Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese allowing councils to cancel Australia Day citizenship ceremonies is a “spineless way” of making councils do “all the dirty work” for him. More than 80 local councils across Australia have cancelled the traditional Australia Day citizenship ceremonies out of respect for Indigenous Australians. The Opposition has accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of “laying the groundwork” for Australia Day’s abolition. “The Prime Minister made a decision over a year ago to allow councils to do this, and he knew exactly what he was doing when he did it,” Mr Tehan told Sky News Australia. “It was a spineless way of making councils do all the dirty work, do all the groundwork for him in either moving or abolishing Australia Day. “At the time, when he made this decision, we warned that this is exactly what would happen.”

Bondi Partners Senior Advisor Peter McGauran says the “gloss has come off” the Albanese government after several “colossal blunders” by his ministers in 2023. Newspoll says Labor was leading the two-party preferred 56-44 in April before it fell to 50-50 in November, but it recovered slightly earlier this month, with Labor ahead at 52 to the Coalition’s 48. Similarly, Newspoll has the Albanese government’s primary vote falling from 38 per cent at the end of June falling to 33 per cent in December. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s leader net satisfaction has fallen from 33 last December to minus eight this month. “The gloss has come off it politically, there’s no doubt about it,” Mr McGauran told Sky News Australia. “It was in a stellar, impregnable position at the start of 2023; it’s finishing 2023 level-pegging with the Dutton Opposition, marginally ahead, [but] would probably form government if an election was held today. “A lot of that is because cost of living has dented their political fortunes – Albanese was not seen to be empathetic enough or doing enough – he was too distracted by the Voice referendum. “Then there were some colossal blunders by ministers that just dragged on unnecessarily: the decision not to give Qatar extra flights; the release into the community of 120 potentially dangerous detainees – all of those issues weren’t politically managed by Albanese.”

Four koala ‘super joeys’ have been born in South Australia’s Cleland Wildlife Park and are being hailed as a potential saviour for the species. They were bred from a colony of Kangaroo Island female koalas, which survived the Black Summer bushfires, as well as four Strzelecki Ranges males in Victoria. The program, run by not-for-profit Koala Life and the South Australian government, aims to produce genetically diverse koalas free from disease to support their conservation, particularly in the eastern states. Koalas are officially endangered in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. They face major threats from disease, drought, bushfires, and habitat destruction.

The New York Times suing OpenAI and Microsoft over copyright infringement is an “incredibly complex problem”, says Sydney University Digital Innovation Lecturer and AI expert Dr Mike Seymour. The New York Times has recently sued OpenAI and Microsoft over the use of its content to train generative artificial intelligence and large language model systems, in a move that could see the company receive billions of dollars in damages. “It’s pretty significant, though it’s an incredibly complex problem because it kind of really hits at the heart of what we think these things are versus what they actually are in terms of both perception and use,” Dr Seymour told Sky News Australia. “There’s this whole notion that when you’re using a search engine, it’s sort of throwing up facts. “The thing about these generative AI programs like ChatGPT is that they’re not actually meant to be throwing up facts, they’re meant to be – in terms of the way that they’re built – just producing a plausible result.”

Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley showed “weakness” this week, and she needs to “retool her talking points” to understand she is now facing all 50 states, says University of California Professor of Political Science Louis Desipio. According to a Fox Business poll of Iowa GOP caucus-goers, Mr Trump is polling at 52 per cent, Ron DeSantis at 18 per cent, Nikki Haley at 16 per cent, Vivek Ramaswamy is at seven per cent and Chris Christie is at three per cent. “I think … we’ll see a little starburst; I think she’ll do better than expected in Iowa – that doesn’t mean she’ll win by any means – and she could come very close or even win in New Hampshire,” Mr Desipio told Sky News Australia. “Even if she does well or better than expected, at least initially, my suspicion is that former president Trump has more support in the Republican electorate and certainly a better campaign infrastructure in all of those states that come after the first couple. “I think she showed her weakness this week in that she reacted to a question as she would have as running for governor of South Carolina … instead of as a candidate for president. “She needs to retool her talking points to understand that the electorate she’s facing now is all 50 states and not just a southern state.”

A US Space Force aircraft has taken off from Florida on a secret mission which could last years. The reusable plane is carrying classified experiments on board. The vessel was delivered into orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon rocket. The launch was delayed by more than two weeks following technical issues and poor weather. The nine-metre-long craft is unmanned and will conduct a number of experiments including how the conditions of space affect plant seeds.

Red Cross National Spokesperson Cath Stone says 1,200 blood donations are needed across Australia each day to prevent a shortage in Australia. Australian Red Cross Lifeblood has issued its final call for the festive season, asking people to make a life-changing blood donation as the year draws to a close. “1,200 donors are needed each day across the country, particularly to take us through to the 2nd of January,” Ms Stone told Sky News Australia. “We’ve got a few spaces at the moment, so that’s what we’re asking for. “Our regular donors go on holiday during this time of year and every day … we ship out 9,000 units across hospitals for patient need.”

China has named former navy commander Dong Jun as its new defence minister. The appointment was made two months after his predecessor, Li Shangfu was officially dismissed. Mr Li has not been seen in public since August. State media agency Xinhua says nine other senior military officials have been dismissed this week. Some analysts suggest the changes have been made after Chinese and US leadership agreed to resume military dialogue in November.

Mobile speed cameras will be out of action across Victoria for 48 hours as the workers who operate them walk off the job. The workers are striking over a pay dispute – there has been industrial action over the past week. Workers were offered a $1.70 pay increase, but they have rejected the offer. Unions say they feel they have no other option but to continue striking and, as a result, mobile speed camera operators will be walking off the job on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. It comes as the state government is pleading with motorists to take extra care while driving.

Menzies Research Centre Senior Fellow Nick Cater says China, Russia and Iran are part of an “axis of evil” putting global security “at stake” as Iranian-backed Houthi rebels ramp up their attacks in the Red Sea. The US has sanctioned an Iranian-based financier and two companies accused of funneling money to the Houthi terrorists. The Houthis flaunted their air power in an undated video which surfaced after the US announced a ten-nation task force to counter the Yemeni rebels’ continuous attacks in the Red Sea. “They’re very well equipped, of course, and assisted vastly by Iran and indirectly from China and Russia too," he told Sky News host James Macpherson. “This is the axis of evil and for Richard Marles to say that this is not our business, he said that we can’t send a warship because we need warships to deal with problems in our region – wait a minute, there is a global issue here of security at stake. “We expect and we get help from British and the French who send warships to the South China Sea to help patrol the South China Sea and just show China that there’s a united front; we have to do the same in that neck of the woods.”

Security concerns are heightened ahead of the iconic New Year's Eve ball drop in New York City's Times Square. As Israel expands its ground offensive in Gaza, ten security agencies, including the FBI, say this has created a heightened threat environment. The security package is not just crowd control and traffic, but what the NYPD calls the Counter Terrorism Overlay, which includes a network of cameras, NYPD counter-sniper teams in skyscrapers above, bomb-detection canines, radiation detectors worn by police on the street, and an especially equipped NYPD helicopter from above. Police are also focused on potential demonstrations relating to the Israel-Hamas conflict. This comes after protests occurred in New York over the conflict, where some attendees announced their intent to disrupt the lighting of the Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree.

Strategic Analysis Australia Director Michael Shoebridge says Hamas is a “murderous, brutal terrorist outfit” which has “fairly strong support” among a large number of Palestinian people. Released Israeli hostage Mia Schem has given an interview describing her 54 days of being held captive in Gaza. The 21-year-old was snatched by Hamas terrorists from the Supernova music festival on October 7. She describes being attacked and molested, kidnapped back to Gaza, threatened and held hostage by a civilian family before she was released last month as part of a ceasefire deal. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that Hamas has fairly strong support with a large group of the Palestinian population in Gaza,” Mr Shoebridge told Sky News Australia host James Macpherson. “Some of them will have been pushed to be closer supporters of Hamas because of the war, but, really, to think that Hamas are anything but a murderous, brutal terrorist outfit when you hear stories … around the rapes and horrible brutalization of women that Hamas committed on the 7th of October. “The reality of this war and the horror that the Israelis are facing really needs to be weighed in the scales much more than we hear about it in Australia where it’s like helpless Palestinians who are innocents in this, well some of these Palestinians are Hamas terrorists and some of them are enabling the Hamas terrorists.”

Up to 81 councils have cancelled the traditional Australia Day citizenship ceremonies out of respect for Indigenous people. Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan is accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of using councils to lay the ground for Australia Day’s abolition. Former prime minister Scott Morrison introduced a bill which forced councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day, but Anthony Albanese abolished it when he took office. The Prime Minister has said he has no plans to abolish Australia Day. However, he also said he would leave the decision about citizenship ceremonies to individual councils.

Budget airline Bonza has once again delayed the start of its Darwin-Gold Coast flights. This comes just four days before the flights were meant to commence. Flights from the top end capital are now scheduled to commence on March 19. The airline was lured to the Northern Territory with support from its $10 million aviation attraction scheme – but it has already cancelled the start of service twice. Northern Territory Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro called the scheme a disaster and a waste of taxpayer money.

Queenslanders recovering from the devastating Christmas storms are being warned to prepare for more wild weather as severe thunderstorms and hail are forecast to arrive later today. The Bureau of Meteorology says 800 kilometres stretching from northern New South Wales to Rockhampton and as far inland as Roma are within the danger area. It comes after large parts of Queensland sweltered through their hottest December day in four years yesterday. Temperatures in Brisbane reached 38 degrees – while Birdsville, near the border with South Australia, recorded the state's highest temperature of 46 degrees. The extreme heat helped form the severe storms, which are expected to bring winds over 90 kilometres an hour and hail over two centimetres to southeast Queensland.

Weather warnings too late for residents, 2023 highlights from the Royal Family, U.S. sanction money flows to Houthis. Plus, Labor elites out of touch with ordinary Australians. See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

For the final show of 2023, Caroline Di Russo looks back at some of the royal highlights and lowlights. Plus, Dominic West’s fallout with Prince Harry, and young royal cousins hold hands at during annual Christmas walkabout at Sandringham. See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

Ukrainian cities have been hit by a relentless 18-hour Russian air assault – which authorities say is the largest single attack of the war. At least 31 people have been killed by more than 120 missiles – at least one of which entered the airspace of neighbouring Poland. The attack was designed to overpower Ukraine’s air defence system, and was immense and indiscriminate. Russia’s aerial assault may signal the beginning of a major winter offensive. Russian troops have now seized territory in key locations on the eastern front, while the Ukrainians remain under increasing pressure on the battlefield and in the air.

Troubling details emerge of two Australian brothers killed in Lebanon as Labor remains tight-lipped on their links to Hezbollah. Plus, an update on the developing weather emergency in south-east Queensland. See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

Samantha Markle’s lawyers are looking for a “deposition” in the ongoing defamation case which could see Meghan Markle quizzed under oath, Writer and Broadcaster Esther Krakue says. “Apparently Samantha Markle’s lawyers are looking to have a deposition with the Sussexes in the ongoing lawsuit,” Ms Krakue told Sky News host Caroline Di Russo. Ms Krakue said Samantha Markle, sister of Meghan, is arguing defamation over an Oprah interview which painted Meghan as not “having a sister growing up”. “It doesn’t look like this case is going to get thrown out of court by a judge like the Sussexes would hope. “I’m not sure the strength of the case – we’ll have to wait and see.”