Sky News host Liz Storer says the Californian city of Sacramento has just declared themselves the “Transgender Sanctuary City”. “You think our city councils are bad?” Ms Storer said. “These guys have just declared themselves a sanctuary city for the trans movement. “Move over, illegal immigrants. “Trans have got less rights than you apparently and they’re top of the pots.”

The Australian's Environment Editor Graham Llyod has called Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s $1 billion dollar solar panel program “unsustainable”, arguing it’s not economically feasible. The Prime Minister spruiked a $1 billion investment for Australian-made solar panels during a visit to New South Wales’ Hunter Valley region on Thursday. “The problem is as solar panel firms all around the world have found out, they can’t compete with China on price,” Mr Lloyd told Sky News Australia host Steve Price. “So, the result here will be these panels will be more expensive than ones we can get from overseas. “The arguments becomes is there an economic benefit in putting money into that rather than something else. “There’s a lot more politics in it than there is economics.

Strategic Analysis Australia Director Michael Shoebridge says there are “big problems” for Australia if war broke out in our region considering imports and infrastructure. “There is a real schizophrenia here,” he said. “There are two big problems if a war broke out and our overseas trade was interrupted. “Australia is more dependent on imports from China than any other developed economy on the planet. “In the defence sector they seem to not know what Australian companies can make that will be critical to our military in times of war.”

University of Melbourne INTL Relations Professor Michael Wesley says the collapse of the Baltimore bridge “really reinforces how old much of the critical infrastructure in the United States is”. Mr Wesley says the bridge is now “decades old”. “Reports coming through it really wasn’t safe, particularly to misadventures like that. “A number of experts have said that a modern bridge would not have been built to those modern specifications. “When critical infrastructure like that goes down it could have massive effects on a national economy.”

NT police union president on how officers are enforcing the Alice Springs youth curfew, Labor announces a major solar panel investment. Plus, security expert Michael Shoebridge on how conflict with China would seriously impact our trade routes.   See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

NAAJA Advocacy Manager Jared Sharp says the “wrong approach” is being taken in Alice Springs as “youth curfews do not work”. Northern Territory Chief Minister Eva Lawler has declared an ‘emergency situation’ in the Alice Springs CBD to combat crime. A two-week youth curfew will be put in place as part of the response. “To me, the problem is the response that’s been instigated of a curfew for all young people in Alice Springs from 6pm until 6am is entirely the wrong approach in terms of what’s needed,” Mr Sharp told Sky News Australia. “What is needed is responses that are developed in consultation with the Aboriginal community … and to look at the evidence of what works. “Youth curfews do not work.”

NAAJA Advocacy Manager Jared Sharp says the government “hasn’t consulted with anyone” in Alice Springs which is a “major problem”. Northern Territory Chief Minister Eva Lawler has declared an ‘emergency situation’ in the Alice Springs CBD to combat crime. A two-week youth curfew will be put in place as part of the response. “There’s a couple of problems here, and I think one of the major problems is that the government hasn’t consulted with anyone before doing this,” Mr Sharp told Sky News Australia. “We haven’t seen what these emergency powers actually are … they really need to be spelt out so police on the ground know exactly what they can and can’t do.”

NAAJA Advocacy Manager Jared Sharp says there is a “very high risk of criminalisation” of the youth in Alice Springs when they have “contact with police”. Northern Territory Chief Minister Eva Lawler has declared an ‘emergency situation’ in the Alice Springs CBD to combat crime. A two-week youth curfew will be put in place as part of the response. “In any context where young people are having contact with the police, there is a very high risk of criminalisation of young people,” Mr Sharp told Sky News Australia. “That’s what we have seen over the years. “The big risk is if the police powers aren’t clearly defined to start with … then police don’t have that certainty.”

The New Zealand Defence Force is reaching new heights after it launched experimental satellite technology into orbit. The launch marks the first time the New Zealand Defence Force has put a payload in space. The hardware has been attached to a satellite owned by the United States. It was launched on a Kiwi developed 'Rocket Lab' rocket last week. The device will be used for communication research.

Singer Sam Smith split his pants during a live performance in South America, to the shock of many online. Despite the singer’s embarrassing situation, he laughed it off and announced to the crowd “I’ve split my trousers." The Grammy winner continued with his set, unfazed by the wardrobe mishap. Users on X subsequently roasted Smith online, with users theorising he cut the pants. “He cut that himself. He's got some disgusting humiliation kink and all this nonsense is the result of it,” wrote one user. Smith was performing at a Lollapalooza festival in Argentina while on his ‘Gloria the Tour’ concert at the time of the split.

University of Melbourne International Relations Professor Michael Wesley says a lot of Americans are “supporting” US President Joe Biden’s proposal to “start taxing the super-rich”. Mr Wesley said it would be a “real point of demarcation” between Biden and Donald Trump. “If it gets up and it is popular, it would end a long period of time of which taxes were seen as a bad thing.” Mr Wesley says there are “so many unknowns” about the 2024 Presidential race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. “Whether it be the trials that Donald Trump faces, you could have something as basic as a major fall for Biden or a massive gaff during one of his campaign speeches or indeed something happening internationally.”

Sky News host James Macpherson says Catholics have reacted with “absolute shock” to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s suggestion of working with the Greens on religious freedoms. Mr Macpherson says they have described it as “dangerous”. “Anthony Albanese is pretty keen to pass recommendations from the Australian Law Reform Commission which would limit Christian schools’ ability to employ staff who live by Christian values and ethos and to retain students who are Christians,” Mr Macpherson said. “Catholics have reacted with absolute shock calling the decision for Anthony Albanese to even suggest working with the Greens on religious freedom as ‘dangerous’.” The Prime Minister said the government is “concerned about all the forms of discrimination”. He also said if the Greens are willing to support the “rights of people to practice their faith, then that would be a way forward, but we don’t currently have that”.

Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek said there is a “massive transformation” going around in Australia’s economy. Ms Plibersek said Australia will need “more solar panels”, wind turbines and batteries “wherever we can”. “We obviously want to see Australian materials, Australian knowhow, Australian products when it comes to meeting that demand,” Ms Plibersek told Sky News Australia. “That’s important for jobs and wealth creation in this country. “We need to make sure that we have domestic capacity.”

Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek says there are “not enough resources” on the ground in the Northern Territory. Ms Plibersek’s comments come as youth crime prompts Alice Springs to introduce a curfew. “There are not enough resources on the ground and it’s about making sure that the commitments are a lasting commitment. “We came into government facing a quarter of a billion dollars in cuts to services in central Australia. “We had to quickly find that money to restore those services."

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen says it’s “time to get it back” after announcing a new solar panel manufacturing program in NSW. Mr Bowen and the Prime Minister held a joint press conference on Thursday to announce the new solar panel manufacturing program Solar Sunshot. “Today we’re announcing Solar Sunshot, our new program to support the manufacturing of solar panels, solar cells, solar modules, and associated infrastructure here in Australia,” he said. “We used to have an Australian-made solar panel industry in Sydney – it closed many years ago, it’s time to get it back. “We’ve put millions of solar panels on our roofs over the last few years, we have to put another 60 million on in the next six years.”

The ASX 200 reached an all-time record this morning. Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood says the markets are “soaring”. “And have been for a period of time,” he said. “But also some stocks that have really done brilliantly have actually boosted the market along. “Anything that’s got even a flavour, a hint of either chip manufacturing or artificial intelligence – they have been amongst the biggest winners this year.”

Same-sex marriage might soon be legal in Thailand after parliament approved a marriage equality bill. It will be the first country in Southeast Asia to legalise marriage equality. 400 lawmakers voted in favour of the bill in the Senate. The Thai King needed to approve the law. Variants of the legislation have been debated since December.

Sky News host James Macpherson says US President Joe Biden loves to put himself at “the centre of everything” as he made a speech following the Baltimore bridge tragedy. The 47-year-old bridge collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday morning (local time) when a 300-metre-long container ship slammed into one of its two central pylons. While addressing the collapse, the President remarked that he has commuted many times over the bridge “by train or by car”. “He’s been over the bridge many times by train or by car, except a train has never gone over that particular bridge,” Mr Macpherson said. “There are no train lines at all.”

Inflation has come in lower than expected, remaining steady at 3.4 per cent for the third consecutive month. “Yesterday was a surprise that we needed in terms of the outlook,” Independent analyst Evan Lucas told Sky News Australia. “Even if we had not got what the expectation was, which was 3.5 per cent … the trend on a three-month and four-month basis is still a decline at about 0.8 of one per cent per quarter. “That’s now back at 0.9 – so the speed is there. “If you look at the trend also on a longer-term trajectory, the RBA’s expectations are pretty much holding true.”

A turbulent three months has wiped $384 million off the value of the brand Qantas. The revelation comes according to an annual analysis of the global airline’s brand strength and worth. It is the first time a dollar figure has been placed on brand damage associated with consumer outrage. The drop has also been associated with higher airfares, executive salaries, payouts and poor performances. Brand Finance Australia Managing Director Mark Crowe said the brand decline of Qantas contrasts against the industry average, which increased by 17 per cent.