A lone officer defending a monument in Washington DC was called a ‘fascist’ by a mob of screaming protesters, reveals Sky News host Rita Panahi.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hit back at Peter Dutton’s decision not to reveal a 2030 climate target and to campaign against Labor’s legislated emissions reduction target. “Peter Dutton is scared of the current but terrified of the future,” Albanese told media Wednesday. “What you need to do is to shape that future, or the future will shape us. “The world is moving, the global economy is transitioning to clean energy, and Australia has a comparative advantage. “Peter Dutton wants Australia to fail, I want Australia to succeed.”

Sky News Political Reporter Trudy McIntosh says the Chinese Premier’s visit to Australia this week will be an opportunity to talk about the “sanctions” that have “come off” recently. “There’ll be a visit to the winery – an opportunity to talk about the fact that China has taken off the tariffs it imposed on Australian wine exporters,” Ms McIntosh told Sky News Australia. “A lot of the sanctions have come off – but there’s still some there when it comes to rock lobster producers in particular.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has likened Coalition leader Peter Dutton not revealing his 2030 climate target to getting on a “mystery plane” that doesn’t land until 2040. Leader of the opposition Peter Dutton has pledged to campaign against Labor’s legislated target to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 in accordance with the Paris Agreement. “It’s a bit like someone getting on a plane at a new airport on one of those mystery flights, where you don’t know where you want to go, you don’t know what the destination is… and you can’t get off your flight until 2040 because that’s when the nuclear fantasy flight will land,” Mr Albanese said in a media conference on Wednesday. “Until then, you are going to parachute out of the plane and take potluck at where you land. “This is an extraordinary failure of leadership from Peter Dutton, it shows he is not up to the job of being the alternative prime minister of this country.”

Labor MP Julian Hill says that nuclear power is a “fantasy”. The Coalition has said they will not release their 2030 climate plans until after the election. “Nuclear power is a fantasy,” Mr Hill told Sky News Australia. “We’ve got to seize that cheap renewable energy and regain our advantages in manufacturing. “It will underpin and power the Future Made in Australia.”

Peter Dutton urges the community to “get behind” Scott Yung as the next member for Bennelong. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton discussed backing the Liberal candidate for Bennelong, Scott Yung in Wednesday’s media conference. “It will be much better for everyone in his local community if Scott Yung is the next member for Bennelong,” Mr Dutton said. “He’s a future minister in government. “He has a great capacity to represent this country.”

Former US Federal Prosecutor Scott Tenley says Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict "took the wind out of" Trump's statements about his trial being politically motivated. The US President's son Hunter Biden has been found guilty of all three counts of illegally possessing a gun whilst under the influence of drugs. Mr Tenley was questioned about whether Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict delegitimise claims that Donald Trump’s conviction was politically motivated. “The prosecution itself took the wind out of Trump‘s argument that the Biden justice department is pursuing its political enemies,” Mr Tenley told Sky News Australia. “Because if that were true, you wouldn’t expect Hunter Biden to get prosecuted. “Now you’ve had Hunter Biden convicted, which means that the Jury - even in Hunter Biden’s own state where the Bien’s are very popular – has found him guilty. “It’s not a rigged process.”

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says the Labor government has 'no credible plan' to get Australia to 2050. This comes amid the ongoing climate wars between Labor and the Coalition regarding emissions targets for Australia. “What we should be getting on with is reducing prices,” Ms Ley told Sky News Australia. “You’ll have a plan from Peter Dutton and the Coalition which is all about reducing prices. “Anthony Albanese wants to have a fake fight about targets. “Remember that a Labor Greens government will bring you … no credible plan to get you to 2050.”

The US President’s son Hunter Biden has released a statement after being found guilty for illegally possessing a gun whilst under the influence of drugs. The outcome of trial makes it the first time in history a child of a sitting president has been convicted of federal charges. Part of the statement from Mr Biden reads: ‘I am more grateful today for the love and support I experienced this last week from Melissa, my family, my friends, and my community than I am disappointed by the outcome.’

Prince William appears to have a new favourite ingredient, promoting seaweed products in the UK. The Prince of Wales attended a food industry event in Cardiff showcasing an array of foods containing seaweed. The Prince continued promoting the benefits on social media, saying; "Seaweed is an abundant resource and a potential solution to some of the biggest environmental problems felt across the world."

Former US Federal Prosecutor Scott Tenley says that Joe Biden’s decision on whether to pardon his son following his guilty verdict will come “after the election”. The US President's son Hunter Biden has been found guilty of all three counts of illegally possessing a gun whilst under the influence of drugs. The President has previously stated that he will not intervene in his son’s punishment whatever that may be. “The time when we’ll actually know whether President Biden is going to pardon his son or not is after the election,” Mr Tenley told Sky News Australia. “At that point, if he’s lost the election – he has nothing to lose by pardoning him. “If he’s won the election – he can’t run and serve another term after that so there wouldn’t be as much political fallout. “Quite frankly if it's not a jail sentence, he might say it’s not worth pardoning him.”

Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes discusses Opposition leader Petter Dutton’s questioning on whether the Albanese government can meet its 2030 emissions reduction target. “This is where Peter Dutton’s leadership is strong in this area, and he is continuing to really show himself as an alternate prime minister,” Ms Hughes told Sky News host Paul Murray. “He is being honest with the Australian people, and I know that must seem outrageous to some people, but the reality is we are getting nowhere near the targets. “We are chasing an ideology under Bown and Albanese.”

Sky News Host Caleb Bond discusses how 73 per cent of all new vehicles in Australia need to be electric if the country hopes to meet its 2030 emission reduction targets. "If we want to reach our 2030 emissions target, which, of course, Peter Dutton said he would scrape and ignore," Mr Bond said. "If we want to reach that target, we would need 73 per cent of all new vehicles sold ... by 2030 to be electric. "That is simply not going to happen."

Sky News host James Morrow reacts to a video where pro-Palestinian protesters failed to answer questions about the conflict in Gaza. “Vladimir Lenin had a term for people like this, useful idiots, these are people that get sucked along, go along with the revolutionary cause,” Mr Morrow told Sky News host James Macpherson. “These people you just showed on the screen, these are useful idiots going along with the cause.”

Sky News host Liz Storer discusses the decrease in sales of electric vehicles in Australia. “The EV take-up has slowed very fast here in Australia,” Ms Storer said. “In April, for the first time in over three years, it was down just five per cent. “Now, that’s not huge, but they are predicting that this is just going to keep tanking.”

Former speaker of the House Bronwyn Bishop discusses Defence Minister Richard Marles’ veto of an arms deal with Israel. “Every time I look at Mr Miles, having been myself minister for defence, industry, science and personnel, I just absolutely cringe at the leadership or lack of leadership that’s been given,” Ms Bishop told Sky News host Sharri Markson. “Mr Miles, to me, is an absolute pretender. “This is just another example of how he is not living up to our obligations for an ally.”

Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes was “blindsided” by the push to oust her from a winnable position on the Liberal Party’s Senate ticket, says Sky News Senior Reporter Caroline Marcus. Ms Hughes has accused Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor of being behind the move to oust her. “She’s now lashing back at the forces within the Party that are more interested in factional politics than keeping good people,” Ms Marcus told Sky News host Sharri Markson.

Sky News host Rita Panahi says there is a small number of celebrities who are “bold enough” to voice their support for former US president Donald Trump. “This time, there is just a small number – and it is a small number – who are bold enough to say, ‘we’re backing Trump’,” she said.  Ms Panahi discussed whether this would have an impact on the US election in November.

Former speaker of the house Bronwyn Bishop says Anthony Albanese is in a “serious quandary”. The latest Newspoll figures show Peter Dutton is catching up to Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister. “More than 20 years I sat in that chamber with Albanese and nobody ever said he was leadership material – and he is not,” Ms Bishop told Sky News host Sharri Markson. “Peter Dutton has gone back to the sort of things that people want to hear.”

Sky News host Rita Panahi has reacted to Biden-Harris campaign spokesperson Adrienne Elrod on MSNBC, claiming it’s Donald Trump’s foreign policy that people “need to fear”.  “Here is Adrienne Elrod claiming that it’s Trump’s foreign policy that folks need to fear, not the unholy mess Biden has made over the past three and half years,” she said.  “Yes, Adrienne, I’m sure the American people are just terrified of Trump returning them to peace and prosperity.  “Somehow, the Biden administration’s profound weakness emboldening the likes of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea isn’t making us safer.”