Annie Pullar: Welcome to covered a podcast that helps you figure out what the hell is going on in the news and how you feel about it.

Jodi: Here to guide you through the biggest news stories of the week, as always, we are your hosts, journalists Jodie Lee and Annie Pulla. On this week's episode, our top story is the fire that engulfed a Victorian oil refinery and what it means for the fuel crisis

Annie Pullar: the landslide election in Hungary that marked the end of a far-right government.

Jodi: And we also take a look at Harry and Meghan's royal, but not really royal tour through Melbourne, Sydney and camp.

Annie Pullar: Yeah, a lot to unpack with that one. But first, let's go to our honorable mentions. These are the stories that are essentially worth getting your head across, but don't quite warrant a deep dive. Starting with US President Donald Trump. He's really upped the aggression dial this week and picked a fight with Pope Leo. Trump went after him on Truth Social, claiming Pope Leo doesn't do a good job and should stop catering to the left. The Chicago-born pontiff fired back saying he has no fear of the Trump administration and will continue to speak out against the war.

Jodi: Yeah, our second honorable mention is that it's about to get more difficult and more expensive to fly domestically, at least in the short term. Airlines Qantas and Virgin have both cut the routes between major capital cities and also upped their prices for the months of May and June, citing the fuel crisis. Qantas costs have risen by $800 million, while Virgin says that it will have forked out an extra $40 million in the second half of this year.

Annie Pullar: And finally one we didn't see coming, Victoria Police is now investigating pop star Katy Perry for sexual assault. Actor Ruby Rose claims Perry sexually assaulted her on a night out in Melbourne in 2010. Now Perry has denied those claims, her team calling the allegations dangerous, reckless lies. Yeah, that is one to watch, but it probably makes sense to start with the biggest story of this week and undoubtedly the biggest story of the last month. One of Australia's only two remaining oil refineries has actually exploded into flames. If you're already exhausted by the fuel crisis, ⁓ we're sorry, but it just got a whole lot worse.

Jodi: that there is Victorian Premier Allen. She was speaking about the Viva Energy refinery in Geelong, which is about an hour southwest of Melbourne. It's, as Annie said, only one of two refineries left in Australia. It produces 50 % of Victoria's oil and 10 % of the national supply. And it went up in flames. The pictures from that fire are incredibly shocking. ⁓ They're saying a leak of flammable liquid is to blame and it only ⁓ sparked in one part of the plant. There were people inside who managed to escape. 17 fire crews on the scene. No one was injured thankfully but those fire crews were tackling the blaze for hours. It was enormous.

Annie Pullar: and they're probably going to be tackling it for days. Unions are already pointing to faulty and ageing infrastructure as the cause. But my God, it's hard not to question the timing here. With Australia in the world in the midst of a fuel crisis, the conspiracy theories are literally already running wild. The main one doing the rounds is that Iran could have been behind this. I don't know how, but it seems to be dominating a lot of group chats at the moment. Now, the Energy Minister, Bowen, certainly isn't buying into those He crisscrossed Breakfast TV on Thursday morning just hours after this blaze broke out and this was his reaction. Yeah, so that's Chris Bowen trying to be cool, and composed as we would usually say. But the reality is petrol production has been hit really hard here. Diesel and fuel are actually still operating and running at reduced levels. ⁓ But workers who are on that site and ran for their lives are essentially saying this facility or plant could be out of for weeks.

Jodi: So we know we've been talking about a fuel crisis for weeks now. Obviously the Strait of Hormuz is closed. So a large portion of the global oil supply has been cut off or certainly diminished. Viva Energy isn't actually reliant on oil from the Middle East. So at the moment it has been working kind of business as usual. But what I found really interesting is Viva CEO confirmed that they've been pushing back planned maintenance at this Geelong facility to maximize diesel production there given the global situation. So they were essentially flogging the plant as hard as they possibly could to get as much out as possible. But the CEO is adamant that the delayed maintenance had nothing to do with this fire and that it was just an incredibly poorly timed tragic kind of accident.

Annie Pullar: delayed maintenance it always gets you I feel like I feel like we hear this way too much

Jodi: Well, you know, inevitably, yeah. And it's like with anything in life, like you push, you know, this is not to harp on about fuel, but you drive on an empty tank thinking like, ⁓ I'll get petrol tomorrow. I'll get petrol tomorrow. And then you end up running out of gas.

Annie Pullar: Yeah, anyway, that's definitely going to be a point that the meter is going to pick apart. But what this fire has really done is reopen a sore spot that's been dominating headlines for weeks. And that really is, should Australia be this reliant on international countries for our fuel supply, we import as we know, as we've reiterated, 90 % of our refined fuel. A decade ago, we actually had a handful of refineries. Now we have just two. The one in Geelong that's now up in flames. and one in Brisbane, that's an ampoule. So the rest were essentially decommissioned ⁓ or converted into import terminals.

Jodi: I just think this criticism is so convenient and it's politicizing for politics' sake. It's so easy to... And I'm not here to defend the Albanese Labor government, but it's so easy to Monday morning quarterback these kinds of problems when the problem arises to say, you know, with the advantage of hindsight, well, obviously this was going to be an issue, but there's a reason that successive governments under normal conditions had all made these decisions to take our oil refinement offshore. It's obviously only a problem when it becomes a

Annie Pullar: Yeah, it's a little bit like the whole pandemic. You can't sort of forecast what you don't know is going to happen. But obviously, you know, there's a lot of criticism around how slow the government was to react. Everyone has been quick to jump on this. You've got the opposition, you've got business leaders, you've got one nation all saying the same thing that we shouldn't be this reliant on global exports. I mean, Pauline Hanson has literally been banging on about this for years calling it a strategic suicide note. So that's very strong language about a fuel crisis, but hey, look at what we're dealing with.

Jodi: Yeah, but what does Pauline Hanson not bang on about? That's my first question. But you have to ask yourself, why are we in this position? And I actually went on a deep dive about this because it was a question I had, why has Australia made the decision to take all of our fuel refinement offshore? The truth there, it comes down to a number of facts, right? There isn't that much oil left here in Australia in the ground. What we do have is also very expensive to extract. So Australian oil per barrel cost in US dollars almost twice the amount of a barrel that would be drawn from the ground somewhere like the Gulf of Mexico. ⁓ you know, it's very expensive to do and that cost would inevitably be passed down onto consumers. That's you and me when we go to fill up our car. So it's almost unsustainable financially. And then the other thing was there were much more modern, sophisticated facilities coming out of places like Singapore and South Korea. And Australia was struggling to keep up with those refinement capabilities. with all these factors considered, at some point Australia just decided that it became, it was simpler, it was cheaper and it was more effective to take refined fuel from overseas.

Annie Pullar: Yeah, and hey, this isn't isolated to fuel. you look at our retail industry ⁓ fashion, a lot of that is manufactured offshore, but we could sit here for hours, Jodie and I debunking all the myths and theories, but ⁓ we certainly don't want to bore you with the nitty gritty. I one thing that was important for me to point out is in the midst of all this doom and gloom, Anthony Albanese has actually managed to lock in a really significant deal. ⁓ He announced ⁓ on Thursday that Basically, 100 million litres of diesel would flow in from Brunei and South Korea, which is a really big chunk of supply, especially with this Geelong facility now offline.

Jodi: Yeah, Albo copped a lot of criticism for the photo ops that he was engaging in in Southeast Asia as he tried to conduct ⁓ these deals. I actually think that was unwarranted. This is diplomacy. This is, I guess, what I certainly want to see from our Prime Minister. We've got a problem and so he's, you know, boarded a plane and he's trying to solve it by striking deals with key partners, key trade partners in our region. So for me, I actually think it's a promising sign whether or not it's enough to solve the crisis remains to be seen. But ⁓ I certainly don't have a problem with our Prime Minister. shaking hands with world leaders trying to strike deals.

Annie Pullar: Yeah, and listen, I think I was a little bit harsh. I probably fell into that critic category because when you looked at what came out of some of these trips, the actual agreements that they were signing, it was pretty thin on detail. It was more suggesting that they were just willing to work together to have this open relationship. But hey, I've been proven wrong and I'm sure a lot of other people have. And I agree with you, you you've got to get these deals done. You can't do that over Zoom. ⁓ The bottom line though is it doesn't matter how many deals the government essentially strikes over the next few months Nothing really is going to calm down until this war ends Trump actually told US reporters in Pakistan where officials are trying to broker a peace deal here that there could be movement in the next couple of days But as we know, you know, he loves to set a deadline Doesn't exactly love to stick to a deadline. So we will

Jodi: probably wouldn't make the best journalists.

Annie Pullar: Let's not start that rune at meal. Anyway, I want to move on. This next story is a little bit left-field and rogue for us, but Hungary has just had an election that could pull some very serious leaders across Europe. If you were Vladimir Putin right now, you'd be feeling a little bit intimidated because on Sunday night in Budapest, tens of thousands of people actually lined the banks ⁓ of one of the main rivers there. They were essentially waving the Hungarian flags, crying, hugging strangers, really emotional scenes. And they were celebrating something that many of them had genuinely stopped believing was possible. And this is the end of a very divisive figure, Viktor Orban.

Jodi: Yeah, so after 16 years in power, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been thrown out and not narrowly, right? Peter Magyar and his party won 53 % of the vote to Orbán's 37%. So it was a landline, sorry, it was a landslide, so comprehensive that Magyar said the result was, and I really loved this quote, visible from the moon and every window in Hungary. Orbán called it painful, no doubt, that's typically how defeat feels. He conceded defeat by phone and that was kind of that 16 years. ⁓

Annie Pullar: Yeah, listen, ⁓ not gonna lie. I had to do a quick check of Hungary on a map, which is pretty shameful for me considering I've been living in Paris for the last year, but ⁓ need you to stick with us ⁓ this ⁓ matters well beyond Budapest. ⁓ those who have no context of this, you're not alone. ⁓ Orbán, he really wasn't just a Hungarian politician. He was pretty much the architect of ⁓ political model that the global far right has been running for a decade. So ⁓ ⁓ You know, he was anti-immigration, anti-press freedom, but most importantly, he was one of Putin's closest allies in Europe. He blocked sanctions on Russia. He pushed back against ⁓ aid in Ukraine and was basically Moscow's man inside the EU because we know the UK, France and Germany are all backing Ukraine. He was deliberately aligned with Donald Trump and interestingly, JD Vance was actually in Budapest just days before this election played out and he was there to rally support for Auburn and essentially attack EU bureaucrats for doing nothing. We know that they've practically called them useless. ⁓ But Trump had personally promised to bring American economic might to Hungary if Auburn won. But yeah, here's the catch. He didn't.

Jodi: Yeah. And I think for people not familiar with Hungary, Orban, the previous prime minister and Donald Trump, very similar brand of politics. What's interesting is Magyar, the guy that was able to beat him, isn't some firebrand lefty. He's actually also somewhat of a conservative. He was inside Orban's own party until 2024. He campaigned on key issues like corruption, healthcare, public transport, everyday stuff that appeals to everyday working people.

Annie Pullar: you

Jodi: And in his victory speech, which I found really interesting given US support for Auburn, I found it really interesting that in Maggier's victory speech, he quoted JFK and said, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. That very famous quote. It was a deliberate theatrical kind of rejection of everything that Auburn stood for. The turnout at the polling booths was crazy. 80%. It's a record in Hungary's post-communist history, obviously. These people came out specifically to end Auburn's reign and they did that.

Annie Pullar: Jeez, what a defection as well. Like you're in this guy's party and now you're winning an election, what, two years later? I mean, you don't see that often in politics, but it kind of brings us to the bigger question. Is this a sign that the pendulum is swinging back? Because Hungary isn't really the only reference point here. Poland, throughout its far-right government back in 2023, France's far-right failed to win a majority last year. And then now you've got this. So the model that Auburn perfected and that Trump and others have borrowed from and essentially promoted and backed just got comprehensively downright rejected by the very people it was designed to appeal to. And voters who were inside that tent, I think they just looked around, they didn't like what they saw and they walked out.

Jodi: think what's most interesting though is that Maggier specifically didn't beat Auburn by going more hard line, right? And he didn't swing all the way to the other end of the spectrum and become, you know, extremely far left. He almost just slightly corrected. You know, he beat Auburn by going back to basics, by looking at policies, by speaking to people on the issues that matter most to them. Decency, looking at institutions within Hungary. He made kind of boring, competent government feel radical again because the people had been missing that. 16 years and I'm curious to see if this back-to-basics approach to politics, as you very rightly asked, is something that will kind of take on in other parts of the world.

Annie Pullar: Mm. Yeah, well, all we have to do is look at what's happening right here at home. Like, mean, Australia isn't immune to any of this. It's no secret that One Nation is not so quietly having a huge moment. The proof has been in the polling, a lot of data coming out revealing that ⁓ One Nation is more popular than the coalition. The question of whether Australians are flirting with or retreating from that style of ⁓ politics... ⁓ is genuinely happening here. I think we're seeing that play out in a big way. And what Hungary tells us is that ⁓ voters can go a long way down that road and still find their way back. you look at 80 % turnout and they found their way back.

Jodi: Yeah, it's a good question. What I'm curious to see is whether Australia is, you know, 16 odd years behind. Do we still have to serve our period of far right and interest in that kind of very ultra conservative government before we, to use your language, find our way back closer to centre? Or do we eschew it altogether and just not go there? It would be very interesting to see. One note of caution, though, on Hungary. I will say Orban, although he was asked that as Prime Minister, isn't gone completely, he will sit in opposition. ⁓ And, you know, his party is still very much embedded in local institutions. If you think that they were at the helm for, you know, over 16 years, that's a lot of enmeshment in the way that a society runs. So local media, local networks. Maggia called it a victory and it was a victory certainly, but analysts are saying that it's kind of the beginning of a new phase. So Auburn has been defeated before. He lost in 2002 and came back stronger in 2010. So It's not necessarily a clean break, for some people like Maggiya, it's certainly a sign of hope and a sign of a new beginning. So a space to watch, I think.

Annie Pullar: Hungry definitely having its moment in the spotlight. I don't think I've spoken this much about hungry

Jodi: Thank No, but I found it really fascinating and I hope that our listeners do too.

Annie Pullar: Yeah, anyway, let's move on to a story that I've actually been really waiting to sink our teeth into. I am obsessed. ⁓ Most people don't even know that this is happening. The Royal Non-Royal Tour. know, I don't know. Literally people don't know. Like I saw on social media, ⁓ you know, they were interviewing people on the streets being like, in Melbourne, do you know that Harry and Meghan are here? And they were like, who are you talking about? I mean,

Jodi: How could you not know? Well, I mean, it's footy season. They've got other things on their mind. I can understand that. Fine. Pre-occupied.

Annie Pullar: Granted, are, I am a monarchy enthusiast. traveling in business class ⁓ on a commercial Qantas flight, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan are in Australia.

Jodi: Yeah, but I think, okay, so you're saying a lot of people don't know that they're here. The other camp I've been hearing a lot of commentary from is people asking you the question of why are they here? So they visited Canberra and Melbourne and then they're heading to Sydney over the weekend. You know, then we've seen these shots of them ⁓ greeting patients and staff at Melbourne's Children's Hospital. Harry kicked a four, learnt to kick a 40 at the Western Bulldogs headquarters. He spoke about fatherhood at a mental health summit. They're going to Veterans Affairs. saw Megan like serving up lasagna to some women at a women's charity. I'm no expert, but like it look, if it kind of looks and smells and feels like a royal tour, like isn't this just a royal tour? Except they're not allowed to do a royal tour because they're no longer royal.

Annie Pullar: Yeah, I'm lost in what to call this. I mean, when you're seeing Megan do collaborations with MasterChef as a guest judge, I think that's where we're maybe drawing the line on a royal tour. But it's been a massive point of contention this week. ⁓ And there's one big reason for that. It's because of the outrageous fees as well. So in addition to the shaking hands, the holding babies, the MasterChef thing, Meghan is also headlining a three day luxury ⁓ women's wellness retreat in Sydney. So we're talking yoga, manifestation, sound healing, probably a little bit of cooking, ⁓ throw it all in there. ⁓ Tickets are starting at $2,699. And ⁓ ⁓ is the real kicker for me. If you didn't think that enough, add another $500 on that for a VIP package, which includes an actual photo with the Duchess. Jodes? Interesting?

Jodi: Like I want to say no, but I kind of. If I have the cash, like I can't look away. I'm unashamed about it. I am really into them. I find it fascinating. And to be honest, Harry's also, so he's speaking at this psychosocial summit as well. Tickets range between like I think a thousand bucks and two thousand bucks, two thousand dollars for the pleasure of hearing him talk.

Annie Pullar: you Yeah.

Jodi: So I kind of like this hybrid royal model. Stick with me. It's part tour, part business trip. You know, it's like when you, you know, you might go on a holiday and then strategically take a phone call so you can claim it on your tax. Maybe that's what's happening here. You know, they're making money. They make money through engagements. That's what they do now and media deals. So, you know, Harry wrote the incredible critically acclaimed, I am the critic.

Annie Pullar: Yeah. Hello?

Jodi: Critically acclaimed book, Spare, brilliant, loved it, read it in three days. Meghan's obviously got her terrible Netflix series where she teaches you how to make jam and look like a trad wife. But people are shitty because they're extending their hand to shake, you know, for a shake. And then with the other hand, they're taking cash. And I just, I'm not about that. Like it's not, okay, fine. It's not a royal tour in the traditional sense of the tour.

Annie Pullar: you

Jodi: But those things we should also kind of be grateful those royal tours cost the taxpayer a lot of money. In 2024, when King Charles was here, I think we paid 100 grand a day for six days for him and Camilla to just grace us with their presence. So on the one hand, people are really angry that these royal, these form the couple formerly known as the Royals are taking money from Australians. But at least you can opt into whether or not you'd like to give that money. Whereas On Royal Tours it just comes out of government coffers.

Annie Pullar: Yeah, that's true. And you literally see them for a fleeting second, like having covered Charles and Camilla. They're in, they're out. It's like a little quick question. It's just honestly, they have become pros at just like the two minute small talk. anyway, I think what's really grinding people's gears is that, yes, they are here on a private tour. Yes, they've been turning up to events in black Range Rovers, but there are a significant amount of police resources involved in this in ⁓ Karen, here I go. In Victoria, the ACT and New South Wales. So I don't know. That's coming out of individual state budgets. ⁓ Police haven't yet commented publicly on how much or how many personnel are involved. Just stick with me here, Jodes. I'm just a crime reporter trying to have my moment. Anyway, it's still... I can still see why it's got people's feathers really ruffled.

Jodi: ⁓ No, the reason it's got people's feathers ruffled is because of tall puppy syndrome in this country and the Karens out in the suburbs, like live and let live. Honestly, do you mean to tell me that these same people were angry when Taylor Swift was here and needed a police escort between venues when, you know, visiting, I don't even know, like heads of state. Olympic athletes, celebrities, like Obama did a tour here a couple of years ago, a speaking tour. You don't think there were like state resources lent for that purpose? Like, come on, let them make a bark. Let's get a glimpse of the gal.

Annie Pullar: Yeah, and I have to. ⁓ I think what I really interesting though is why they actually chose Australia. since they've defected from the royal family, they haven't really done one of these royal, non-royal tours. And I don't think that this is an accident at all. I think it was very strategic. The Sydney morning Herald actually had a line this week that I thought was pretty cutting. ⁓ that our warm welcome in 2018 made us look like a soft target. Back then they were newly married. It turned out Megan was pregnant and Australians actually lapped it up. You may remember she wore heaps of Australian brands, practically put Oriton on the global Mac with a local jeans company. So there are these suggestions that... Australia is being considered as a market for Meghan's ⁓ as ever lifestyle brand, which has featured prominently in a Netflix series made by the couple's production company. ⁓ Last year, it registered trademarks in 12, ⁓ sorry, ⁓ 12 different product in Australia, according to a government intellectual base. think that kind of tells you everything you need to know about this tour, if we can call it that.

Jodi: Yes. So maybe it is a well-dressed market entry launch strategy, but like is the outrage warranted? Because when you really strip it back, these are two people that left an institution being the firm that was making them miserable. They found it restrictive. They found it unkind and they decided to, they decided to leave. That means they need to fund their own lives. So coming to a country where they've previously had very goodwill. Yeah, okay, it's a Commonwealth country and I guess that's where the alleged controversy comes from. But I think this is controversy drummed up quite honestly by the British press, the Australian press has just piggybacked off. You know, every celebrity does paid appearances. I paid to go and listen to Oprah speak. You know, I paid a ridiculous amount of money and I loved it. So, you know, if people want to pay to see Meghan or pay to see Harry, I don't really have a problem with it. Like, welcome down under.

Annie Pullar: Yeah, and I think if we really look into the criticism here, I don't think they're the ones actually selling this as the Royal Tour. I feel like that's the media really amplifying this. Like, I think they've been very clear from the start that this is a private visit. What I do think is rich is something entirely different. They left the Royal family on the very loud premise that they wanted to live a private life. They wanted to get out of the spotlight, away from the institution, the freedom from the public scrutiny.

Jodi: I say.

Annie Pullar: ⁓ And for their own safety, ultimately. And now they're here asking the Australian public to put their hand in their pocket, to be in their presence. I don't know, just for me, I feel like you can't have it both ways. You can't get to claim the privacy and then sell every little bit of your life across Oprah, Netflix, Spotify, and now MasterChef.

Jodi: Yeah, I think the difference is though, she came from Hollywood, right? That's her skill set. That's her trade, if you like, is publicity. So they left the family business, let's call the firm that, it wasn't working for them. So they do need to rely on something. And what they know is the glitz and the glamour. Like they know Hollywood, right? That's what she knows. And to a certain extent, he's known a bit of that too through his Royal duties. So it makes perfect sense to me that they would be holding public engagements. If you ask me, I think it's a little inconsistent. Like they've just got a range of different projects. They've got their fingers in all these different pies, pardon the pun, but I'm here for it. What's wrong with a bit of whimsy? We're obviously heading into a global recession. We're in, you know, experiencing a fuel crisis. news is pretty grim. Like I just really like the Duchess of Sussex. There I said it.

Annie Pullar: Clearly, ⁓ we are really invested in royal topics. we hope you feel covered with the week's biggest news. As always, find us on socials and share any stories that you would like us to take a deep dive on. And we'll see you next week.

Jodi: Okay. See ya!