Australian Shaun Evans has denied he intentionally made a hand gesture used by white supremacists in a clip of the VAR officials prior to Germany’s match against Curacao match on Sunday, Press Association reports.

Evans appeared to make an upside down “OK” symbol with his right hand as the broadcast feed cut to the “meet the team” section for the VARs before kick-off.

The gesture is used in the completely harmless “circle game”, but has also been used by far-right supporters and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) added it to a list of hate symbols in 2019.

Fifa is understood to be aware of the incident and seeking answers from Evans as to why he made the gesture, although the governing body subsequently said no evidence of any disciplinary code breaches had been established.

Evans released a statement this morning, saying:

I would like to clarify that I did not intentionally make a hand gesture or symbol to communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind.

The only explanation I can offer is that the movement was an involuntary, subconscious twitch and I was unaware I had done it at the time. Images taken later during the match showed that I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers.

The coverage following this incident simply does not reflect who I am. Of course, I understand how the gesture has been interpreted and I regret this, however I want to be very clear and categorically say that I did not knowingly or deliberately make the hand symbol suggested.

Officiating at the World Cup is the biggest honour of my career and I look forward to supporting my colleagues for the rest of the tournament.

Katy Gallagher, the finance minister, has said the cut to the fuel excise was always meant to be temporary but confirmed the government is still monitoring oil prices despite a preliminary deal for a ceasefire between the US and Iran.

Gallagher spoke to RN Breakfast, saying the government welcomed the end to the conflict in the Middle East. She said of any extension to the fuel excise cut:

It was meant to be a temporary relief during this conflict.

We know that there will be a tail to this conflict in terms of how that impacts on prices and households remains to be seen. So, this is something I think the PM said yesterday [that] we keep under consideration. And if we make a decision that changes, that will be relayed to people.

The finance minister said the government wanted to help people deal with “sharp hits” to the household budget, hence the cut over the last three months. The temporary relief is set to expire at the end of June.

We’re monitoring events in the Middle East and what’s happening with the price of petrol, and if there, you know, if there’s anything to add to this, I’m sure we’ll do so in good time.

The NSW government says it will spend $100m on four large-scale batteries in Sydney, Newcastle and on the central coast to help ensure grid reliability as coal-fired power stations shut.

It is the inaugural investment by the NSW Energy Security Corporation, which was created by the Labor state government two years ago to help renewable energy projects get off the ground.

The funding is promised to help support the construction of 500 megawatts of storage by early 2029, when the large Eraring coal-fired power plant is scheduled to close.

Another 150MW is promised later that year. The government said work on the first battery, at Steel River industrial estate in Newcastle, is expected to start next month.

The state minister for climate change and energy, Penny Sharpe, said:

Large-scale batteries are revolutionising NSW’s energy grid, delivering greater energy security and helping to drive down prices.

The Reserve Bank is expected to leave its official interest rate on hold at 4.35% when its rate-setting board wraps up its meeting this afternoon, as the Australian economy weakens.

After three back-to-back rate rises in 2026, economists at most major banks have forecast the RBA will not deliver another increase today. Unemployment has picked up to 4.5% and household spending is weakening, likely to be weighed further in Melbourne and Sydney by house price falls.

Financial markets on Monday were betting there was no chance rates would rise today. Traders have priced in just half of a rate rise by December, implying they believe a hike by then is no certainty but more likely than not.

Taylor Nugent, senior economist at NAB, said analysts would be watching the wording of the RBA’s announcement. Nugent predicted the RBA will not rule out another hike because inflation is still uncomfortably high, at 4.2% in May.

The RBA will announce its decision at 2.30pm Sydney time and its governor, Michele Bullock, will explain the board’s thinking at 3.30pm.

It’s Nick Visser here to pick up the blog. Let’s get to it.

The Australian federal police will begin conducting “inquiries” into abuse and sexual assault allegations made against Israeli authorities by Australian members of the Global Sumud flotilla after meeting Penny Wong yesterday afternoon.

The AFP confirmed it had met members in the group at Parliament House and “has begun inquiries into allegations made by a representative of the group”.

Guardian Australia understands a report of crime has not yet been formally submitted, which would trigger a formal look into the allegations they were abused, tortured and, in some cases, sexually assaulted by Israeli authorities while detained after attempting to deliver aid to the occupied Palestinian territory.

Wong, the multicultural affairs minister, Anne Aly, and senior AFP officers met the group to “listen to them directly about their experiences”, a spokesperson for Wong said.

The minister has condemned the actions of Israeli authorities and the Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has already sanctioned, the spokesperson said.

She raised the allegations multiple times and made clear directly to Israel that Australia expects an “independent, transparent investigation”.

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.

The Australian federal police will investigate alleged abuse and sexual assault by Israeli security forces against Australian members of the Global Sumud flotilla, it was announced last night. More coming up.

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, will today introduce legislation to parliament to guarantee the right to work from home two days a week, including for part-time workers and regular casuals.

Plus, today the Reserve Bank announces its latest decision on which direction interest rates will move: but everyone’s expecting them to stay the same.