Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the cost of living relief in the upcoming budget “won’t be identical” to previous budgets but will be “substantial”. The Treasurer will hand down the government’s budget in just a few days on Tuesday, May 14. “We have shown a willingness in the past to take the edge off energy bills and rent in previous budgets,” Mr Chalmers told Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell. “In the year to March, electricity bills would have gone up almost 15 per cent if we hadn’t acted. Instead, they went up two per cent. “That has shown our bona fides when it comes to easing these cost of living pressures where we can so that we are part of the solution to this inflation challenge rather than part of the problem.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the upcoming federal budget will be about cost of living relief at the same time as investing “in the future”. The Treasurer will hand down the government’s budget in just a few days on Tuesday, May 14. “It’s a responsible budget. It will be good for mums and middle Australia, good for families, pensioners, students and young people,” Mr Chalmers told Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell. “It will recognise the pressures that people are under. It will engage in this fight against inflation by showing restraint, by designing our cost of living policies in a way that takes the edge off inflation rather than add to it.”

Ahead of the Albanese government’s third budget, “the story is the same as for the past two”, says Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell. “We’re still talking about inflation being too high,” Mr Clennell said. “And searching for an end to interest rate hikes and the beginning of interest rate cuts.”

An $11.3 billion package will be unveiled in the federal budget to tackle Australia’s housing crisis. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the package will fast-track new supply, reduce homelessness and assist people fleeing domestic violence. “Only Labor is committed to building more homes,” Mr Albanese said during a media conference. The federal budget is set to be unveiled on Tuesday, May 14.

The worst domestic abusers in New South Wales will continue to stay behind bars for longer. Offenders deemed at high risk of re-offending are about to find it more difficult to receive bail under new laws designed to protect women. It comes as NSW Premier Chris Minns is set to deliver a significant package of reforms.

Farmers are criticising the federal government’s decision to ban live sheep exports from May 2028. A $107 million support package has been announced to help the industry as the practice is phased out. However, the RSPCA has welcomed the decision, describing it as a historic day for animal welfare.

Former ITV News Royal Editor Tim Ewart has given his reasoning why King Charles III did not see Prince Harry during his son’s recent visit to the UK. “The last time he came here after his father’s cancer diagnosis was announced, he spent 30 minutes with his father, the king,” Mr Ewart told Sky News Australia host Danica De Giorgio. “But on his return to America, he immediately gave a television interview. “No real, serious confidences were broken, but it just underlines to the royal family what the risks are when you see Harry. “That frightens the royal family.”

It is “hard to accept Prince Harry saying his father King Charles III was “too busy” to see him, says former ITV News Royal Editor Tim Ewart. The Duke of Sussex was in the UK to attend a service commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the Invictus Games at St Paul’s Cathedral. “It was Harry who made the statement that the King was too busy to see him,” Mr Ewart told Sky News Australia host Danica De Giorgio. “It is kind of hard to accept that really. “He wouldn’t have been at that garden party for more than 30 or 40 minutes at most.”

US President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice is using Donald Trump’s hush money trial to employ “tactics we have seen in the past from authoritarian dictatorships in third-world countries,” says Political Strategist Jason Meister. The Political Strategist, also a Trump Advisory Board Member, told Sky News Australia the former president’s trial “is political rocket fuel – that is why he is surging in the polls”. “The American people are not stupid,” he said. “They understand that this is unconstitutional, illegal lawfare and it is election interference. “This is propelling (former) president Trump – I think it is only hurting Joe Biden because he has weaponised his Department of Justice. “I think it is backfiring magnificently on Joe Biden.”

Trump Advisory Board Member and Political Strategist Jason Meister has torched the evidence given during the criminal prosecution of his former president as completely irrelevant. His comments come as Donald Trump is pressed in a New York court over hush money allegedly paid from the 2016 presidential campaign to Adult Film Star Stormy Daniels. “All the testimony I have heard thus far is completely irrelevant to the criminal prosecution,” Mr Meister told Sky News Australia. “It is not only irrelevant under rule 401 under the rules of evidence but it is unfairly prejudicial under rule 403. “This court is just a kangaroo court, election interference and Democrat lawfare.”

Former Howard government minister Peter McGauran has called for “more political courage” from Education Minister Jason Clare as “the hatred of Jews" is being pronounced on campuses during pro-Palestine protests. Mr McGauran acknowledged the “horrific tragedy unfolding in Gaza” and agreed on the students’ right to protest. “So by all means, set up the camps, wave the signs,” he told Sky News Australia. “But that is not what most of these demonstrations are. “These are chanting intifada – they are chanting from the river to the sea.”

Former Howard government minister Peter McGauran has explained what a successful budget for Treasurer Jim Chalmers would look like. Mr McGauran’s political advice comes ahead of the 2024 Budget’s due date on Tuesday, May 14. “Budgets are not election winners in the modern political era,” he told Sky News Australia. “They are important to lay a platform but you must have a narrative. “The only successful budgets are where people can afterwards say, well this budget stood for this issue.”

Petition organiser Caroline Staples discusses the outcry over Cumberland Council’s controversial ban on same-sex parenting books which had gained over 30,000 signatures urging the council to rescind the ban. “I actually went to the council website and watched the debate, and I watched what was said about people I know in that council, and that’s when I became really sad and really disappointed, and I actually became quite alarmed,” Ms Staples told Sky News Australia. “This is a series of books that seeks to look at the diversity of family experience. “Let’s not name call, let’s not stigmatise, let’s not put people in a box. “Rescind that ban, put this behind us, move on and leave our librarians, our hardworking librarians, to keep our libraries the wonderful, exciting, safe places they are.”

New Zealand’s Defence Forces “are a good player and people know that,” says NZ Defence Minister Judith Collins. Ms Collins told Sky News NZ Correspondent Jack Nyhof of her country’s desire to be a “part of solutions” as she pledged military support to Australia. “We are obviously supporting Australia and US and others when it comes to matters, wherever it is, military-wise,” she said. “Wherever we can, we want to be part of solutions.”

New Zealand intends to remain a “good ally and partner with Australia” as they “want to be part of solutions,” says NZ Defence Minister Judith Collins. Ms Collins told Sky News NZ Correspondent Jack Nyhof the new budget “says to Australia we are serious about Defence”. “We can’t really have economic security if you don’t have national security and Defence is an integral part of that.”

New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins says the next budget will show her government is “serious about Defence” during a “challenging geopolitical environment”. “We can’t really have economic security if you don’t have national security and Defence is an integral part of that,” Ms Collins told Sky News NZ Correspondent Jack Nyhof. “We also live in a very challenging geopolitical environment at the moment.”

Tech Guide Editor Stephen Fenech says Apple’s first new iPad in 18 months has “a bit of a breakthrough” for artists and is “amazing technology”. Mr Fenech listed the numerous display features added along with a new-look device. The Tech Guide Editor told Sky News the device “is amazingly thin – it is 5.1 millimetres thick … that is thinner than the old iPod nano”.

Hundreds of Australians have been left stranded in Vanuatu after the Pacific nation’s only airline Air Vanuatu went into voluntary administration. Dozens of flights have been grounded until Monday as liquidators work through the airline’s finances. It is understood liquidators are considering selling the airline to strategic buyers, such as the Australian and Chinese governments, in a bid to keep Air Vanuatu in the sky. Many passengers are resorting to charter flights to return home.

Heavy rainfall led to widespread flooding in Afghanistan resulting in the loss of at least 60 lives and leaving another 100 injured. In the worst-affected regions, over 200 people are trapped in their homes. Emergency personnel are searching for survivors and victims. Around 2,000 homes and four schools have been damaged.

The government has allocated $107 million to aid industry stakeholders in transitioning away from live sheep exports. Agriculture Minister Murray Watt says the government will introduce legislation to end the practice. The government is also committing to 25 of 28 recommendations handed down in an independent report on how Australia should move away from the industry. The opposition has released a statement saying it will commit to maintaining the live sheep trade if it wins the next election.