At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Rising fuel prices are pushing more Australians to consider electric vehicles, with new data showing a sharp increase in demand. Non-bank lender MONEYME reports a 90% jump in electric vehicle (EV) loan applications between February and March 2026. Over the past year, EV demand has surged by 270%. The shift comes as fuel prices continue to climb. Petrol costs have risen by around 30% since late February, linked to supply disruptions following tensions in the Middle East affecting routes through the Strait of Hormuz. Diesel prices have passed $3 per litre, while unleaded fuel is sitting near $2.20 in major cities. At the same time, interest in traditional petrol-only cars is dropping. Loan demand for these vehicles fell 22% in just one month. Hybrid vehicles are also gaining attention, with demand up 44% year-on-year and 9% over the past month. Data from carsales.com.au shows online searches for EVs tripled in March compared to late February. More than half of Australians (55%) now say they would consider buying an EV, up from 35% just a few months ago. Experts say the rapid change highlights how rising fuel costs and uncertainty are accelerating the shift toward electric and hybrid vehicles. Source : 9News More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ඕස්ට්‍රේලියානු ජනතාව, ජීවිතාරක්ෂක ප්‍රජාව වන වික්ටෝරියා ජීවිතාරක්ෂක (LSV) සහ සැපයුම් සහකරු ට්‍රාන්ස්කෝ කාගෝ හි සහාය ඇතිව අඩි 40 ක ජීවිතාරක්ෂක සහ හදිසි ප්‍රතිචාර උපකරණ සහිත කන්ටේනරයක් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලබා දී ඇත. මෙම තොගයට ජීවිතාරක්ෂක ජැකට්, ගලවා ගැනීමේ නල, ගලවා ගැනීමේ පුවරු සහ අනෙකුත් පළමු ප්‍රතිචාර දක්වන උපකරණ ඇතුළත් වන අතර එය ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජීවිතාරක්ෂක (SLLS) වෙත විධිමත් ලෙස භාර දෙන ලදී. මෙම උපකරණ මානුෂීය අරමුණු සඳහා පමණක් භාවිතා කරනු ඇති අතර, රට පුරා සුළි කුණාටුවෙන් පීඩාවට පත් සහ අවදානමට ලක්විය හැකි ප්‍රජාවන්හි ආපදා ප්‍රතිචාර ධාරිතාව ශක්තිමත් කිරීම කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කෙරේ. ආපදා කළමනාකරණ මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ (DMC) උත්සවය පැවැත්වුණු අතර, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඕස්ට්‍රේලියානු මහ කොමසාරිස් මැතිව් ඩක්වර්ත් සහ ආපදා කළමනාකරණ මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් මේජර් ජෙනරාල් (විශ්‍රාමික) සම්පත් කොටුවේගොඩ ඇතුළු සම්භාවනීය අමුත්තන් කිහිප දෙනෙකු සහභාගී විය. උත්සවයේදී අදහස් දක්වමින් මහ කොමසාරිස් මැතිව් ඩක්වර්ත් පැවසුවේ ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාව සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ජීවිතාරක්ෂක සහ දියේ ගිලීම වැළැක්වීමේ තීරණාත්මක වැදගත්කම තේරුම් ගෙන ඇති බවයි. සර්ෆ් ලයිෆ් සේවිං ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාව සහ සර්ෆ් ලයිෆ් සේවිං ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අතර සහයෝගීතාවය ගැන ඔහු ආඩම්බර වන අතර, වෙරළ තීරයේ සහ ජල මාර්ගවල මහජන ආරක්ෂාව සඳහා සහ දෙරටටම බලපාන ගංවතුර සහ සුළි සුළං වැනි ව්‍යසන වලදී හදිසි ප්‍රතිචාර දැක්වීම සඳහා මෙම උපකරණ අත්‍යවශ්‍ය බව සඳහන් කළේය. ආපදා කළමනාකරණ මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් මේජර් ජෙනරාල් සම්පත් කොටුවේගොඩ (විශ්‍රාමික), වික්ටෝරියා ජීවිතාරක්ෂක සංගමය විසින් පරිත්‍යාග කරන ලද ජීවිතාරක්ෂක උපකරණ ආපදා කළමනාකරණ මධ්‍යස්ථානය හරහා ලැබුණු බව පැවසීය. ආපදා කළමනාකරණ මධ්‍යස්ථානය සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය වෙනුවෙන්, අවශ්‍යතා ඇති අවස්ථාවක දී ත්‍යාගශීලී සහයෝගය දැක්වීම සඳහා ඕස්ට්‍රේලියානු රජයට සහ ජීවිතාරක්ෂක වික්ටෝරියා වෙත කෘතඥතාව පළ කළේය. ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජීවිතාරක්ෂක ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී අසංක නානායක්කාර මහතා පැවසුවේ මෙම උපකරණ ඊළඟ දිනයේ සිට සාමාජික සමාජ වෙත බෙදා හරින බවත්, එහිදී ග්‍රාමීය ප්‍රජාවන්හි ආපදා ප්‍රතිචාර දැක්වීමේ උත්සාහයන්ට සහාය වීම සඳහා එය භාවිතා කරන බවත්ය. විධිමත් හදිසි සේවා පැමිණීමට පෙර තීරණාත්මක යැයි සැලකෙන කාල පරිච්ඡේදයක් වන ව්‍යසනයක පළමු පැය 24 තුළ ඵලදායී ලෙස ප්‍රතිචාර දැක්වීමට පුහුණුව ලත් ප්‍රජා ජීවිතාරක්ෂකයින් බල ගැන්වීම සඳහා SLLS හි අඛණ්ඩ කැපවීමේ කොටසක් මෙම මුලපිරීමයි. ආපදා කළමනාකරණ මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ රාමුව යටතේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන SLLS ප්‍රජා පළමු ගංවතුර ප්‍රතිචාර කණ්ඩායම්වල මෙහෙයුම් සූදානම මෙම උපකරණ මගින් සැලකිය යුතු ලෙස වැඩි දියුණු කරනු ඇත. Source : NewsFirst Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Two developing cyclones near Australia could bring rough weather to parts of the region, with one posing a possible threat to Queensland. Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila is currently moving in the Solomon Sea between Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. The Bureau of Meteorology says the system is heading toward north Queensland and could approach or cross the Cape York Peninsula over the weekend or early next week. As of early morning, Maila is a powerful category five cyclone, with winds around 215 km/h near its centre. It is expected to weaken to at least category three before any landfall, but could still bring heavy rain and strong winds. Another system, Tropical Cyclone Vaianu, is currently near Fiji. While it is not expected to hit Australia directly, it may influence regional weather. Forecasts suggest it will track south toward New Zealand, likely reaching areas near Auckland as a strong extratropical system over the weekend. Meanwhile, a third system is forming as a tropical low in the Indian Ocean, northwest of Western Australia. The Bureau says there is a moderate chance it could develop into a cyclone by the middle of next week. Authorities are closely monitoring all three systems as conditions evolve. Source : 9News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Household spending in Australia edged up by 0.3% in February 2026, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This follows a similar 0.3% increase in January, after a 0.5% drop in December. Compared to a year earlier, overall spending remains strong, rising 4.6%. Spending on non-essential items grew by 0.5%, driven by higher demand for entertainment such as concerts and musicals, along with increased bookings for flights and accommodation. Some of this reflects early ticket purchases for future events. Essential spending also increased, with food costs rising by 1.0%, adding to overall household expenses. However, transport spending fell by 0.4%, mainly due to lower fuel prices during the month, which helped ease costs for households. Across the country, spending increased in six of the eight states and territories. The Northern Territory recorded the strongest growth at 3.4%, while Western Australia saw the largest rise in total spending. South Australia also posted a modest gain of 0.6%. Tasmania was the only state to record a decline, with spending slipping by 0.3%. Overall, the data shows steady consumer activity, with both essential and discretionary spending contributing to growth. Source : MirangeNews Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. Four astronauts on Artemis II have set a new record for the farthest distance humans have traveled from Earth. At 12:56 p.m. CDT on Monday, the crew passed 248,655 miles from Earth, breaking the record set during Apollo 13. They are expected to reach about 252,756 miles at the mission’s peak before heading back. The six-day mission includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The team continues capturing images of the Moon as they travel deeper into space. The journey began with a successful April 1 launch from Kennedy Space Center aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft. After leaving Earth’s orbit, the crew set course for the Moon. During the mission, the astronauts will fly within about 4,067 miles of the Moon’s surface. They will also observe parts of the Moon’s far side not seen directly by humans before, and witness a solar eclipse. Communication with Earth is expected to briefly drop for about 40 minutes as the Moon blocks signals between the spacecraft and mission control at Johnson Space Center. The crew is also collecting valuable data, photos, and videos to support future missions. These findings will help NASA plan its long-term goal of returning humans to the Moon and eventually sending missions to Mars. The astronauts are scheduled to return on April 10, with a splashdown planned off the coast of San Diego. Recovery teams will bring them safely back before post-mission checks. Artemis II marks a major step forward in human space exploration and NASA’s plans to build a lasting presence on the Moon. Source : Nasa More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A burst of winter like weather is set to hit south east Australia this week, bringing storms, strong winds, and a sharp drop in temperatures. In Melbourne, conditions will turn cooler and wetter. Temperatures are expected to fall from 27°C on Thursday to around 17°C over the weekend, with overnight lows near 10°C. Canberra will be even colder, with temperatures dropping to just 2°C early next week. Adelaide is forecast to see lows of 9°C, while Hobart could dip to around 7°C. A weather system moving across the region on Thursday is likely to trigger severe thunderstorms in parts of South Australia, Victoria, and southern New South Wales. These storms may bring damaging winds, with some areas at risk of stronger, more destructive gusts. Wind speeds could exceed 80 km/h in higher areas, and reach up to 100 km/h in alpine and mountainous regions. Residents are advised to stay updated with forecasts and prepare for sudden weather changes. Source : 9News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ඈපා පාරම්පරික ජ්‍යොතිෂ්‍ය දැනුමෙන් ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ සෑම ප්‍රාන්තයකටම ගැලපෙන පරිදි සැකසූ නැකත් පත්‍රය එළිදැක්වේ. ශ්‍රී ලාංකීය අනන්‍යතාවය විදහා දක්වන ප්‍රධානතම සංස්කෘතික මංගල්‍යය වන සිංහල හා හින්දු අලුත් අවුරුද්ද සැමරීමට ලෝකවාසී සියලුම ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් මේ වන විට සූදානම් වෙමින් සිටිති. විශේෂයෙන්ම, ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ වෙසෙන දහස් සංඛ්‍යාත අපේ දූ දරුවන්ට සහ වැඩිහිටියන්ට, එරට වේලා කලාපයන්ට අනුකූලව නිවැරදිව චාරිත්‍ර ඉටුකිරීම සඳහා වන නැකත් පත්‍රයක් සකස් කිරීම කාලීන අවශ්‍යතාවයකි. මෙවර එම වගකීම ඉටුකරමින්, ඈපා පාරම්පරික ජ්‍යොතිෂ්‍ය සම්ප්‍රදාය නියෝජනය කරන, ඉන්දියාවේ ජ්‍යොතිෂ්‍ය ආචාර්ය ගෞරව උපාධිධාරී, ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මනෝවිද්‍යා උපදේශනය පිළිබඳ ඩිප්ලෝමාධාරී මෙන්ම ලන්ඩනයේ පිළිගත් අධ්‍යාපනධාරී වන වෛද්‍ය ධනංජය ඈපා මහතා විසින් ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ සෑම ප්‍රාන්තයකටම (ACT, NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, WA, NT, TAS) අදාළ වන පරිදි විද්‍යාත්මකව ගණනය කරන ලද නැකත් පත්‍රය ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කර ඇත. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ජාතික QR ගෙවීම් ප්‍රවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතිය අද ආරම්භ වේ. ව්‍යාපෘතියේ සභාපතිත්වය ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා විසින් දරනු ලැබේ. ජනාධිපති මාධ්‍ය අංශයට අනුව, අද සිට මූල්‍ය ආයතන රුපියල් 5,000 දක්වා සියලුම LankaQR ගනුදෙනු සඳහා වෙළෙන්දන් සඳහා සේවා ගාස්තුව සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම ඉවත් කරනු ඇත. මෙම මුලපිරීම මගින් රට මුදල් රහිත ආර්ථිකයක් කරා ගෙන යාම අරමුණු කර ගෙන ඇති අතර, එමඟින් කුඩා පරිමාණ වෙළෙන්දන්ට කිසිදු අමතර වියදමකින් තොරව ඩිජිටල් ගෙවීම් පිළිගැනීමට ඉඩ සලසයි. Source : News First More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A large majority of Australians support the government’s temporary cut to fuel tax, according to new research. The federal government recently halved the fuel excise from 52.6 cents to 26.3 cents per litre for three months. The move came in response to rising global prices linked to the Iran conflict. A Roy Morgan survey of more than 2,500 adults found 83% backed the decision. How Australians are responding 37% say they are aware of fuel shortages in their area Nearly half are driving less 20% have changed travel plans 9% have stocked up on extra fuel Despite this, most people (76%) say higher prices or shortages have not affected essential travel like work, school, or medical visits. Prices starting to fallFuel prices are gradually easing, as stations sell older stock first.Average petrol dropped from $2.46 to $2.23 per litre within days of the cut.Diesel prices, however, are still slow to decline and remain high. Supply pressures remainEnergy Minister Chris Bowen said 238 service stations have run out of diesel, with the majority in NSW.This is partly due to farmers being prioritised during planting season. Australia’s current fuel reserves stand at: 39 days of petrol 29 days of diesel 29 days of jet fuel The government says it continues to monitor supply while the temporary tax cut remains in place. Source : 9News More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Planning your Easter long weekend? Here’s a quick and clear guide to what’s open and closed so you’re not caught out. Shopping centres Westfield locations will be closed on Good Friday. They reopen Saturday, with some reduced hours. On Easter Sunday, centres in NSW and SA will mostly stay closed (except Tuggerah), while other states operate with limited hours. SA centres also remain closed on Easter Monday. Supermarkets Coles and Woolworths will shut nationwide on Good Friday. Both reopen Saturday, though some stores may have shorter hours. On Easter Sunday, most NSW and SA stores will be closed, while other states trade with reduced hours. All stores reopen Monday, often with limited trading times. Aldi will also close on Good Friday. Stores reopen Saturday, with some open on Sunday and most back on Monday. IGA stores may stay open, depending on location. Retail stores Kmart, Target, and Big W will be closed on Good Friday. Most reopen Saturday and operate on Sunday, though some stores may remain shut. Trading resumes Monday, except for a few SA locations. Hardware Bunnings Warehouse will close on Good Friday. Stores reopen for the rest of the weekend, with possible reduced hours. Liquor Dan Murphy's will shut on Good Friday. Some NSW stores will also close on Easter Sunday. Most locations reopen Monday with shorter hours. Cinemas Good news for movie lovers Hoyts and Event Cinemas will stay open right through the Easter weekend, including Good Friday. Source : SkyNews Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. History has been made as NASA successfully launched its Artemis II mission, sending four astronauts on a journey around the Moon. The rocket lifted off from Florida at 9:38am AEDT, marking the first human mission to the Moon since Apollo 17. The crew includes Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. Hansen becomes the first non-American astronaut to take part in a lunar mission. This 10-day mission will not land on the Moon. Instead, the spacecraft will travel thousands of kilometres beyond it, loop around, and return to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. The mission is a major step toward NASA’s long-term goal of returning humans to the Moon and building a permanent presence there. The launch followed earlier technical concerns, including past hydrogen leak issues. However, final checks cleared the rocket for take-off, with over 2.6 million litres of fuel loaded successfully. Artemis II will also set a new record for the farthest distance humans have travelled from Earth. NASA aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface again later this decade, as part of its next phase of space exploration. Source : 9News More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Indonesia, north of Australia, raising concerns about possible tsunami waves. The United States Geological Survey reported the quake occurred at a depth of 35km, around 9:48am AEDST. It hit in the Molucca Sea, near islands including Ternate Island, about 130km away. Experts say the region is known for frequent seismic activity, with several major earthquakes recorded there in recent decades. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has warned that tsunami waves could impact parts of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. However, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology confirmed there is no threat to the Australian coastline at this stage. Monitoring is ongoing, with updates expected. Source : News.com Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .