US President Joe Biden’s mental decline is “becoming impossible to ignore”, says Sky News contributor Kosha Gada. “It’s sad on a human level when we see this,” she told Sky News host Peta Credlin. “Everybody who’s had aging parents or grandparents, you can see the decline is not linear, it’s exponential. “The decline that can happen in a year can be much more than what happened five years prior. “It’s becoming impossible to ignore – the whole world can see it.”

Former deputy prime minister John Anderson says the continually increasing amount of online attacks on Jewish people are now starting to be referred to as a form of “digital terrorism”. Mr Anderson joined Sky News host Peta Credlin to discuss the increase in anti-Semitism in Australia following the October 7 attacks in Israel. “Well it says something about the curriculum, doesn’t it – in our schools, that’s the first point,” he said. “If we understood the 1930s we might remember that some of the giants of that age, Roosevelt and Menzies used to say that their four freedoms were critical if people were to live in safety and security. “One of them was freedom from fear – if you are fearful, you cannot be free, you cannot reach your potential, you cannot make your maximum potential contribution to your society.”

Sky News host Peta Credlin says over 500,000 Victorian homes are “without power” tonight. Ms Credlin said this comes after all four units at one of the nation's largest coal-fired power stations “went offline”. “At around 2pm this afternoon, the giant Loy Yang A power station … suffered a catastrophic outage,” she said. AEMO reported a significant power system event before revealing it was investigating the cause of the outage in a statement at 3:30pm. “As Melbourne's temperature hit a high of 36 degrees,” Ms Credlin said.

Nationals MP Keith Pitt says a major outage at Victoria's biggest power station Loy Yang A represents a “glimpse of the future for Victoria” without coal-fired power. Approximately 500,000 households especially on the surf coast west of Geelong and in the inner west of the state have suffered power blackouts. Powerlines in Anakie, just north of Geelong, tripped and may have caused Loy Yang A and the four units in AGL’s facility to go offline. AGL is currently investigating the cause, and the units had been down since 2:15pm AEST, but would be providing hourly updates. “That is a big power station and that is a big outage and it’s a big blackout,” Mr Pitt told Sky News host Peta Credlin. “Welcome to a glimpse of the future for Victoria – if you want to know what it looks like without coal-fired power – this is it."

The Albanese Labor government appears to be lost on Indigenous issues after their loss in the Voice to Parliament referendum. “Labor always felt a little bit lost in that area after the Voice, after being so confident initially that the Voice was the answer,” Sky News host Ashleigh Gillon says. “Or at least a major step towards being an answer. “It does feel like it’s back to the drawing board. “And that’s a position that government after government has really crackled with and ultimately failed in up to now.”

Former military general Prabowo Subianto is leading in the polls ahead of the Indonesian presidential election. Indonesia will go to the polls on Wednesday in what will be the biggest single-day election in the world. Nearly four billion voters are expected to head to the polls in more than 70 countries. While voting is not compulsory, an expected 70 per cent to 80 per cent voter turnout is expected tomorrow. The Australian’s Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan joined Sky News Australia to discuss the upcoming Indonesian election.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the Albanese government is working to ensure Australians keep more of what they earn. “The defining difference between those opposite and this government is the clearest – this Albanese Labor government is working to ensure that more Australians earn more and that they keep more of what they earn,” he said during Question Time on Tuesday. “Whereas that opposition wants people to work longer and for less.” Mr Chalmers said the Liberal “leftovers” have “abandoned” middle Australia just like they did while they were in government. “They don’t even pretend to care about the cost of living anymore,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government’s “number one priority” is easing the cost of living without adding to inflation. Mr Albanese said the key is getting “cost down for families” and getting “wages up for workers”. “Getting the budget, of course, onto a stronger foundation,” he said during Question Time on Tuesday. “Our tax cuts come on top of other measures - cheaper medicines, affordable housing, energy bill relief, higher wages, cheaper childcare, historic investment in Medicare. “Those opposite have said no to every action this government has taken on cost of living.”

Aged Care Minister Anika Wells says the Royal Commission into the aged care sector was a “damning report”. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety was established in October, 2018, with the goal of assessing whether the services were meeting the needs of the community and how they could be improved. “For the benefit of those opposite, that dynamic cast of characters who have regaled us all a nemesis – across 4.5 hour of ruminating never one passed the subject of the aged care crisis on their watch,” she said during Question Time on Tuesday. “I would distill that report down to just one word and that word was neglect. “The Albanese government however, understands that the best investment we can make to lift the standard of aged care in Australia is an investment in aged care workers.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has delivered the annual ‘Closing the Gap’ statement. Mr Albanese said Australia has “overcome much” but gaps still exist including the “life expectancy gap that gaps us like a chasm.” “That is inexcusable… we all agree that the status quo is unacceptable,” Mr Albanese said. “We are listening to and working with communities … the government is committed to the ongoing national agreement on closing the gap. “We are determined to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create new opportunities and achieve better outcomes at a local level.”

US President Joe Biden's campaign has joined Chinese owned app TikTok in a bid to connect with younger voters. The account which has been named ‘bidenhq’ launched during the Super Bowl on Sunday (local time). TikTok is banned on most US government devices over national security concerns. President Biden signed legislation in 2022 blocking most federal government devices from using the app. The President's TikTok account will reportedly be run by his campaign team.

Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney says the Democratic Party is in “complete turmoil” after special counsel Robert Hur’s report on President Joe Biden was released. “It has taken things that a lot of folks are talking about in private off the record … and put it on the front page of every newspaper in the United States,” Mr Mulvaney told Sky News Australia. In the report, Mr Hur said the president had "willfully" retained classified files after leaving the vice presidency in 2017. However said, Joe Biden would not be charged due to being a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”. Mr Hur claimed that Mr Biden's recall of certain events was "significantly limited".

Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan has slammed the Albanese government for lounging out on the beach this summer rather than coming up with a plan to protect Australians from the detainees released under last year’s High Court ruling. Mr Tehan’s comments come amid revelations the Albanese government made zero applications to re-detain any detainees released after the High Court ruled indefinite detention illegal. “What has the government done over the summer?” Mr Tehan said to Sky News Australia host Kieran Gilbert in response. “It seems like they’ve been on the beach rather than doing their no. 1 job which is keeping the Australian community safe. “There is a model there already. That model has a high threshold.”

There is hope for Taylor Swift fans who missed out on tickets to her Eras Tour. The pop star will release additional tickets to her sold-out Sydney and Melbourne shows on Tuesday. Tickets for her Melbourne show will go on sale at 2 pm. Tickets for her Sydney show will go on sale at 4 pm. Swift’s show at the MCG will be the largest concert of her career to date and her three concerts there will see her break the MCG’s record for the most tickets sold by one artist at the venue.

The number of animals that died on board the returned export ship carrying thousands of live sheep and cattle has been revealed. The Department of Agriculture confirmed the livestock were discharged from the vessel in Perth after more than a month stranded at sea. 15,000 live sheep and cattle were sent to sea and back, over five weeks ago. The vessel was left lingering off the Western Australian coast as exporters considered their options for what to do with the animals. So far, 60 sheep and four cattle have died on board.

Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham has slammed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for his government’s “woefully inadequate” response to a US request for Australia to send a warship to the Red Sea. Yesterday, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet confirmed that the prime minister had no involvement in the decision for Australia to not send a warship to the Red Sea. “This is another truly remarkable revelation through the Senate estimates process yesterday. “Our closest ally, the United States, makes a request for Australia to play a role in the response to the Houthi rebel assaults in the Red Sea, where some 12 per cent of world trade flows through that critically important shipping channel. “The decision is left entirely in the hands of the defence minister – the prime minister doesn’t seem to play any role in the decision; he doesn’t call a National Security Meeting of the Cabinet. “This is not proper process, and, particularly not when you think about the way in which the government responded, which was woefully inadequate.”

Victoria's emergency services have issued a strong warning ahead of dangerous weather conditions across the state. A catastrophic fire threat alert has been issued, as the state prepares for its most dangerous weather conditions in four years. Residents in the Wimmera, Mallee and Northern Country districts have been put on high alert ahead of hot and gusty conditions. It is expected to be the worst weather conditions seen since the Black Summer fire season in 2019 and 2020. Temperatures are predicted to reach high 30s and 40s.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has spoken on the government’s pledge to fast-track laws to punish those who release the personal details of others online after a group of 600 Jewish people were doxxed last week. The new laws will criminalise the publication of a person’s private details, which include their name, email, address and phone number, with the intent to harm. The plans follow the publication of the personal details of nearly 600 Jewish creatives by anti-Zionist activists last week. “No Australian should be targeted because of their race or because of their religion,” Mr Dreyfus said at a press conference on Tuesday. “The Albanese government committed last year to stronger protections for Australians through reforms to the Privacy Act. “The Prime Minister has asked me to bring forward, as part of that set of reforms to the privacy act, some new provisions to deal with this practice of doxxing, with the malicious use of people’s personal information without their consent.”

Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham has urged Israel to be “very mindful of the huge humanitarian toll” that is occurring in Gaza and to “act with regard for international humanitarian law”. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged caution on Israel’s planned military offensive on Rafah. “It is important that Israel act with regard for international humanitarian law and be very mindful of the huge humanitarian toll that is occurring in Gaza,” Mr Birmingham told Sky News Australia. “We still wish very clearly to support Israel, to see Hamas disabled and believe that the best pathway to ceasefire would be for Hamas to release the remaining hostages. “It’s not a matter of whether I can sit here and say I support this action or that action; Israel needs to act with regard for international humanitarian law – they need to act with appropriate caution in terms of how they handle displaced people. “Ultimately, they need to ensure that they are conducting these operations in ways that effectively target Hamas.”

Sky News host Caleb Bond says ham and cheese sandwiches have been “banned” because they are “apparently they’re unhealthy”. Western Australia will ban ham and cheese sandwiches from school canteens, with the lunch meal classed as 'red' under new dietary rules for students statewide to promote healthier eating. The state uses a traffic light system to rank food based on its nutritional value under the categories green, amber and red. Food items deemed 'red', including chips, lollies and other unhealthy foods, are banned from sale at school canteens. Mr Bond said, “this is the stuff we should be worrying about”.