🟠 How fuel hikes are hitting the east

WHAT’S ON COMING UP 🎟️

• THURSDAY 02/04/26, 7.30PM | Baby Animals @ York on Lilydale

• FRIDAY 03/04/26, 10AM-4PM | Chinmaya Hanuman Festival

• SATURDAY 04/04/26 & SUNDAY 05/04/26, 10AM-4PM | Easter Model Train Show

• SUNDAY 05/04/26, 11.30AM0-1PM & EVERY WEEKDAY FROM WEDNESDAY 08/04/26 TO THURSDAY 16/04/26, 11AM-5PM | School Holidays @ SkyHigh Mount Dandenong

• WEDNESDAY 08/04/26, 11AM-12.10PM & 2-3.10PM | The Box Show

• THURSDAY 09/04/26, 11AM-NOON & 2-3PM | Splash Test Dummies Circus

• EVERY DAY TO SUNDAY 19/04/26, 10AM-5PM | Tesselaar KaBloom Festival

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

Solar panels cut one Camberwell school's power bill by 25 percent. Parents want that for every school in Australia.

A national push to install solar on every state school roof would save each campus $20,000-$30,000, as one Camberwell school has already seen a quarter of its bill slashed thanks to the sun’s power.

Representatives of advocacy group Parents for Climate descended on Canberra this week to push for a national program that would see solar panels installed on the roof of every public school and childcare centre.

More than 25 parents and 16 children from across Australia met with over 25 MPs and senators on Wednesday to support the push.

The movement is supported by the Parliamentary Friends of Climate Action, a non-partisan forum for MPs – including New South Wales’ Independents Zali Steggall and Nicolette Boele, as well as Labor’s Jerome Laxale and – to discuss how to drive Australia’s efforts towards climate emission reduction and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Parents for Climate is pushing for a nationally-based solution that would allow more funding to flow from federal coffers towards the state government – similar to the Cheaper Home Batteries Program. The initial funding goal is at least $1 billion to deliver solar infrastructure to Australian schools.

According to Climate Energy Finance founder and director Tim Buckley, schools could save between $20,000 and $30,000 each year on their electricity bills if they install 100-kilowatt-plus solar systems – and that’s before batteries or EV chargers.

Buckley is a former Director of Energy Finance Studies at the nonprofit Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

Camberwell Grammar School sustainability project co-ordinator Jo Menzies said the system had seen an average reduction of 25 percent on its annual energy costs compared to 2017, with more than 885,000 kilowatt-hours produced in 2025 alone.

“Weekend and school holiday-generated electricity from the solar systems is exported back into the grid,” Menzies told the Eastern Melburnian.

With support from the State Government’s Greener Government School Buildings Program, Camberwell Primary School – a seven-minute drive down the road from Camberwell Grammar – installed a 29.6 kilowatt-hour system in 2021, with plans it would cut their bills by $6,500 annually.

The program fully funds installation at government schools, with schools required to pay the cost back over five years while retaining half the savings.

“It’s not about coercion…but providing carrots and encouragement,” said Buckley. “The cost of not doing it is extreme. There's no point having eight solutions, let's have one national solution.”

Federal Climate Change and Energy Assistant Minister Josh Wilson, Liberal Senator for South Australia Andrew McLachlan and MPs Jerome Laxale and Zali Steggall were among the senior representatives attending the event.

Parents for Climate chief executive Nic Seton said the popularity of the event demonstrated “nationwide support for cost-saving resilience through solar and batteries on every school and childcare centre”.

“The policy is ready and the support is there, now it’s time for the Federal Government to deliver,” said Seton. “When parents and kids speak directly to decision-makers, it cuts through. We heard again and again that this is a ‘no brainer’.”

Read the full story here.

“It’s not worth staying on the road”: Fuel spike hits Knox taxi drivers hard

Cab driver David pulls up to the taxi rank at Westfield Knox on Thursday, air-con blaring during a hot Friday afternoon, eagerly looking for a new customer.

However, on his passenger seat is something a little different – his resume. After about five years behind the wheel, he says he is ready to leave the job.

Limited supply and rising demand of fuel due to the Middle East conflict have pushed petrol and diesel prices higher, with unleaded in Melbourne’s east at about $2.30 per litre and diesel around $3.10 — if available.

On Monday, the Australian Government announced it would halve the fuel excise on petrol and diesel from April 1 to June 30 – meaning fuel would be 26.3 cents per litre cheaper.

David worked as a taxi driver in 2008 and picked up the keys again in 2021, but now is searching for a new job, with hopes to secure one as a courier driver.

“I’m only averaging about seven or eight dollars an hour, so just enough to pay the bills,” David told the Eastern Melburnian.

Cab driver Maurice said it was especially difficult to cope with the fuel crisis during the quiet period of the Easter school holidays, with most of his days taken up waiting for customers to walk up or book a trip online.

“It’s hitting us very hard,” Maurice told the Eastern Melburnian. “Now, it’s costing me double to fill the cab. It’s not worth staying on the road for nothing…I just go home.”

Read the full story here.

“One step forward, two steps back”: The uphill battle for Box Hill small businesses

Eighteen months after husband and wife Sam and Jessica Yan opened the doors at the Una Una cafe and restaurant, they are still yet to break even, as they face a perfect storm of higher food costs, interest rate rises and a community considering every dollar spent.

Jessica said starting a small business after the low points of the Covid pandemic was like taking “one step forward and two steps” back every day.

In their mid-40s and with two children, Jessica said she and Sam launched the business with the goal of building a close-knit community of customers and suppliers, but that some days it was hard to roll with the punches.

“We are trying to react to the current situation to make it work,” she told the Eastern Melburnian. “We haven’t been able to pay ourselves in 18 months, but it’s a long-term plan.”

Soaring wholesale coffee prices have put immense pressure on hospitality venues, as have hikes for a range of cafe staples. Jessica said the price of butter meant they weren’t getting cakes delivered on a Monday morning.

The business pays penalty rates but doesn’t have a Sunday surcharge on menu items, and the couple have hired their teenage son to help out.

Read the full story here.

FLY ON THE WALL 🪰

Australians are the biggest losers on the planet... when it comes to gambling

Australians lose an estimated $30 billion dollars a year to gambling, yet the government refuses to introduce some key reforms, like getting rid of advertising.

At some point, you really have to start asking why.

The National Account’s Archie Milligan give a rundown on some of his personal thoughts, plus the reporting he has done when it comes to gambling reforms, including the lack thereof, and why that might be the case.