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.

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.”