Small Business Women Australia CEO Amanda Rose says it’s “irresponsible” for the government to be bringing migrants to a country where there’s no jobs and no housing. “It’s divisive because the people that are already in Australia struggling to find housing are only going to see people coming over as their enemy when they're not their enemy," Mr Rose told Sky News host Steve Price. "But the government’s putting them in that position. "But also those that we’re inviting to the lucky country are going to be very unlucky because there won’t be jobs. “Unemployment’s actually going up, small businesses are shutting down.”

Victorian Shadow Treasurer Brad Rowswell has accused the Labor Party of being "addicted" to taxing Australians. "We know that because they haven’t seen something or walked past something that they haven’t wanted to tax previously," Mr Rowswell told Sky News host Steve Price. "I'm fully expecting in this budget that they’ll introduce their Airbnb tax, their holiday and tourism tax," he said. "Now coming out of COVID the tourism industry in this state is still stuffed." Mr Rowswell suggested that the Victorian Airbnb tax will just drive tourism away to other parts of Australia.

Several Palestinians who were hoping to travel to Australia have had their temporary visas cancelled last minute. With some having already begun their journey are now unable to enter the country. Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil defended the decision, maintaining the government reserved the right to cancel issued visas if approval circumstances changed. It is not yet clear what those circumstances might have been. Sky News Political Reporter Cam Reddin joined Sky News host Erin Molan to discuss the latest on the Palestinians who have had their Australian visas cancelled.

The Australian’s Associate Editor Jenna Clarke has revealed that her “loser of the week” is Chinese-owned e-commerce company Temu. “Just when you think that another Chinese-owned company couldn’t be making headlines for the wrong reason ... Temu is apparently the Chinese version of Amazon and eBay and it's making massive inroads in Australia,” Ms Clarke told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. “The issue that gets stuck in my craw is the fact that this association and organisation are paying minimal if not no corporate tax in Australia. “I think a lot can be said about a lot of international conglomerates that take stock here in Australia. “They have purposely set up their business to make sure that they're all in offshore accounts.”

Sky News host Danica De Giorgio says nothing “ever makes sense” when it comes to Meghan Markle. Ms De Giorgio’s remarks come after Markle launched a new Instagram account referring to herself as The Duchess of Sussex. “Let’s be honest,” Ms De Giorgio said. “This is not an Instagram account I would look to follow. “It doesn’t sound very appealing.”

Sky News host James Morrow reacts to a teacher using a “non-binary” alpaca to stop kids from misgendering. “Students learn to apologise quickly, make the correction … I started off modelling how to correct somebody and then afterwards my students would correct each other whenever someone would misgender Alex,” Mr Vương said in one of his TikToks. “This is lunacy,” Mr Morrow said. “What is being taught in America's schools? “This sort of thing will keep America a superpower for decades to come.”

Newsweek opinion editor Batya Ungar-Sargon has expressed outrage over ‘The Zone of Interest’ director Jonathan Glazer for his divisive Oscars speech. Ms Ungar-Sargon called the speech “disgusting”. “I want you to understand why so many Jews were so horrified by what he said,” she told Sky News host James Morrow. “He said that he ‘refutes his Jewishness and the Holocaust’ being used to justify the occupation. “First of all who is doing that, nobody is out there saying because there was a Holocaust therefore Israel can mistreat Palestinians. No one says that. “He is giving sucker and comfort to the anti-Semites saying, there are all these bad Jews out there, you’re right and I am the good Jew. “What a disgusting thing to do after winning an award for a Holocaust movie.”

Newsweek opinion editor Batya Ungar-Sargon says Democrats have “turned their backs” on the American working class. "The people who have been talking about the realignment for all of these years it turns out we knew what we were talking about," Ms Ungar-Sargon told Sky News host James Morrow. “Nine of the ten richest districts in America are now led by Democrats, 65 per cent of people who are making more than $500,000 a year are now Democrats. “The Democrats meanwhile have abandoned labour to cater to highly educated college elites and the dependent poor on the bottom, people who don’t work. “Meaning everybody else who is working class who works with their hands for a living, who struggles for the American dream have had the Democrats turn their backs on them.”

New York City Council has clamped down on wood and coal-fired pizzas to help cut down carbon emissions. Mayor Eric Adams' Environmental department has quietly approved a plan that requires pizzerias and bakeries using decades-old wood- and coal-fired stoves to cut their smoky pollutants by 75 per cent. Over 130 businesses will be impacted by the new law which is set to take effect on April 27. Sky News host James Morrow expressed outrage over the new green mandate. “New York City is now going after pizza, is there any pleasure that normal people can take and enjoy that the elite will not go after,” Mr Morrow said.

Newsweek opinion editor Batya Ungar-Sargon has discussed recent polling showing non-white voters shifting away from the Democrats and towards Donald Trump. “What we’re seeing here is a realignment, you know they love to say white rural rage is what’s fuelling Donald Trump ... it is nonsense,” Ms Ungar-Sargon told Sky News host James Morrow. “Joe Biden is losing Black and Hispanic working-class Americans who are not defecting for the GOP, they are defecting for Donald Trump because he speaks to the working class of all races. “The Democrats meanwhile have abandoned labour to cater to highly educated college elites and the dependent poor on the bottom, people who don’t work. “Meaning everybody else who is working class who works with their hands for a living, who struggles for the American dream have had the Democrats turn their backs on them.”

Foreign correspondent Sarah Coates says a proposal by Hamas for a hostage release would see “females, sick, injured and children released from the Gaza Strip” in exchange for “700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners”. “According to Reuters, it would seem a proposal by Hamas for a hostage release and also a ceasefire plan … would see females, sick, injured and children released from the Gaza Strip, these hostages, in exchange for some 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners,” Ms Coates told Sky News host Erin Molan. “It will be during this first phase that they discuss a ceasefire. “Still no response yet from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, but he has been calling these demands by Hamas ridiculous, really vowing to finish the job inside Gaza. “We’re still waiting for a response from Israel, but certainly seems as though there could be a little bit of movement on this.”

Polls have just opened for the Russian presidential election. There are four candidates vying for the presidency, including the incumbent Vladimir Putin. His competitors are Vladislav Davankov of the "New People Party", Leonid Slutsky, who leads an ultra-nationalist party, and communist Nikolai Kharitonov. Putin is widely expected to win this weekend and secure yet another six-year term as leader of the Kremlin. There are paper ballots this weekend and electronic voting terminals, according to Reuters.

A US district court judge has dismissed former US president Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss charges over retaining classified documents. University of Sydney political scientist Professor Simon Jackman joined Sky News Australia to discuss which legal cases will matter to the presidential campaign. “I think the one thing to keep an eye on is perhaps the money he’s got to come up with by the end of the month, to deal with – including the judgement on appeal – in New York, that the Trump organisation was falsifying records," he told Sky News Australia. “I think that potentially has the biggest political impact. “It raises questions about Trump’s solvency perhaps.”

Sky News Business Reporter Ed Boyd says the ASX 200 opened lower on Friday morning, down about 1.2 per cent, before finishing the day down 0.56 per cent. After hitting a record high last Friday, the ASX 200 finished this week down 2.25 per cent. Top performers included payments company EML, which jumped 11.5 per cent after announcing the sale of its unprofitable Sentenial business unit for around $54 million. Oil companies performed strongly after the oil price surged to its highest level this calendar year. Beach Energy was the best of the bunch, up 2.72 per cent.

New South Wales Liberal Party President Jason Falinski has called for legislation to give parents “more power” over the use of social media by children. The US Congress has voted in favour of new legislation that could lead to social media app TikTok being banned in the United States. The Australian government seems reluctant to follow suit. “I think it’s absolutely something we should look at,” Mr Falinski told Sky News Australia. “On a broader subject … eminent scholars … are linking the use of social media by teens and pre-teens to the decline in mental health. “We’ve really got to empower parents somehow through legislation to give them more power over use of social media by children. “I’m saying this because the research on this is incredibly compelling around mental health problems that teens are suffering right now.”

Following Meta’s decision to stop paying for Australian news content on Facebook, in a defiant move against Australian government legislation, the Sky News investigations team examines the unprecedented market power and influence of the global tech behemoth and its societal impacts. 'Tech Tyrants: Facebook’s War on Australia' unpacks the fallout from Facebook’s decision, with Investigative Reporter Jonathan Lea speaking with the leaders of the nation’s biggest commercial media giants, Executive Chairman of News Corp Australia Michael Miller, and CEO of Nine Entertainment Mike Sneesby, on the threat to all news organisations and their ability to deliver trusted news to the audiences and communities they serve.

NSW and ACT households have been warned of potential power outages. It comes as Transgrid workers launch strike action. The 24-hour walkout is over a potential 24 per cent pay rise over the next three years. Reportedly, negotiations between the energy operator and unions have stalled. The Electrical Trans Union says Transgrid’s maintenance operations would be heavily disrupted by the strike.

US Analyst Michael Ware says the fatigue of war and destruction in Gaza may eventually lead to a two-state solution. People will be just tired of all this horror – they want a real end to it … a forever end,” Mr Ware told Sky News Australia. “Israel is now threatening its new relationships with all these Arab states that have recognised it or who are willing to recognise it. “It may not be in the Israeli people’s interests to deny the Palestinians. “The way the ball of history bounces, this actually may lead us toward a two-state solution.”

Another Melbourne Tobacconist goes up in flames, the NSW Premier demands equal GST distribution, the CSIRO takes a swipe at Peter Dutton's nuclear energy claims, Adelaide secures the December cricket test series, an Australian woman is killed in a Bali landslide, Donald Trump's motion for dismissal of case is dismissed, and a man is shot dead in a New York subway.  See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong spoke at a press conference on Friday announcing the Australian government is restoring funding to UNRWA to support civilians in Gaza. The government had paused its funding to UNRWA after Israel made allegations its staff were involved in the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas, resulting in the firing of several staff members and investigations into others. “Successive Australian governments have funded the United Nations Relief and Works Agency or UNRWA since 1951, this is because it does lifesaving work for communities in the occupied Palestinian territories,” Ms Wong said. “After taking office, the Albanese government doubled Australia’s annual funding to UNRWA to $20 million each year – we took a decision to pause $6 million of additional funding which was taken after serious allegations were made resulting in UNRWA’s dismissal of staff alleged to have been involved in the Hamas terrorist attacks of the 7th of October. “The best available current advice from agencies and the Australian government lawyers is that UNRWA is not a terrorist organisation and that existing in additional safeguards sufficiently protect Australian taxpayer funding. “After consideration by the National Security Committee this week, Australia is unpausing our contribution to UNRWA.”