Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie has accused the Albanese government of being a “fair-weather friend” to the US after the Royal Australian Navy claimed to possess the necessary technology to combat Houthi drones. “I think it shows, under this government, we are a fair weather friend,” Mr Hastie told Sky News Australia host Chris Kenny. “Over the last 30 years, we have sent 57 Royal Australian naval vessels to the Middle East or waters around the Middle East to fight against piracy and terror. “This is a government that has made a conscious decision and I admire the Chief of Navy and his courage in speaking up for the navy – he said they could have done it so this was a political decision. “The Albanese government has still not explained why they took the weak decision.”

Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance President Brian Marlow has called the Albanese government’s “bluff” on abolishing the 37 per cent tax bracket. This comes after the Albanese government announced changes to the stage three tax cuts, which would benefit low to middle-income earners. The amendments would mean that the 37 per cent tax bracket will remain rather than be abolished. “The Labor government decided to lie to voters at the last election and completely abandon these tax cuts,” Mr Marlow told Sky News Australia. “Their argument is ‘oh, we’ll give tax cuts to some Australians, and when it comes to the 37 per cent tax bracket, we’re not going to touch that because the economy’s bad right now, we can’t afford it’. “Well, we’re calling their bluff – we’re saying, ok, by your own estimates, you’re saying the economy’s going to bounce back in the next 12 months. We’re giving you until 2026 (to) commit to getting rid of that 37 per cent rate.”

Shares in Santos today slumped heavily after news this morning that merger discussions between Woodside and Santos have been scrapped. Both companies put out statements saying they had called off discussions around the $80 billion deal. Investment managers have been warning about this merger for months – suggesting it would not create value for shareholders. Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood sat down with Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Allan Gray Simon Mawhinney to discuss the merger. Mr Mawhinney says it isn’t clear the Woodside-Santos merger would have created any value for shareholders due to the lack of “overlap” between assets.

DPG Advisory Solutions’ David Gazard says the problem for him about the changes to the stage three tax cuts is that it’s “not in the national interest” as it encourages bracket creep. “So, it’s not doing anyone any favours,” he told Sky News Australia. “It just encourages bracket creep. “The last thing I would say is that Anthony Albanese made this about character. “He has put the character test on this.”

The National Australia Bank has a new boss, Andrew Irvine, who is now head of business and private banking. Mr Irvine will replace Ross McEwan in April. McEwan came into the job at NAB in the wake of the banking Royal Commission, where Chairman Ken Henry and CEO Andrew Thorburn resigned after suffering a scathing assessment of their judgment. He performed a massive rescue job as CEO at the Royal Bank of Scotland - which had been bailed out by the British Government after the Global Financial Crisis. Before joining NAB, Mr Irvine was head of Canadian Business Banking at the Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest bank.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hit out at the Coalition saying they “change their position every day”. Mr Albanese said under them, they had a tax policy that would have seen “Australians who are the lowest paid – get not a single dollar”. “Now every Australian will get a tax cut,” Mr Albanes said during Question Time on Wednesday. “84 per cent of them will get a higher tax cut under us. “If they really thought their system was better, they would be voting against it and promising to roll it back.”

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says since coming to power, Labor has been focused on the cost of living pressures affecting Australians. “But the most important step that we can take is to fight on behalf of Australia’s working families for a tax cut,” Mr Marles said during Question Time on Wednesday. Mr Marles’ remarks come after the Albanese government made reforms to the stage three tax cuts in response to the cost of living crisis affecting Australians. He said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken the “difficult decision” in bringing forward the tax package with the Treasurer and Finance Minister. “The government, which is actually delivering real tax relief for Australians, which has delivered a budget surplus, which is supporting Australia’s Defence Force and our national security – that government is the Albanese Labor government,” Mr Marles said.

Royal biographer Tom Bower has claimed Prince Harry’s visit to the UK was “all just for show” following the news of his father’s cancer diagnosis. “I think that it was an impromptu way to get attention," Mr Bower told Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan. “I think he is a very suspicious man, he wrote his book for money, and he's been very disloyal.” The Duke of Sussex travelled to Heathrow Airport from Los Angeles without his wife or kids to visit his father following the King’s cancer diagnosis. It’s understood Harry spent just 45 minutes with his father at Clarence House before King Charles and his wife Queen Camilla left for Sandringham.

Royal author Robert Hardman has discussed the latest on King Charles following the surprise news of his cancer. The King’s cancer was discovered after he underwent a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate at the London Clinic on January 26, the palace confirmed. “All cancer is serious, what I am hearing is that his proving to be not a very good patient in that he is still expecting to have all the paperwork and all the stuff, all the non-public interaction stuff is continuing,” Mr Hardman told Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan. “I mean he is a hard worker. “The one thing that runs through it whether good times or bad, he has this capacity, he likes mountains of paper.

Prince Harry has arrived in the UK following the announcement of King Charles’s cancer diagnosis, yet despite that he has no intention of seeing Prince William. He arrived at Clarence House on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after Buckingham Palace announced King Charles III had cancer. The Duke of Sussex and his father spoke for 45 minutes before the monarch left with Queen Camilla. Despite the reunion between the father and son, which was their first meeting since 2022, no reunion was scheduled between Harry and William. Prince William and Prince Harry have reportedly been feuding for years, and according to a source close to William, there are “No plans” for the two to meet. In Harry’s memoir, Spare, he made several accusations towards Prince William before their already tense relationship was heightened even further at the end of 2023. The Dutch version of Omid Scobie’s Endgame named both Charles and Kate as they allegedly discussed the skin colour of Harry and Meghan’s unborn baby.

The New South Wales government is currently locked in a battle with local Sydney councils over its housing plan. Specifically, the plans to ensure greater development in a handful of areas close to public transport and infrastructure. More housing in New South Wales is needed to ensure younger generations aren’t locked out of owning their own home. The NSW state government has been questioned if they are doing enough. Sky News Australia was joined by Fairfield City Mayor Frank Carbone to discuss housing supply in Sydney.

One of Darwin’s most experienced barristers is calling for the board of Australia’s largest Aboriginal legal service to be dissolved. John Lawrence says the crisis engulfing the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency is crippling the Northern Territory’s justice system and contributing to the record number of Indigenous people in prison. Mr Lawrence says the service is run by a “cabal of people” who have been “driving it into the ground” because of their “gross mismanagement and incapabilities, their lack of qualifications and so forth”. “Up here, we have a third of the population indigenous ... that organisation is supposed to be community run – it is not community run,” he said. “All it counts is their clients ... because it’s the most important legal practice and the biggest in the Northern Territory, and they're tasked with representing the most marginalised, vulnerable people exposed in this legal system. “They’ve failed miserably.”

Trans athletes are back in the spotlight in a big way in 2024. Following a brief hiatus after the Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney controversy last year, it seems some large companies haven’t learnt their lesson and are jumping right back on the trans bandwagon to push their woke agenda onto their customers. Sky News All Stars Rita Panahi, Piers Morgan and Megyn Kelly reveal the companies who are turning their backs on female athletes in favour of trans athletes to front their campaigns.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns is “ruining the potential” of future housing in Western Sydney, says Fairfield City Mayor Frank Carbone. “I can’t support a broad-brush approach which is basically going to change the fabric of what we see now as a family home,” Mr Carbone told Sky News Australia. “What he’s proposing is every single house in New South Wales, where at the moment you’ve got a 12-metre frontage – that frontage becomes six metres – where are people going to park their cars? “You're basically building small units on the blocks of land, one garage is going to be used for storage." The Fairfield City Mayor said he “isn’t against housing” but Sydney needs the “right planning framework”. “What he’s doing right now is actually ruining the potential for future housing in these areas by taking a decision in the R2 zones.”

Two illegal migrants have been arrested in connection with a larger crime ring that steals the phones of unsuspecting New Yorkers. The two men, Cleyber Andrade, 19, and Juan Uzcatgui, 23, were arrested during a raid by the NYPD. Andrade and Uzcatgui were charged with stealing a moped, resisting arrest, and stealing property. Both men are part of a larger organisation connected to 62 incidents of grand larceny, but that number could grow to as many as 150, according to police. The NYPD has also identified six other members linked to the crime ring. Yan Jimenez, 25, Anthony Ramos, 21, Richard Saledo, 21, Beike Jimenez, 21, Maria Manaura, 32, and Samuel Castro, 27, according to sources. Following their arrest, Andrade and Uzcatgui revealed the name of their 30-year-old Venezuelan boss, Victor Parra, from the Bronx. A search warrant for Parra’s home was served on Monday, where 22 stolen phones were recovered and the “tech guy” was arrested. Unfortunately for the NYPD, the main target and ringleader, Parra, was not at his house during the arrest.

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has criticised Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke for his proposed changes, which are “bad for workers” and employers and are “absolutely shocking” for the economy. The Albanese government is seeking support from the crossbench to introduce its controversial industrial relations legislation. The changes would give employees the right to ignore work-related calls and emails when off the clock. “It’s one component that he’s trying to present to the Australian people and get sympathy without properly explaining the full range of his policies,” Ms Ley told Sky News Australia. “I believe that between employers and workers, you work these things out, you talk about them, you don’t need every single thing locked in regulation. “The broad push of Tony Burke’s industrial relations changes is bad for workers, and it’s bad for employers, and it’s absolutely shocking for the economy.”

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is “disgusted at the behaviour” of the Albanese government for doing a stage three tax cut changes “victory lap” through Parliament yesterday. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has confirmed his party will support Labor’s changes to stage three tax cuts. “There’s lots to criticise, and anyone who’s sat through the Parliament yesterday, including Question Time, I think would’ve been disgusted at the behaviour of this government doing a victory lap and leaving Australians behind,” Ms Ley told Sky News Australia. “Where is the relief from the cost-of-living crisis that they were promised? “We won’t stand in the way of these tax cuts – we made that clear yesterday – but we also made clear we will bring a policy that deals with tax reform in this country, addresses bracket creep and locks in and backs the aspiration of Australians by the next election.”

Dashcam footage has captured the moment a pickup truck crashed into a petrol station in the US. The vehicle can be seen speeding towards the petrol station in New Mexico. The video shows the car swerve into the pumps, causing a small explosion as it crashed. It then brought down the overhead canopy. The driver managed to escape the crash with only minor injuries after suffering a seizure behind the wheel.

The Coalition is paving the way for tax to be a major issue at the next federal election. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is promising to introduce significant tax policies if elected. The Coalition has not decided on the details but plans to reward aspiring Australians and tackle bracket creep. The announcement is despite Mr Dutton confirming his party will support Labor’s changes to stage three tax cuts. “The Coalition is not going to stand in the way of providing support to Australians who are doing it tough,” he said at a press conference. “The prime minister made this change for his own political survival.”

The cleanup has begun in California after a second back-to-back atmospheric river, known as a Pineapple Express, pummelled the state. However, there is more rain on the way, and officials are concerned the region could face even more damage. Some areas experienced a year’s worth of rain, triggering more than 300 landslides and damaging dozens of structures. Multiple counties in central and southern California are under states of emergency, including Los Angeles County. In northern California, at least three people were killed after winds over 125 kilometres per hour toppled trees.