Discontent is the mood of the day. That's according to a Newspoll survey of Australian voters, which saw Prime Minister Scott Morrison's disapproval rating maintained at 55 per cent, while his approval rating dropped two points to 41 per cent.
The poll found Labor leader Anthony Albanese is on par with Mr Morrison as preferred prime minister, while Labor continues to lead the two-party preferred vote 55 to 45 per cent against the coalition.
Consumers won't receive any immediate relief from rising petrol prices linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the Prime Minister saying any decision on that won't be announced until the federal budget.
"The budget is in a couple of weeks and that's when announcements are made about all matters relating to the budget and I don't intend to engage in pre-budget speculation on this matter or any other matter," Mr Morrison told reporters.
The federal budget is due to be handed down on March 29.
Meanwhile, a court was told that war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith dropped an Afghan prisoner onto the ground before shooting him in the back with a burst of machine-gun fire. Mr Roberts-Smith has strenuously denied the allegation.
A former SAS corporal codenamed Person 24 told the Federal Court on Monday about an April 2009 mission to a compound dubbed Whiskey 108 in Uruzgan province.
In Ukraine, Russian missiles hit a large base near the border with Poland, killing 35 people and wounding 134, a local official said.
Russian and Ukrainian officials suggested talks could lead to positive results within days.
The Kremlin said the two countries would hold talks on Monday by video link.
Ukrainians in Australia have expressed heartache at the situation: "People are fleeing the country, but the transport is bad. Many arrive at packed train stations cold and afraid, with no idea where they're going next. They need clothes and food. Some come in disoriented," Newcastle's Olga Bazalej said.
In lighter news, NSW SES came to the rescue of a Hunter region cricket team that was looking to miss its semi-final berth due to flooding.
The SES ferried members of the Eastern Suburbs Cricket Club's fifth grade father and son team to their destination after they were flooded in.
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THE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- Plan to get NDIS participants out of hospital pitched ahead of budget
- Find out who's first up for the Japanese encephalitis jab
- NSW residents get mixed messages on COVID-19 as winter looms
- Another reason to leave pork off your fork
- PM accused of ignoring warnings on floods
- Fuel relief decision put off until budget
- Roberts-Smith 'opened fire' on prisoner
- While you slept, nuclear waste was transported on closed roads