Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “lacks vision for this country”. Mr Dutton joined Sky News host Chris Kenny to discuss the future of energy in Australia. The Opposition Leader labelled the Prime Minister as a “weak leader”. “We see it on a daily basis,” Mr Dutton said. “This government now resembles more I think the Whitlam government, than it does the Hawke government.”

The Australian’s John Stensholt discusses Australia’s top ten richest people. The full list of the nation’s 250 richest people will be released in The Australian on Friday. “Gina Rinehart’s at number one,” Mr Stensholt told Sky News host Sharri Markson. “So $50 billion, which is an amazing number. “Would you believe it’s probably being a little bit conservative given, I guess how the success of her Hancock Prospecting has gone.”

The Australian’s John Stensholt says there are “more female entrepreneurs” appearing on Australia’s richest list. The full list of the nation’s 250 richest people will be released in The Australian on Friday. Mr Stensholt pointed to the Zimmerman sisters as an example. “The Zimmerman fashion brand, Tanya Austin with Decjuba as well. “So there’s a lot of people on the list that look, basically make their money around the world, but live in Australia.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong are putting the China relationship "above national security", says Sky News host Sharri Markson. “Labor insider Cameron Milner … says there's a pattern of capitulation to China from the Albanese government that should be deeply worrying," she said. Mr Milner said in a piece titled ‘ALP is China's lapdog’ that China will see ‘a PM grinning to gratuitous compliments while avoiding raising matters of genuine national interest’. ‘Australia needs to have a proper conversation about how we defend our values and our neighbours from foreign aggression. Defunding ASPI might keep you sweet with the Chinese; it doesn't help our national interest,’ he said. Mr Milner also said it's 'beyond ironic that Wong fights to re-establish funding to the UNWRA ... at the same time she wants to cut funding to ASPI'. “Between Wong and Albanese, this is the worst foreign policy duo we've had in office in recent political history,” Ms Markson said.

There is a lot of “new young names” among Australia’s richest list, according to The Australia’s John Stensholt. The full list of the nation’s 250 richest people will be released in The Australian on Friday. “There’s a couple of guys from the Gold Coast,” he told Sky News host Sharri Markson. “HiSmile, the toothpaste brand Alex Tomic and Nik Mirkovic, they’re worth about $600 million. “There’s two ladies down in Tasmania who own Blundstone.”

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan says the Labor government is “addicted” to PR stunts while Australians are under a cost-of-living crisis. “It is just one PR stunt after another,” he said. “Meanwhile you are paying a fortune for your energy bills, your grocery bills are going up. “Mortgages are becoming unaffordable for people. “The government continues to be addicted to these ridiculous PR shoots.”

Former Trump strategist Sebastian Gorka has commented on Joe Biden losing support among non-white Americans. A New York Times/Siena College poll earlier this month said that Joe Biden was leading former president Donald Trump 56 points to 44 among non-white Americans. This is a group Biden won by almost 50 points in the 2020 presidential election. “Remember, this is the candidate who said, when he was running for the presidency … ‘If you don’t vote for me, you ain’t black’,” Mr Gorka told Sky News host Rita Panahi. “This is the bigotry of the Democrats – the party that was responsible for the KKK; the party that was the party of the segregationists. “That’s Joe Biden’s Democrat Party.”

GB News host Darren Grimes has reacted to author Peter Hitchens delivering a reality check to the BBC over Britain’s net-zero targets. Mr Hitchins told BBC audience members that if they “wanted to live in a country where nobody can afford to heat their house,” and one where “lots of people lose their jobs, and be cold all the time”, they should keep pursuing net zero by 2050. “Once again, we in this country have gone far further than the sensible Australians have, Mr Grimes told Sky News Australia host Rita Panahi in response. “The government right now just had to admit it’s made a mistake in banging the drum against gas power stations. “Because we are now having to build more… and we are all saying, ‘you thick wazzocks, of course, we knew this would happen.’”

Sky News host Steve Price questions the future of energy capacity in Australia as investment in large-scale renewable capacity development has "fallen off a cliff". “Renewable energy capacity and new projects, investment in both solar and wind had dropped in the last 12 months by 80 per cent,” he said. Mr Price said it is being blamed on slow “planning” and environmental approvals. “Ever-rising costs” and a tight labour market are also contributing factors, he said. “Investment has really fallen off a cliff.”

Sky News host Erin Molan believes the US “will be in a better place” under Donald Trump but he “may hurt” Australia with his isolationist policies. Former US president Donald Trump has won enough delegates to become the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election. After US President Joe Biden secured the Democrat nomination earlier today, the rematch between Trump and Biden will be the first US presidential election rematch in nearly 70 years. “It’s a fascinating contest, and I just love this stuff anyway from an entertainment perspective,” Ms Molan told Sky News Digital Presenter Gabriella Power. “Biden did well at the State of the Union … but I think his cognitive ability will play a massive part over the next few months. “I think America will be in a better place under Trump … but he may hurt us [Australia] as well.

Sky News host Chris Kenny has questioned how Donald Trump and Joe Biden are the “best they can give their people” because it was “bad enough the first time”. Former US president Donald Trump has won enough delegates to become the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election. After US President Joe Biden secured the Democrat nomination earlier today, the rematch between Trump and Biden will be the first US presidential election rematch in nearly 70 years. “I just think the great republic – the leader of the free world – and this is the best they can give their people – a choice between Trump and Biden,” Mr Kenny told Sky News Digital Presenter Gabriella Power. “It was bad enough the first time, and now we’re going to be back there again.”

Author Douglas Murray says there was “almost no knowledge about the consequences” of puberty blockers but “so-called niceness” was used to do a very wicked thing. The NHS has confirmed children will not be routinely prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics. A recently published NHS England policy document noted: “We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of (puberty blockers) to make the treatment routinely available at this time.” “Whatever the causes are, we just have to look at the facts,” Mr Murray told Sky News host Rita Panahi. “One of the things I was startled by always was some of these procedures, some of these drugs were being administered when there was almost no knowledge about the consequences. “There was so few studies, there was so little literature, so little information … yet our societies have fallen into this place where we sort of just done something I think will be looked at as very, very wrong. “We did it out of kindness … but sometimes it requires a so-called niceness to do a very wicked thing, and I think that is likely to be the case in this whole area.”

Shadow Infrastructure and Transport Minister Bridget McKenzie says the Labor government can’t get the “basics” of national security right. Ms McKenzie’s comments follow news of several Palestinians who fled Gaza to Australia getting their temporary visas cancelled, leaving them stranded in other countries. “It’s almost unprecedented that somebody gets turned back once a visa has been granted,” she told Sky News Australia. “As an Opposition, when these changes were being made last year, we asked the government to scrutinise the changes to make sure they were conscious of the impacts and that everything was as it should be. “We were assured it was, and it turns out it’s not; the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is real – it is a warzone, and we need to uphold our own reputation as a country.”

Assistant Health and Aged Care Minister Ged Kearney says the health system is “not right” as female GPs receive more “complex and difficult patients” which has created a gender pay gap for female GPs Two-thirds of Australian women say they’ve experienced gender bias or discrimination when accessing healthcare, according to the federal government’s landmark #EndGenderBias survey, conducted to improve access to healthcare and outcomes for women. “I really do believe that is the case, but we can’t just rely on them [female medical professionals],” Ms Kearney told Sky News Australia. “Often, we’re finding that women GPs … often get a lot of the complex and difficult patients. “This has created a situation where there’s a gender pay gap for female GPs. “Inherently, the system is not right.”

Assistant Health and Aged Care Minister Ged Kearney says she was a “little bit shocked” two out of three Australian women say they have experienced “some form of bias or discrimination” in the health system. Two-thirds of Australian women say they’ve experienced gender bias or discrimination when accessing healthcare, according to the federal government’s landmark #EndGenderBias survey, conducted to improve access to healthcare and outcomes for women. “I wasn’t surprised by the response as a health professional and as a woman,” Ms Kearney told Sky News Australia. “I have understood the discrimination bias felt by women in the system, but I’ve got to say I was a little bit shocked two out of three women say they experience some form of bias or discrimination in the health system. “70 per cent of those said it happened at their local GP … so these outcomes are shocking.”

German police are searching for the close friend of Madeleine McCann's suspected murderer Christian Brueckner. Armed police descended on a small house at an allotment in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony searching for a 56-year-old man named Ralph H. Ralph, reportedly a long-time friend of paedophile Brueckner, vanished before the German police’s raid, Before the 56-year-old vanished, Ralph claimed he and Brueckner discussed robbing homes together and reportedly drove the sex offender's cars. “I acted as a lookout for him during burglaries and as a getaway driver as well. I know exactly the sort of crimes he (Brueckner) got up to and what he did on the dark web,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced that one-third of the heavy vehicles operating out of Team Global Express’ Western Sydney facility will be electric. Mr Albanese described this as a “great day” and a “game changer”. “That’s good for this company because it drives down emissions, it drives down their costs,” Mr Albanese said during a media conference on Thursday. “Good for the environment in reducing our emissions. “We know that around about over 20 per cent of Australia’s emissions are due to the transport sector. “This transformation together with, of course, the partnership with ARENA, and the parentship with Volvo, is a great example of my government working with the private sector, with the business community to assist the economy, to assist them but also to assist our objective of heading towards net zero.”

Professional surfer Blake Johnston has his eyes set on breaking another record. In 2023 Johnston broke the world record for the longest-ever surf session. “I actually have my own record to break,” he told Sky News Australia. “I was going to run before I ever did the surf and I’m going to stick to my word. “I’m going to run barefoot from Ulladulla to Cronulla later in the year.” The distance for this run is around 204km, and Johnston has also hinted he might be attempting to break another world record in 2025.

One year ago, professional surfer Blake Johnston broke the world record for the longest-ever surf session. Mr Johnston broke the record in Cronulla last year in a mission to raise awareness of the importance of mental health. “Mentally, it was draining,” he told Sky News Australia. “It’s constant work to be on top of ourselves, to become self-aware enough to know when we need to seek help. “Or when we need to change our environment to be able to keep moving forward and function well in a society.”

Columnist Justin Smith has backed “the sentiment” behind the actions of several Extinction Rebellion protesters but also produced a stern word for their behaviour potentially lacking credibility. The Extinction Rebellion protesters gathered in Melbourne’s CBD to spread their flags and lie down on a busy pavement. “The issue is just far too important, and I really don’t want it going into wacko territory,” Mr Smith told Sky News host Chris Kenny. “It gives people like you two the opportunity to sling off at them. “I’d like to see them dial down the wacko just a touch and make it a little bit more credible.”