Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says Anzac Day is a “sombre day” as Australians gather to “recognise, reflect and respect” those who served the nation. Ms Ley pointed out the country’s regional towns “gave up so many” young men to fight abroad. “In World War I, I think about it being a volunteer army and fighting for a cause – an empire – on the other side of the world,” she told Sky News Australia. “You see their names on the obelisks on the memorials, and there are just far too many. “So, it’s a sombre day, but it’s also a day that country people really recognise, reflect and respect.”

Australian Strategic Policy Institute Senior Analyst Dr Malcolm Davis has called for Australia to follow the lead of the United States and ban TikTok. US President Joe Biden has signed legislation which would see TikTok banned in the country. It is after a bill passed both houses with bipartisan support, forcing the Chinese-owned platform to either be sold or banned within a year. Mr Davis thinks Australia “should” follow the United States’ lead on this. “As I said, everything that happens on TikTok is monitored by the CCP,” Dr Davis told Sky News Australia. “Australian users need to be aware that whatever they’re doing on TikTok is being monitored in Beijing.”

It is the coldest Anzac Day for Canberra in three years. Temperatures got down to 0 degrees Celsius. There has been snow filling the elevated terrain of Tasmania. Melbourne is expected to have rainfall at around midday. Just like it was yesterday, it is relatively cool temperatures through the southeastern capitals.

US President Joe Biden has signed off on the country’s latest foreign aid package. The president praised congressional leaders and lawmakers after months of tense negotiations on the deal. The $146 billion package passed through the Senate on Tuesday, which will see crucial military assistance provided to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. “I’m making sure the shipments start right away,” Mr Biden said. “In the next few hours, literally in a few hours, we’re going to begin sending equipment to Ukraine.”

Sky News host Caleb Bond says the clean energy and emissions reduction projects being built in Australia will be “hideously expensive”. Former competition tsar Rod Sims says embracing an ad hoc “Made in Australia” approach to net zero transition by 2050 could “destroy” Australia’s chances of becoming a clean energy superpower. “I wonder why that might be” Mr Bond said. “Probably because the stuff that we will make here in Australia will be hideously expensive and no-one will want to pay for it. “We will have spent all that time and money trying to build this stuff that ultimately won’t get used.”

The Australian’s Media Writer Sophie Elsworth says the ABC faces a problem in which they push agendas which are “always one way”. The ABC ombudsman has supported comments made by 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson in an interview with an Israel Defence Forces spokesman, where she rejected claims the killings of World Central Kitchen aid workers were a “mistake”. During the interview, Ferguson told IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner that she did not accept that seven aid worker deaths – including Australian Zomi Frankcom – were unintentional. The public broadcaster received 52 complaints about the 11-minute television interview with Ferguson that aired on the ABC’s flagship political program on April 8. “You never see them going on there and pushing conservative views,” Ms Elsworth told Sky News host Andrew Bolt. “Unfortunately for the ABC, they just can’t stop this because it’s so widespread here. “I don’t think they really want to do much about it.”

Casino operator The Star's former chief executive Robbie Cooke was the major witness giving evidence today at the Bell inquiry into The Star's suitability to hold a casino licence in New South Wales. Mr Cooke says he felt like he was "under attack" earlier this year, when The Star's special manager, Nicholas Weeks, arranged a private meeting with three law firms to discuss the casino's licence to operate. In response to discovering this private meeting was going ahead, Mr Cooke sought legal advice and exchanged text messages with the chairman David Foster, where they agreed to "prepare for war". It was also revealed a whistleblower complaint against Mr Cooke played a part in the board’s decision to oust him. Mr Cooke’s departure came amid worsening relations between The Star and the regulator, which sought to find whether the company was doing enough to reform its business practices which exposed it to criminal activities such as money laundering and fraud.

Nationals Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie says Treasurer Jim Chalmers needs to “reign in” on government spending. Ms McKenzie joined Sky News host Sharri Markson to discuss the latest on the inflation rate. “The average mortgage you’re having to pay another $24,000 a year just to make ends meet,” she said. “Food’s gone up ten per cent, electricity in excess of 16 per cent, and I could go on. “What Jim Chalmers needs to do in this next budget is actually reign in government spending so that Michele Bullock can actually do the right thing on interest rates.”

Sky News host Liz Storer says electric vehicle owners should “keep an eye” on their cars after one caught fire and exploded in a Sunshine Coast shed. The car caught fire and exploded on Tuesday night, and firefighters extinguished the fire but the car reignited early in the morning on Wednesday. “If you do buy one of these just make sure it doesn’t explode like one did very recently,” she said. “I believe it was just last night on the Sunshine Coast.” “So keep an eye on it when you just park it in your garage, maybe I don’t know, have a CCTV camera or an alarm that’s going to go off on your keychain if and when the thing does explode because that does happen and there’s no guaranteeing it won’t happen to your $250,000 Ford EV.”

Sky News host James Macpherson says “it is good to be the king” slamming Queensland Premier Steven Miles over his separate private jet flights to the same locations with the police minister. “We have got to talk about Queensland Premier Steven Miles, last week Steven Miles announced tough admission reduction targets,” Mr Macpherson said. “This week, Steven Miles and his police commissioner caught separate private jets to the same function. “It is good to be the king. “It is also good to spare no expense when you are the people’s representative.”

The Australian Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan says there is a “huge problem” with the radicalisation of “teenage young men from a Muslim background”. “Our official education system tells them that the country is rubbish, it’s colonialist, it’s racist, it’s heteronormative, it’s sexist, all the rest of it and we’re surprised when they don’t believe in the place,” Mr Sheridan said. “This is a huge challenge for the national security agencies. “We’re a long way from working out how we deal with social media in this, and we’re a long way from having the kind of ethos and national morale that would attract people to our national story.” Mr Sheridan sat down with Sky News host Peta Credlin to discuss national security in Australia.

Sky News host James Morrow says the Albanese government is throwing “all sorts of money” at “white elephant projects”. “We know there is already going to be all sorts of money thrown at what frankly I think are, really, white elephant projects here in terms of this Made in Australia project,” said. “If these were going to be profitable industries, these investors would be investing in them already. “What else is Chalmers going to throw at the economy? “The way we get interest rates down … is to cut spending, show restraint, and cut back on the regulations holding the economy back.”

Sky News host James Morrow says the interest rates are remaining “sticky” as Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ is set to reveal the next federal budget. “This is the thing, we have seen rates … remain what the economists call sticky,” Mr Morrow said. “They had thought a lot of this was just pandemic related and supply chain related. “But the thing is once you get wage inflation in, it is very hard to get rid of that in the economy. “The big challenge of course is what is going to happen in the budget.”

Sky News host Chris Kenny says One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson has been busy today feeding the homeless population in Queensland. “She has been cooking up fish and chips today, Pauline, helping the homeless people,” Mr Kenny said. “From the pictures we ran today they looked pretty bloody good, too.” One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is serving free food to homeless people in Queensland from her new mobile van as part of a bid to shine a light on Australia’s housing crisis. Mr Kenny is joined by One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson to discuss her fight against homelessness.

Woodside Chairman Richard Goyder has survived a protest vote against his re-election at Wednesday’s annual general meeting in Perth. The long-serving executive has been under fire in the weeks leading up to today’s event, with several large investors. These included Australia’s second largest superannuation fund Aware Super who withdrew their support for him. Sky News Perth reporter Crystal Wu says “this re-election would likely be Mr Goyder’s last ten-years in this role by 2027. Ms Wu said, “today he secured a lot of support from the shareholders – 83 per cent of shareholders voted for him.”

Director-General of Security Mike Burgess says it takes “considerably more resources” to take on online threats. The head of ASIO is asking the big social media platforms to help keep Australians safe online. “Technology is not above the rule of law," Mr Burgess said. “Right now, we are as busy as we have ever been in our 75 years of history. “We need their help, I think it is a reasonable ask; I’m looking forward to that conversation."

Sky News host Liz Storer has praised X owner Elon Musk for using his platform to “drop bombs” on Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Ms Storer’s remarks come as the X owner challenges the Australian government’s takedown order of graphic footage. Elon Musk wrote on X, ‘Our concern is that if ANY country is allowed to censor content for ALL countries, which is what the Australian “eSafety Commisar” is demanding, then what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet?’. “How good is this platform when you’ve got the author and finisher, Elon Musk himself, literally dropping bombs on the Australian Prime Minister,” Ms Storer said. “He’s saying, you really want to allow a government to dictate?”

North Richmond resident Christine Maynard has unleashed on the Victorian government over a local injecting room and the “ghetto” effect it has caused. “This government refuses to listen to the people who live through this,” she told Sky News Australia. “We were told by Dan Andrews that he would never put an injecting room in Victoria. “Look what we have on our doorstep. “He then turned around and said that he would never allow ice in there and we see ice addicts like zombies all the time in our community.”

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess says encryption protects terrorists, spies, saboteurs and "abhorrent criminals”. This comes amid the expansion of end-to-end encryption by tech companies in recent years and their plan to continue this in the future. Mr Burgess also acknowledged encryption as a “good thing” that “protects privacy”. “I am not calling for an end-to-end encryption ... I’m asking for the tech companies to do more," he added. “The gap In ASIO's ability to lawfully intercept the use of encrypted communications by terrorists and spies is such a concern, particularly in the current security environment. “I’m calling on big tech to establish lawful access solutions that can be applied in very tightly controlled and targeted situations.”

Independent economist Chris Richardson explains how the slight decrease in inflation will affect Australians. The March quarter inflation rate fell less than expected to an annual rate of 3.6 per cent. “They weren’t pretty – they were higher than expected,” Mr Richardson told Sky News Australia. “The IMF regularly says governments should help their central banks fight inflation and to do that, they need some combination of winding back spending or increasing taxes. “I’m hopeful, very hopeful, that we don’t raise interest rates anymore, but I would not be hopeful that we are cutting interest rates in Australia anytime soon."