Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor says Labor gets a “fail” on their scorecard for Australia’s economic management. National accounts figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday show an unexpected slump with gross domestic product growing just 0.8 per cent in the September quarter. Mr Taylor told Sky News Australia that there are “higher prices” across the board.

Sky News host Rita Panahi has slammed Jaguar’s new advertisement which was unrelated to the brand’s products. Ms Panahi described the advertisement as an “abomination”. “There’s no car, there’s no Jaguar, there’s nothing actually innovative or exciting or new.”

An old-school teaching method has improved NAPLAN results in 56 Catholic schools in the ACT and Goulburn, reveals The Australian’s Education Editor Natasha Bita. The teaching style known as ‘Direct Instruction’ was introduced in 2020 and now Catholic schools have delivered their best NAPLAN results. “It’s a really interesting experiment,” Ms Bita told Sky News Australia.

The Australian’s Education Editor Natasha Bita says she puts “quite a bit of stock” in NAPLAN results because it reveals how well the school is managing to ensure everyone is meeting standards. “We’ve got one in three kids who are not meeting the minimum standards in NAPLAN this year,” Ms Bita told Sky News Australia. “It’s just not good enough for Australia.”

MSNBC anchor Joy Reid has been roasted by social media users following an unhinged rant about Donald Trump. During an episode of ‘The Reid Out’, the host labelled Trump a “gangster” and accused him of “muscling other countries like he’s Tony Soprano”. The MSNBC anchor criticised President-elect Trump’s threats of 100 per cent tariffs on Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Reid reported on Trump’s recent Truth Social post, where he promised there would be “all hell to pay” if the hostages in the Middle East were not released. A clip of Reid’s rant was posted to social media, where users blasted the host as a “delusional clown”. “I don’t understand how this delusional clown has ANY viewers at all,” wrote one user.

Sky News political contributor Chris Uhlmann weighs in on US President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden earlier this week. Mr Uhlmann labelled the move as “tawdry”, suggesting it demonstrates that Democrats are “no different from the Republicans” in terms of controversial pardons. “It looks tawdry. You can understand why a father would want to do it but all the things that they accuse Donald Trump of they are guilty of themselves and let’s not forget, let’s not let him off the hook,” Mr Uhlmann said. “Donald Trump pardoned a lot of very ordinary people along the way as well but Joe Biden has shown that the Democrats are no different from the Republicans and I think that the Democrats now are in the process of trying to work out what on earth they do.”

Sky News host Rita Panahi mocked The View host Sunny Hostin after she was forced to give another live apology.

Sky News host Rita Panahi slammed a climate activist, savagely saying, “You’re free to leave.”

Democratic party strategist Julie Roginsky claimed she will stop the military from deporting illegal migrants.

Sky News host Rita Panahi has slammed the leftist media for peddling the lie that Joe Biden would never pardon his son, after it was this week revealed that the president did, in fact, pardon Hunter Biden.

Sky News contributor Kristin Tate claims First Lady of America Jill Biden has been “behind the scenes wielding real power”. “So, is it surprising that she may have something to do with this pardon? Absolutely not at all,” she told Sky News host Chris Kenny. Ms Tate’s remarks come after President Joe Biden issued a pardon for his son, Hunter, who was found guilty of violating US federal tax and gun laws. There is speculation that there was pressure within the Biden family to pardon Hunter and that Jill Biden was “very supportive” of the move.

Former speaker of the house Bronwyn Bishop has claimed the Chinese government does not want to “lose face” during the ongoing investigations into the emergence of COVID-19. A US congressional subcommittee has declared COVID-19 most likely originated from a lab in Wuhan. This was part of a 520-page report following a two-year investigation into the origins of COVID. China has denied the claims and hit back at the investigation. “The Chinese don’t want to lose face; that’s their problem,” Ms Bishop told Sky News host Sharri Markson. “They hit out and hit out, but it will come quite apparent as it did to many of us very early on that of course it [COVID-19] came out of there.”

Sky News host Caleb Bond has hit out at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for having “no principles”, claiming it is too late for Mr Albanese to “save himself” in the next election. Mr Bond’s comments follow Anthony Albanese denying a rift with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek after David Pocock disputed Mr Albanese’s version of events on environmental laws. “The man has no principles, he’s realised now that he’s cooked and he’s doing everything he can to go backwards a hundred miles an hour in the hope that it will save him in the next federal election,” Mr Bond told Sky News host Sharri Markson. “I think it’s a little bit late for that.”

Australia has voted yes on the motion of a pathway for Palestinian statehood at the United Nations. The motion had 157 yeses, eight nos and seven abstentions – with both Israel and the United States voting no. Australia abstained on the second motion for Palestine to have UN representation.

The Opposition has accused Foreign Minister Penny Wong of rewarding terrorists as Australia prepares to shift its stance on Israel in the United Nations. The three United Nations motions include supporting an irreversible pathway to a Palestinian state, condemning the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights and having Palestinian representation at the United Nations. The United States will oppose all three of these Israel-Palestinian conflict motions, while Australia is set to support all three.

Two Australian army battalions have been reunited in Darwin. It comes as Australia’s Defence Force pivots towards the country's north. The Seventh Battalion has been moved from Adelaide following a recommendation from the defence strategic review.

A standoff between grocery giant Woolworths and 1,500 striking workers has intensified just three weeks shy of Christmas Day. The supermarket chain has since filed an urgent application to prevent union members from blocking its warehouses. Woolworths claims its food sales have decreased by $50 million since the industrial action started nearly two weeks ago.

The Commonwealth Bank has been forced to defend changes to its new account fees. Many customers have called the new 3-dollar withdrawal fee “daylight robbery” and a “kick in the guts”. In a video statement, the CBA claims most customers will be better off.

The White House is defending US President Joe Biden’s decision to offer his son Hunter Biden a sweeping pardon. The move was an abrupt reversal for the President and has raised questions about the pardon process. There has been a mix of sympathy and outrage over Hunter Biden’s pardon.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has argued government spending is keeping Australia out of a recession after it was revealed state and federal spending reached an all-time high. An eight per cent increase in spending since the same time last year reflected $200 billion in combined spending for the September quarter. The increase followed measures including cost of living relief and pay rises for public sector workers.