Independent MP Dai Le says cost of living is “still an issue” in Australia. Ms Le’s comments come after the government announced changes to the stage three tax cuts which will help lower to middle-income Australians. “I’ve been calling for the rethink of the stage three tax cuts for the last twelve months,” she told Sky News Australia. “There’s vindication there that the government is listening.” The Independent MP says both “food prices” and “insurance” have “gone up”.

Taylor Swift has taken the world by storm, including Harvard University. The pop sensation is the focus of a new course called "Taylor Swift and Her World". Hundreds of students have enrolled in the course. Students will study Swift’s music and career, as well as the "Swift-mania" leading to her fame and popularity. English professor Stephanie Burt is leading the course.

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Long-distance swimmer Lynton Mortensen discusses his latest challenge as he is bound for the Antarctic. Mr Mortensen said the water temperature is anticipated to be at zero degrees. “And it’s just the pair of the good old budgie smugglers, cap and goggles,” he told Sky News Australia. “So there’s no wetsuit. “We’re aiming for an ice mile if we can, conditions permitting – I did one at the Arctic 2022 and the water temperature there was minus one.”

Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan says it’s a “bit strange” that Prince Harry raced in to see King Charles after his cancer diagnosis to then only spend less than an hour with him. On Tuesday Buckingham Place made a shock announcement revealing King Charles III had been diagnosed with cancer after he underwent a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate at the London Clinic on January 26. “It’s a bit strange isn’t it that he would fly 6,000 miles taking a whole day to get here and he ends up with reportedly 30 minutes … with his father at Clarence House in London before his father gets on a helicopter and goes to the estate at Sandringham,” he told Sky News Australia. “I think in a normal family if you flew across the world to see a member of your family … your father whoever it may be, you would expect to get a little more face time than perhaps 30 minutes. “So I think that’s indicative of still the slight iciness between Harry and almost all the royals.”

Hungary has been accused of breaching foundational laws of the European Union including democracy. The EU commission particularly took aim at Hungary's law which intends to 'protect national sovereignty'. The EU says the law violates the union's democratic values and fundamental rights. The EU commission has warned Hungary it will open an infringement procedure over the law. Hungary's ruling right wing party says the law is necessary to protect the nation against foreign political interference.

Nikki Haley has lost Nevada's Republican primary – not to Donald Trump, but to the option ‘none of the above’. The former US president’s name wasn’t on the ballot because he is competing in the caucus. “She’s kind of kicking herself in the butt for not engaging in the caucus,” says Nevada Republican National Committee Member Sigal Chattah. “Because Nevada’s a proportional state. “She could have picked one, two delegates and maybe even more.”

The European markets have been “weighed down” by the release of corporate earnings numbers, according to CommSec’s Tom Piotrowski. Mr Piotrowski noted the UK’s FTSE finished down “two-thirds of a per cent”. “The French market down by a third,” he told Sky News Australia. “The German market was down by a similar amount as well.” Presented by CommSec.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud has slammed the Albanese government for being “asleep at the wheel” as they were “too slow to act” on supermarkets ripping off consumers. Australians are being ripped off by banks, energy companies, airlines and supermarkets, according to findings in a report by former ACCC boss Allan Fels. There are calls for the government to step in with better protections to stop the near-constant exploitation. “It validates everything the Nationals have been saying,” Mr Littleproud told Sky News Australia. “We saw blatant evidence of this, particularly at the supermarkets, only over the last six to 12 months. “We saw meat prices at the farm gate drop by 60 to 70 per cent, but only drop at the checkout by eight per cent, and that was clearly evident the supermarkets were taking advantage of a falling market that fell off a cliff and not passing onto consumers. “I think it’s time we said the government were too slow to act – I gave them every opportunity, I gave them 12 months, to say bring forward all your reviews, let’s get this over and done with. “We needed the ACCC when there was clear evidence … that we should’ve had the ACCC investigate the supermarkets and then prosecute the supermarkets if they could’ve found that evidence.” “Unfortunately, the government has been asleep at the wheel.”

A woman has died after being struck by a fallen tree in Adelaide. The victim was sitting under a gum tree at the University of Adelaide when the incident unfolded just before 3pm yesterday. Despite attempts from paramedics to revive her, she died at the scene. Arborists and police have since secured the area. A first responder said it appeared she was doing “nothing more than sitting on the lawn, having something to drink”.

Sky News host Caleb Bond says a transgender student at an elite school in Geelong has been put into a girls dormitory. A father has pulled his daughter from Timbertop Geelong Grammar School as a result of the transgender student. Mr Bond said the parents of the other girls in the dorm “were not told” that their children would be sleeping in the same room as a biological male. “One father when he found out, went so far as to get in his car, drive to Victoria, pick up his daughter ant take her home. “Because he was so outraged that he hadn’t been alerted to this.”

Sky News contributor Joe Hildebrand says the people calling for the most action on climate change are the people who “pay the smallest price”. He said that they “often make a quid” out of climate change policies. Mr Hildebrand sat down with Sky News host Paul Murray to discuss farmers facing powerline compensation being taxed by the government. The compensation for powerlines going through Australian farmers’ properties is $200,000 per kilometre. Farmers are in shock to find out that the compensation will be taxed.

Sky News contributor Megyn Kelly has explained why Russians support their President Vladimir Putin. “They see a man who is standing up for Russia,” she told Sky News Australia host Paul Murray. “Mother Russia has really been, you know, taking it on the chin these past several decades. “That is not to say they shouldn’t be held to account for what they have done, yes, they support Vladimir Putin, they love a strong man. “You can hate the government and not hate the people – that is the way through this because our kids are going to have to live with Russia. “There is no point in starting and continuing another Cold War.”

Sky News host Liz Storer says “we, the people” are sick of Labor politicians not touching political subjects over fears of “culture wars”. “We are sick to death of Labor politicians in this country talking about the culture wars,” Ms Storer said. “We, the people, need you to engage. “We are all caught up in the culture wars and by not participating you are perpetuating it. “This is the most cowardly issue on which to issue, ‘oh, culture wars, culture wars’ we are talking about protecting children.”

Sky News host Liz Storer says South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has “killed” the inquiry into gender dysphoria. “This is the fifth time one of these has tried to get up in a state and including our federal parliament,” Ms Storer said. “Premier Malinauskas has just killed it dead.” Peter Malinauskas said he the gender dysphoria inquiry would be ‘highly political’ and it would seek to perpetuate culture wars. Mr Malinauskas also remarked he is not ‘particularly keen’ on said culture wars.

Former Labor Minister Graham Richardson says anti-Semitism in Australia is “getting so bad”. Mr Richardson told Sky News host Sharri Markson that it has been able to “boil away underneath the surface” for a while now. “But now it’s just coming out everywhere. “We’ve just got to stamp on it really hard. “Whatever you allow in a society, you can’t allow that.”

Sky News host Sharri Markson says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has come out “quite defiant” after coming under fire for changes to the stage three tax cuts. The Albanese government came under fire after Labor broke a major election promise and announced changes to the stage three tax cuts to help low to middle-income earners. The latest Newspoll shows a majority of Australians support the government’s stage three tax cut changes. “The Prime Minister is firing up in Question Time,” Ms Markson said. “He’s come out quite defiant after the broken promise that he made.”

Former Labor Minister Graham Richardson says Australia must act “a lot tougher” on anti-Semitism. Mr Richardson told Sky News host Sharri Markson that we’ve got to do something about people going on a “anti-Jewish tirade”. “We got to do something about it, we just got to put you away for a while. “And that’s what we don’t do. “What we do is we talk big, but we don’t do much.”

The Australian’s Media Writer Sophie Elsworth says the ABC was “a bit sneaky” in its callout for children to participate in the national broadcaster’s Drag Queen Story Time event. The head of the ABC Queer and Mardi Gras presenter Monique Schafter sent out an appeal on social media. The presenter posted in a Facebook group called ‘Rainbow Families Community’ that: “The ABC is filming a drag story time event for the 2024 Mardi Gras broadcast and is looking for children between ages 3-5 years to take part. If you and your tiny humans are interested in taking part, please email.” “I think the ABC’s been a bit sneaky here because the callout for children ... was not done on their social media platforms,” Ms Elsworth told Sky News host Andrew Bolt. “I think they were hoping people wouldn’t cotton on to this, but of course, there was a backlash, and now they’ve cancelled it. “I’m wondering why is the taxpayer spending money on this sort of content.”

Sky News host Chris Kenny says people are witnessing the “gradual death of cash” after Federal MP Bob Katter was denied the ability to pay cash when buying lunch in Parliament House. “She [the cashier] said, ‘we don’t accept cash’ and I said ‘well too bad for you, you have to, it’s legal tender and it’s illegal for you not to take cash’,” Mr Katter told Sky News Australia on Wednesday. “We’ve had a lot of anti-cashless rallies in north Queensland … it’s quite right we start the fight against cashless society; if you have a cashless society, the banks control your life.” Mr Kenny praised the federal MP after the cafe eventually took his cash. “But it's a salient warning about how bad the death of cash is becoming,” Mr Kenny said.