A large scale fire, which broke out at the oil refinery of Viva Energy near Geelong, was finally extinguished after burning through the night and it is likely that the reason behind the fire was mechanical equipment failure.

The Fire Rescue Victoria team received the alarm just before 11 pm on Wednesday after several reports about explosions and flames.

The fire was put out in the middle of Thursday afternoon with the help of 50 firefighters, ten trucks and a boat sent there.

There were no casualties amongst about fifty employees who worked in the area during the fire.

FRV deputy commissioner Michelle Cowling in her interview mentioned that the fire had started due to the leakage of some kind of gas because of the breakdown of a valve of mechanical equipment.

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Then the gas caught fire due to several ignition points present in the refinery.

Fuel supply concerns

The fire hit the refinery’s motor gasoline unit, which is called the mogas plant on site. This unit is responsible for making high octane fuels like gasoline.

The Corio facility is one of only two refineries still in operation in Australia. It provides about half of Victoria’s fuel and about 10% of the country’s total fuel supply.

“Before the fire, we were operating at 100% capacity, but now we have gone back to our minimum rates,” said Scott Wyatt, the CEO of Viva Energy.

“It is going to impact our gasoline output, and even our aviation gasoline might be affected, while we have already reduced our diesel and jet fuel output,” he added.

“It’s really bad timing,” said Chris Bowen, Australia’s energy minister. “It’s not good news for Geelong,” he said on News Breakfast.

“This highlights just how precarious our fuel security has become here in Australia,” said Stretch Kontelj, mayor of Geelong. The Victoria Police will conduct an investigation into what caused the fire.

The Australian taxis have always claimed that they are under pressure from all angles because of the rising cost of fuel, stiff competition from the rideshare companies and rogue cowboy unlicensed drivers.

Over the last few weeks, petrol and diesel prices hit all time high levels as prices for unleaded gasoline went past $2.25 a litre while diesel increased to over $2.65.

This rise in petrol and diesel price has been caused primarily by the Middle Eastern oil crisis where the oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted causing crude oil prices to rise above $120 a barrel.

The impact of this rise in fuel prices has been catastrophic for the already struggling taxi drivers since unlike the rideshare companies that utilize algorithms to make pricing adjustments.

Uber has raised its prices in Australia, which has led to an average 6% increase in driver pay.

DiDi has added a temporary five cent per kilometer fee to help pay for its drivers gas.

But traditional cab companies don’t have that kind of freedom. Industry experts say that this system was never meant to handle a shock of this speed and size.

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Moreover, the issue has been further exacerbated due to a phenomenon referred to as a flood of unlicensed drivers by some seasoned operators.

These rogue cowboys make use of informal networks and social media forums to provide private transport services without insurance, accreditation, or even a vehicle check.

They pick routes that offer high returns and operate during times when there is high demand, which gives them an edge over legitimate operators who have the responsibility of paying for all the costs associated with licenses, cameras, wheelchairs, etc.

Recently, the Victorian Government has initiated a range of reforms to curb non compliance among these drivers, such as imposing heavy fines on misbehavior and mandatory QR codes that link complaints against drivers.

However, it has been observed that enforcement continues to be inconsistent at best.

Industry groups have been saying for a long time that Uber’s controversial entry into Australia in 2014 made the playing field between taxis and rideshare uneven.

According to industry statistics, there has been a reduction in the number of taxis and limousines operating in Australia, with an average annual decrease of 1.8% over the past five years leading to 2024.

For the drivers who continue to come to work daily, the calculations become increasingly difficult.

Every time fuel is filled, it reduces the income earned even before the trip begins, every ride offered by Uber takes another client away from the queue and each private vehicle without a license reduces the relevance of the industry.

Mobile phones, smart watches and wireless earbuds will be banned in all Victorian schools, whether public or private under the new legislation announced by the state government on Wednesday.

The legislation will commence on 28 January 2027, and the restrictions will now be applicable to all schools, not only government schools, but also Catholic and private schools.

Victoria will be the first state in the country to introduce legislation on the restrictions on wearable technology in schools.

Under the new legislation, mobile phones have to be switched off and kept away from the first bell to the last, smart watches have to have the notification, cellular and recording functions disabled and personal audio devices, such as earbuds will not be allowed in school hours.

The legislation was announced by the state Premier Jacinta Allan, who said, “It’s very simple. We’re talking about giving Victorian students more learning time, less distraction and that’s what this policy is all about.”

The Education Minister, Ben Carroll said the Department of Education would be working closely with the schools to ensure the restrictions are practical to implement.

Students were more attentive in class, more gregarious during breaks and schools reported fewer serious phone related incidents, according to an independent assessment of that previous policy.

Students who need devices to manage medical conditions will be exempt.

Support from Catholic and independent sectors

The Catholic and independent school systems have supported the decision.

Victorian Catholic Education Authority CEO Elizabeth Labone stated, “Any initiative that increases student engagement is certainly welcome.”

At the school level, the response to the decision has been overwhelmingly positive.

King’s College Warrnambool principal Allister Rouse told The Standard that while he welcomed the decision, the smart watch part might be more difficult to police than banning phones.

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Emmanuel College Warrnambool principal Rachel McGennisken stated that the decision reinforced what they were already doing and that there needs to be a united front in the region.

She added that “no one policy will ever be the definitive answer to managing technology, because technology is constantly changing.”

With differing regulations regarding smartwatches and other personal devices, all Australian states and territories currently impose some sort of restriction on the use of phones in public schools.

According to UNESCO, about 40% of educational systems worldwide currently prohibit smartphones in classrooms.

With the intention of putting the new regulations into effect for the beginning of the 2027 academic year, the Victorian government has stated that it will present the legislation to parliament later this year.

Dezi Freeman, the sovereign citizen who murdered two Victorian police officers in August 2025 and led one of the largest manhunts in Australian history.

He was today shot dead by police after a standoff on a rural property in Victoria’s northeast.

Freeman, who had been on the run for 216 days, was killed after a three hour standoff on a property in Thologolong, near Benalla, Victoria, started at 5.30am this morning.

Police asked Freeman to surrender, but he did not. Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush confirmed that there was a standoff before Freeman was killed. No police officers were injured in the operation.

There was an opportunity for Freeman to turn himself in, Commissioner Bush said. Freeman, who was 56 years old, had apparently been hiding in a shipping container on the property, not far from his Porepunkah home where the murders occurred.

On August 26, 2025 Freeman opened fire on police who were there to serve a warrant related to allegations of past sexual offenses against a minor.

Senior Constable Vadim De Waart Hottart, 35 and Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59 were slain.

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After being shot in the leg, a third officer spent almost an hour hiding under a bus. Then Freeman disappeared into Mount Buffalo National Park’s untamed bushland.

Hundreds of officers from various law enforcement agencies were deployed in the area in the days that followed the murder.

A reward of $1 million was offered for information that led to the arrest of the fugitive, the largest reward in the state’s history.

The Freeman case marks the second fatal confrontation in three years between Australian law enforcement and members of the sovereign citizen movement.

In December 2022, Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel Train ambushed and killed two Queensland law enforcement officers and a neighbor in similar circumstances at a remote property in Wieambilla.

The sovereign citizen ideology is an ideology that has deep roots and dates back to the United States in the late 1960s.

The ideology has since spread to an estimated 26 countries around the world.

The sovereign citizen ideology gained new followers in Australia during the pandemic lockdown period.

Born Desmond Christopher Filby, Freeman left school at the age of 13 and was characterized by colleagues as not being able to follow instructions from superiors.

He had a lengthy history of antagonistic interactions with law enforcement and took on the surname Freeman, which is popular among sovereign citizens.

He once advocated for the “extermination” of politicians and once wrote on social media that the only good police officer was a deceased one.

The rise of the ideology via social media and the way it has been linked with conspiracy theories such as QAnon has made it difficult for the government to gauge when the ideology might turn violent.

For the families of Neal Thompson and Vadim De Waart Hottart, the decision on Monday might bring closure.

For the agencies that deal with the threat of domestic extremism in Australia, the case of Freeman is a reminder that the threat is not over.