubio, the US Secretary of State, is the son of Cuban migrants.

Cuba has had an adversarial relationship with the US since the 1959 Revolution resulted in a Communist government taking power.

The United States previously occupied Cuba between 1898 and 1902 following the Spanish-American War, and again from 1906 to 1909.

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