Treasurer Jim Chalmers is “using the budget” to “pressure and intimidate” the Reserve Bank of Australia into not raising interest rates before the next election, says Former Victoria Liberal Party president Michael Kroger. Mr Kroger’s comments come as Treasurer Jim Chalmers is set to hand down the federal budget on Tuesday night. “Back in black temporarily, because of massively high commodity prices, massive increases in taxations and full employment,” Mr Kroger said. “Chalmers is using the budget and all the commentary around the budget to pressure and intimidate the Reserve Bank into not raising interest rates before the next election.”

Former Victoria Liberal Party president Michael Kroger says Treasury has one of “the worst forecasting records” Australia has seen. Mr Kroger says Labor is trying to put “pressure on the Reserve Bank”. “Treasury forecasted a budget deficit this year just in December, they’re out by ten million dollars. “What we’re seeing here is an attempt to pressure the Reserve Bank into believing that we’re coming into a very low inflationary environment, don’t even think about raising interest rates because if they do Labor won’t get reelected.”

The government needs to show “sensible restraint” in the budget on Tuesday night in order to “tame inflation,” according to Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor.  “Sensible restraint is what is needed in this budget if we’re going to tame inflation and restore Australians’ standard of living,” Mr Taylor told Sky News Australia.  “Because people are poorer under Labor.”  Mr Taylor’s remarks come as the Treasurer prepares to hand down his third budget on Tuesday night, with the government expected to deliver a $9.3 billion surplus for the current financial year.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor says Labor’s version of unavoidable spending is “always the wrong one”.  Mr Taylor’s remarks come as the Treasurer prepares to hand down his third budget on Tuesday night, with the government expected to deliver a $9.3 billion surplus for the current financial year.  “To be honest with you, what they really want to do here is they want to bring down a big spending election budget,” Mr Taylor told Sky News Australia.  “This is looking like it’s going to be a political budget – I hope it’s not, but at this point, I fear for the worst.”

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan says Jim Chalmers is in a “race with Santa Claus” to meet his Christmas inflation target. The Treasurer has bet on a scenario where inflation will return to the target band of between two to three per cent by the end of 2024, about a year before the RBA’s prediction. “I’ve got more faith that Santa Claus is actually going to turn up at homes on Christmas Eve this year than Jim Chalmers is going to be able to get inflation down when he is spending so much of our money,” Mr Canavan said.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor says the Reserve Bank of Australia has “set the alarm bells off”.  “For good reason – they’ve said inflation is going up, not down right now ... and we need to see a pathway to tame it, and we haven’t seen that,” Mr Taylor told Sky News Australia.  “The real job here is to tame that inflation.”  Mr Taylor’s remarks come as the government prepares to hand down its third budget on Tuesday night.

Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney says former US president Donald Trump is doing well in “critical swing states”. Mr Mulvaney said according to polling, out of six states expected to be “very close”, the former US president is up in “five of those six”. “Including three with quite comfortable margins,” Mr Mulvaney told Sky News Australia. “He’s continued to use these, what he calls lawfare, these weaponised criminal actions against him to his political benefit and seems to be doing well in those critical swing states.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers is being warned taxpayer-funded bill relief won’t address issues affecting the economy. Mr Chalmers is set to hand down the government’s federal budget on Tuesday night. Electricity rebates and rental assistance are expected to be unveiled as cost of living policies which will also deal with inflation. However, former RBA Board Member Warwick McKibbin believes the support won’t solve Australia’s inflation problem. He claims both Treasury and the Reserve Bank are underestimating the impact the revamped stage three tax cuts will have on inflation.

CommSec’s Tom Piotrowski says the federal budget usually has a “modest” immediate impact on Australia’s equity market. “Where we are looking at quite carefully is obviously the surplus that has been spoken about,” he told Sky News Australia. “That has had at the margins a positive impact on pushing interest rates lower for the moment.” Presented by CommSec.

The Albanese government’s policy of deterrence against asylum seeker boats is under strain with three boats reaching Australian territory in the last week. This includes four individuals who arrived off the coast of Broome on Friday morning. It follows five Rwandans who arrived on Saibai Island which is in the Strait of Cape York in Australia’s northeast and 33 people who landed on Christmas Island. Sky News has independently confirmed the third boat carrying four Vietnamese unauthorised maritime arrivals arrived near Broome but was intercepted by the Australian Border Force just off the coast.

The federal budget is set to be handed down on Tuesday and is expected to deliver a $9.3 billion surplus for the current financial year. Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Monday night defended the government’s optimistic inflation forecast believing the budget will put downward pressure on inflation. He also provided insight into the difference in projections between the RBA and Treasury.

The federal budget will reportedly include funding for an investigation into racism at universities. It is in response to recommendations of a review from a major university. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he believes anti-Semitism is the worst he’s seen in his lifetime.

Sky News Australia host Caleb Bond has reacted to Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre having to be evacuated after the solar panels on the roof caught on fire. “You know they are simply trying to do their best to save the planet, we’re going to get all the sun to come down here," Mr Bond said. “All the kids had to pile out of the pool because those lovely green solar panels - they all caught on fire, and sent emissions out into the atmosphere. “How good is that ay?”

The South Australian government is considering a “blanket ban” on social media for children under the age of 14. The Malinauskas Government has appointed a former High Court Chief Justice to examine the legal pathways required to impose a ban. Sky News host Sharri Markson has called the move from the South Australian government “sensible”. “I think that a lot of parents don’t want their young children to be on social media, but they also don’t want them to be left out or to be bullied,” Ms Markson said. “So if you have a government saying right you can’t be on social media until you're 14 that’s kind of problem solved.”

Australian Jewish Association President Dr David Adler has criticised the response from university authorities amid ongoing pro-Palestine protests on Australian campuses. “It's fine for people to have a different perspective on political issues but there are certain lines which these groups have clearly crossed,” Mr Adler told Sky News host Peta Credlin. “When you are chanting for an intifada you are expressing support for a violent uprising against Jews that’s what an intifada is. “And if the university administration allows teaching to be disrupted with calls for intifada they are giving the wave through for incitement of violence against the Jews, against the Jewish students. “It is not an expression of a political opinion, it is an expression of support for a program of violence.”

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has warned Labor’s move to ban live sheep export will "cruel the whole industry”. The federal government has announced Australia will stop live sheep exports by 2028. The Albanese government pledged more than $100 million to help support farmers and producers ahead of the major transition.

Sky News host Rita Panahi slams “commie troll” Greta Thunberg after she joined pro-Palestine protests in Malmo, Sweden. The activists protested Israel's participation and qualification for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 final. “She really is a miserable little doom goblin, isn’t she?” Ms Panahi said. “How wonderful it is to see her so effortlessly go from climate expert to a Middle East expert.”

Broadcaster Esther Krakue has advised Meghan Markle to find a “stronger way to connect with people”, other than revealing what percentage of their nationality she is. Markle recently revealed she is part Nigerian ahead of a visit there with her husband, Prince Harry. “You have to find other ways to connect with people,” Krakue told Sky News Australia host Andrew Bolt. “Learning about the culture, understanding how people live, the challenges the country face. “That’s a stronger connecting point than saying that you are 43 per cent Nigeria.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has revealed the “main motivation” behind this year’s federal Budget. Mr Chalmers will hand down Labor’s Budget on Tuesday evening. “The main motivation behind this budget is people doing it tough,” the Treasurer told Sky News host Sharri Markson. “We want to do more than just acknowledge that things are difficult for people right now – we’re actually doing something about it.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has admitted he hasn’t gotten a “lot of sleep” around budget time after he went for a 3:46am run on Sunday. The Treasurer will hand down this year's federal Budget on Tuesday night. “There’s not a lot of sleep at the moment but I don’t expect people to get the violins out about that,” he told Sky News host Sharri Markson. “Around budget time, it’s not unusual for treasurers to only sleep a little bit and I figure if I wake up earlier, I might as well make the most of it.”