Economists are warning Victoria’s fiscal outlook is likely to become a drag on Australia’s finances.  The federal government’s budget is expected to be negatively affected by Victoria’s COVID debt levy.  The state’s debt is expected to reach $177.8 billion by 2027.   The Victorian government blames this on the pandemic, international conflicts, and inflation.  This comes as Victoria’s Labor government will deliver its tenth budget on Tuesday, and it will be the first budget for Jacinta Allan as Premier.

ASPI’s Military Analyst Malcolm Davis says the Chinese fighter jet dropping flares on an Australian Navy helicopter is an “extremely aggressive act”. A Chinese fighter jet recently dropped flares in the flight path of an Australian Navy helicopter in a dangerous mid-air confrontation. “It’s very unprofessional, very unsafe, as the Defence Minister Richard Marles was saying yesterday,” Mr Davis told Sky News Australia. “There’s no way that this sort of act could be unintentional or accidental. “That fighter pilot in that Chinese J-10 fighter knew exactly what they were doing – they were intending to drop those flares in the flight path of that Seahawk helicopter, and that’s an extremely aggressive act.”

US military expert Glenn Ignazio says the Israeli Defence Forces will have to be able to prosecute their invasion of Rafah “very methodically” to be able to “minimise the damage to civilians”. Mr Ignazio’s comments come as Israel has approved a military operation in Rafah conducting strikes in the area. “Originally Rafah had about 250,000 occupants, and now it’s over a million – that’s swelled from everybody else in Gaza moving to that area,” Mr Ignazio told Sky News Australia. “This would be a very detailed invasion … with ground troops. “They’re going to have to be able to prosecute this very methodically to be able to go through … to be able to do that to minimise the damage to civilians. “This is going to be definitely a boots-on-the-ground type of operation.”

Sky News Meteorologist Rob Sharpe says he is predicting “more flood warnings” later on this week. “As we move through, we’re going to continue to see more of this as well – flooding,” Mr Sharpe said. “Tuggerah Lake has a moderate flood warning for today. “But I think late this week, we’ll see even more flood warnings than just the one.” It comes as the east coast of Australia was battered with heavy rainfall over the weekend.

Sky News host Caleb Bond has responded to a dire warning to New South Wales residents about the quality of their new build apartments. A new report from the New South Wales government, which looked at 600 new or strata buildings, found 53 per cent of them had serious or major defects within six years of being built. “People would prefer not to live in cheaply built apartments, but they don’t have much choice," Mr Bond said. “There’s not much choice around. “We dud ourselves on two accounts, we bring all these people in for whom we don’t have housing. “We build the housing, but then the housing is rubbish and you have to pay more to fix it up further down the line.”

Former US President Donald Trump received a warm welcome during his outing to Formula One Miami Grand Prix on Sunday. The former president was seen walking through the stadium waving to fans. A video shared on social media showed Trump arriving outside the McLaren garage, with crowds being heard chanting ‘USA’. Sky News host Pual Murray discussed the former president's outing amidst his ongoing trial in New York. “When he's going out into random events in where normally politicians don’t go are they booing the threat to democracy, not really,” Mr Murray said.

Channel Seven's new boss Anthony De Ceglie is under pressure to “turn the ship around” as he steps into his new role, says The Australian’s Media Writer Sophie Elsworth. “He has got his feet under the desk today in Sydney, and he has got to turn this ship around after weeks, if not months of bad press,” Ms Elsworth told Sky News host Chris Kenny. “They had the scandal surrounding the Spotlight programme. “They had bungling of the Bondi murderer, naming the wrong man. “They’ve seen so many of their executives, and bosses go. “Kerry Stokes has put a broom through Channel Seven and now it's up to Anthony De Ceglie to turn around their news division, and get them back with a reputable name, and repair the damage that has been done.”

Tasmanian Labor has revealed that it will support the proposed Hobart AFL stadium. Tasmanian Labor leader Dean Winter made the announcement on Monday revealing the party had changed its stance and will back the new stadium if it can be delivered within the Liberal government’s funding cap. Sky News host Paul Murray has congratulated the Tasmania premier on his win for the new AFL stadium. “So Jeremy Rockliff he drew a line in the sand and now he has actually won, he will actually end up having a monument,” Mr Murray said. “Like or dislike he has changed the face of Tasmania.”

Sky News host James Morrow says there was an “utterly relentless” campaign around the former prime minister Scott Morrison. Mr Morrow told Sky News host Paul Murray that it was in a way that Australia has never seen for a Prime Minister. “It was kind of a dialectic between him and his enemies. “That they kind of fed off each other in a pretty interesting way. “Because he was so normal, it made his enemies absolutely furious.”

American actor Kevin Spacey is trying to beat his allegers to the punch with a tell-all interview before a damning documentary airs, says Sky News host Liz Storer. Mr Spacey who has previously been acquitted of sexual assault charges in both London and New York, sat down with former GB News host Dan Wootton to address the new slew of allegations against him. “He hasn’t been found guilty of anything, but once your name is besmirched like this, and by such a big number of claimants coming forward,” Ms Storer told Sky News host Sharri Markson. “It will be ten more men coming out with their stories. “Kevin has decided to beat them to the punch by doing this interview.”

Sky News Australia host Sharri Markson says the lack of coverage of the weekends protests over Digital IDs is “telling” of how little the government and media want Australians to know about them. Thousands of Australians rallied together over the weekend to protest and raise awareness about the perceived dangers of introducing government mandated online methods of identification. “How telling is it that there wasn’t a whisper about this … on any of the media outlets,” Ms Storer said. “How telling is that? “How telling is that that government don’t really want you to be aware of this bill, they don’t want you to be aware of their plans for you little people. “And their willing comrades in the media decide well we don’t want to draw attention to these rallies either.”

GXO Strategies Director Cameron Milner says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s response to the domestic violence issue in Australia is “typically underwhelming”. “Enough was enough … well before the time the Prime Minister came into the office,” he said. “This has been a huge problem for Australians and Australian women. “The scourge of domestic violence is awful. “Typically Albanese, typically underwhelming.”

IPA Executive Director Daniel Wild has reacted to a pro-Palestine candidate being elected to UK parliament, and says Australia is “not far off” having their own politics driven by “religious and ethnic separatism.” British Green Party candidate Mothin Ali who won the Gipton and Harehills seat in Leeds proclaimed his election as a “win for the people of Gaza,” and shouted “Allah Akbar!” as supporters unveiled a Palestinian flag behind him. “It’s bone chilling,” Mr Wild told Sky News Australia host Andrew Bolt. “Brendan O’Neill made the point Britain has gone probably further down the road of this racial, religious and ethnic separatism that is now driving some of its politics, and he said that Australia is not far off. “I think there are signs that may be happening here.”

Columbia Law students are demanding the cancellation of final exams and automatic passing for all students after being left "irrevocably shaken" witnessing what they describe as NYPD "violence" in response to anti-Israel protests last week. The student editors of Columbia Law Review, in a letter that the crackdown left many of them "unable to focus and highly emotional". The letter was written shortly after the NYPD dispersed protesters' tents on Tuesday night and removed them from Hamilton Hall nearby. "The violence we witnessed last night has irrevocably shaken many of us on the Review," the letter read. "We know this to be the same for a majority of our classmates." "Videos have circulated of police clad in riot gear mocking and brutalizing our students. The events of last night left us, and many of our peers, unable to focus and highly emotional during this tumultuous time." "We believe that canceling exams would be a proportionate response to the level of distress our peers have been feeling." The law students also said the school should at least let students receive a simple pass/fail grade because they’re just so upset. "In the alternative, making courses mandatory pass/fail would be the next most equitable solution," it read.

Geologist Ian Plimer says in Victoria there is an “enormous amount” of onshore gas in the Gippsland area. Mr Plimer told Sky News host Rita Panahi that the gas is “low in carbon dioxide”. “The five wells that I’ve been to … they are within two kilometres of a pipeline. “Victoria has stacks of gas. “If you go to the other basin, the Otway Basin, it also has stacks of gas.”

Strategic Analysis Australia Director Michael Shoebridge says France wants to end Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ability to “flood” the car market with cheap electric vehicles. "Xi knows that the EU, and France is leading this in the EU, wants to end the Chinese ability to flood its car market with cheap Chinese electric vehicles,” Mr Shoebridge said. “And kill the European car industry. “Xi is turning up to say please do not do that. “And if you do, I am going to slap tariffs on brandy and cognac from France.”

Strategic Analysis Australia Director Michael Shoebridge says China’s President Xi Jinping’s European visit is about the Chinese economy being “weak”. “This is about the Chinese economy being weak,” Mr Shoebridge said. “And needing the European market. “Xi knows that the EU, and France is leading this in the EU, wants to end the Chinese ability to flood its car market with cheap Chinese electric vehicles. “And kill the European car industry.”

The Megyn Kelly Show host Megyn Kelly has declared South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is now "humiliating herself daily" after falsely claiming in a new book she met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. On Sunday, CBS host Margaret Brennan questioned the Republican Governor about the claim in her book “No Goin g Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward". Noem admitted to making changes to the book after inaccuracies were brought to her attention. "As soon as this was brought to my attention, I certainly made some changes and looked at this passage and I’ve met with many, many world leaders," Noem said. "I’ve traveled around the world. As soon as it was brought to my attention we went forward and have made some edits." When pressed further about the alleged meeting, Noem refused to confirm or deny, citing her policy not to discuss specific meetings with world leaders. "This anecdote shouldn’t have been in the book and as soon as it was brought to my attention I made sure that that was adjusted," she said. "The book is not released until Tuesday. And so we’re doing all that we can to make sure that those changes are made." A video clip of the interview went viral online as X users, including Megyn Kelly, criticised the Governor, who'd also admitted to euthanising her 14-month-old dog in the book. "She is humiliating herself daily now," Kelly reacted on X.

Sky News contributor Prue MacSween questioned the “spirit” of Qantas following their settlement with the ACCC. Qantas was forced to pay $120 million after allegations the airline sold tickets to ghost flights that were already cancelled. “What arrogance of this company to think they could get away with this,” Ms MacSween told Sky News host Rita Panahi. “It’s just unforgiveable. “This is no way to treat your customers. “Qantas can make all the ads they want about singing kids and spirit of Australia – the spirit of Qantas is really questionable."

Former Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe is warning interest rates may not have reached their peak. Speaking to the Financial Review, Mr Lowe believes the fight against inflation is not done and claims any upside surprises would make the RBA more likely to increase the case rate. Rates are not expected to rise at the next meeting. Money market investors believe there is a 40 per cent chance of a 0.25 per cent increase by September. Westpac has also weighed in on the debate in its first half results – saying interest rates are likely to stay “higher for longer”.