Australian carers will be able to work more flexible hours while keeping their carer payments under changes to be announced in the budget. The changes mean more than two and a half million carers could structure their work or study commitments around their care role. Under the current system, a carer’s payments can be cancelled if they exceed the 25-hour-per-week limit. The changes will cost taxpayers an estimated $18.6 million over five years.  The government says people caring for those with episodic care needs will be better provided for under the new regulations.

Residents in New South Wales are being warned to keep the “brolly handy”.  A wet weather band will sweep across the state today, which could see areas along the coast receive more than 150 millimetres.  Heavy falls are expected tonight and into tomorrow for areas between Wollongong and Coffs Harbour, including Sydney.  The SES is warning some low-lying areas could see flash flooding.  “The rain tends to carve up our roads, and that’s one of the key points here is that if there’s water over the road, you can’t see what’s happened underneath that, so it is quite dangerous to try and drive through it,” NSW SES Acting Assistant Commissioner Allison Flaxman said.

University of Sydney Virologist Professor Anthony Cunningham Tony Cunningham says Australia is entering the time of the year where people need to “think about immunisation” against the flu. His comments follow Australia experiencing an early wave of the flu season. “Particularly for people in the most vulnerable groups,” he told Sky News Australia. “But particularly for people over the age of 65 … six months to five years, and in First Nations people any time over the age of six months, vulnerable people also who have heart and lung disease and who have impairment of their immune system. “They really must protect themselves against influenza.”

Pay negotiations between Victoria Police and the state’s police union have stalled.  The union is seeking a four per cent a year pay increase as well as permanent changes to the number of hours in each shift. Sky News understands discussions broke down over the introduction of nine-hour shifts, which are being opposed by Victoria Police. The Police Association says it remains committed to implementing the new measures under the new deal.

Queenslanders will have to pay up to ten times more for flights to rural destinations after Bonza went into voluntary administration this week. The budget airline had offered flights from Brisbane to regional Queensland for as little as $49. However, current flights available to destinations such as Mount Isa are seeing airfares as high as $600 with other carriers. Aviation experts say Bonza’s collapse leaves a gap in the market another airline could take advantage of.

A Hamas delegation will travel to Egypt on Saturday to discuss a possible ceasefire.  According to local reports, the group will arrive in Egypt on Saturday after confirmation on Monday that a new proposal for a truce was on the table. The first ceasefire ended in December, and negotiators from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States hope to reach a deal for prisoner exchange and a second ceasefire. A new UN report claimed if the Israel-Hamas war were to stop on Saturday, it would take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes which have been destroyed by the Israeli bombardment in Gaza. There was also a warning the damage to the economy would set back development for ages and would only get worse every month the fighting continued.

Authorities in Mexico are reporting three bodies have been found in an area where two Australian brothers and an American went missing. The brothers were on a surf trip in the Baja California region when they went missing on April 27. Three people have been arrested in connection to their disappearance. The parents of Perth brothers Callum and Jake Robinson are travelling to Mexico. A burnt-out ute believed to have been used by the brothers was found after the pair failed to check into an Airbnb.

Turkey has suspended all trade with Israel over the war in Gaza. The trade ministry says the measures will be in place until Israel's government allows uninterrupted flow of aid into the region. Israel's Foreign Minister has criticised the decision and accused Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of acting like a dictator. It will likely worsen tensions between the two formerly close allies. In 1949, Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognise Israel, but in 2010 the nation broke off diplomatic ties after ten pro-Palestinian Turkish activists were killed in clashes with Israeli commandos.

Psychiatrists are fleeing the public system in record numbers. According to health authorities, the psychiatry workforce only meets 56 per cent of the national demand for psychiatrists in mental health services. It has doctors being forced to discharge patients from psychiatric wards weeks before they are fully recovered from spells of psychotic illnesses. Up to one in four public sector psychiatry positions are available in certain states due to the shortage. According to The Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Psychiatry, there are estimates up to 30 per cent of New South Wales’ psychiatrists are considering leaving the profession within the next five years.

Australia is experiencing an early wave of the flu season. The flu season traditionally runs from May to September, but since 2022 Australia has recorded more cases during the summer months. 17,000 people in New South Wales have tested positive for the flu so far this year. That's compared to just over 10,000 people this time, last year. Health authorities say the end of pandemic restrictions and more people travelling overseas has led to a rise in out-of-season cases.

China has launched a mission to the moon to collect samples from the celestial object's far side. The mission has been hailed as a world first, and if successful, it could shed light on how the Moon was formed. The spacecraft has a 53-day long journey to the moon, and will depend on satellites to guide the probe, land it safely, and send it home again. It’s ultimate goal is to land its astronauts on the moon by 2030. The US is also aiming to step foot on the moon again within a couple of years.

The New South Wales government will introduce new domestic and family violence policies in coming days in a bid to address the rise of violent crime against women. Acting Premier Prue Car alongside key government ministers met prominent advocates ahead of yesterday's announcement. The state government says the new initiative will focus on medium and long-term solutions. “We need action right now,” NSW Deputy Premier Prue Car said in a press conference. “We need to assess that in terms of what do we need to do in the immediate, medium, and long term.”

It is “outrageous” Jewish students feel unsafe to attend universities in Australia as “weak leadership” from those at the top is evident, explains Australian Jewish Association’s David Adler. “Could you imagine such a comment being made by any other minority group that is persecuted on university campuses,” Mr Adler told Sky News Australia host Danica De Giorgio. “He would probably be sacked the next day for failing to uphold the basic human rights of having a safe place on universities for all the students. “This is blatant anti-Semitism on our campuses. “We have many Jewish students who feel unsafe to attend university campuses.”

The current Albanese Labor government has been “dreadful” on the issue of “blatant anti-Semitism” being seen at university campuses, says Australian Jewish Association’s David Adler. “Education Minister Jason Clare is missing in action,” Mr Adler told Sky News Australia host Danica De Giorgio. “He is, at the end of the day, responsible for the tertiary education sector. “Jason Clare’s electorate of Blaxland actually has one of the highest Muslim populations for any electorate in the country. “So, maybe it is seen as expedient to throw issues concerning Israel, concerning the Jewish community under a bus rather than potentially create some electoral difficulties in South Western Sydney.”

The Australian’s Media Writer Sophie Elsworth says Seven Network has had a “complete wipeout” with many senior executives exiting in recent times. “We’ve seen CEO and Managing Director James Warburton exit ... now he did say he was exiting last year,” Ms Elsworth told Sky News Digital Editor Jack Houghton. “We’ve had the news director Craig McPherson go this week – he obviously came under intense scrutiny with the Bondi murderer bungling of the right man’s name,” she said. “They also had the scandal surrounding Spotlight, an alleged credit card misuse – so the executive producer of Spotlight, Mark Llewellyn is gone, we’ve also seen the commercial director, Bruce McWilliam leave. “And then this week they’ve appointed West Australian’s newspaper boss Anthony De Ceglie to take over for Seven News director Craig McPherson. “Word is that Kerry Stokes has been deeply unhappy with the bad press that Seven Network has been getting … in recent weeks and months and this has resulted in complete overhaul of its management.”

Australians “are sleeping in their cars, tents and caravans and under bridges” due to the current demand for housing and it is “the policies of the Albanese government that has put them there,” says Nationals MP Keith Pitt. “These are the impacts we are seeing right across the country,” Mr Pitt told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. “The Albanese government is nowhere near their target on housing. “Yet, the federal government has brought in close on a million immigrants in a very short period of time. “There is nowhere to house them.”

Worry is circulating over the expected spending from Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ federal budget and the federal government's application of “Jimbonomics,” says Nationals MP Keith Pitt. “I am more worried about the federal budget and Jimbonomics and the expectation that he will spend every single cent of what is an absolute boom in additional taxpayer revenue and additional revenue from the resources sector,” Mr Pitt told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. “We are foreseeing lots of reports from economists and others that inflation continues to be ticking up and out of control. “Mr Chalmers has to be far more careful and more cautious with the taxpayers’ money and because they can definitely impact what happens with the RBA and the next decision on interest rates. “That directly impacts every single mortgage holder in this country.”

Nationals MP Keith Pitt has warned the result of “Jimbonomics” in the upcoming federal budget “directly impacts every single mortgage holder” in Australia. “Mr Chalmers has to be far more careful and more cautious with the taxpayers’ money and because they can definitely impact what happens with the RBA and the next decision on interest rates,” he told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. “That will have a very substantial impact on inflation. “We are foreseeing lots of reports from economists and others that inflation continues to be ticking up and out of control.” Mr Pitt said his main worry is Treasurer Jim Chalmers “will spend every single cent of what is an absolute boom in additional taxpayer revenue and additional revenue from the resources sector”.

Sky News Digital Editor Jack Houghton discusses a story in The Canberra Times which has highlighted “glaring issues” with Facebook’s AI feature.

The anti-Israel movement attracts the “most extreme elements of society”, according to Executive Council of Australian Jewry Co-CEO Alex Ryvchin. Mr Ryvchin’s remarks come as pro-Palestine protests continue to rage across university campuses. “To see this, it’s shocking, of course – but it’s also entirely predictable,” he told Sky News host Steve Price. “The anti-Israel movement has always attracted the most extreme elements of society because it’s a movement founded in paranoia and soaked in conspiracy theories, racial hatred and religious supremacism. “So, there’s no shock here.”