Sky News host Paul Murray says Australia is in an “absurd situation” in which every state in the country has a problem with ambulance ramping. “Queensland, in particular, is really bad and the same government has been there for the best part of 30 years,” Mr Murray said. “Every time this story comes up, you hear the same garbage from people who’ve been promising for years to fix a problem that has happened on their watch and gets worse.” An elderly man’s death is the third linked to Queensland’s stressed ambulance and health system in less than a month. Mr Murray says this issue alone is enough reason to vote out the state Labor government and “scrub them from history”.

Sky News host Danica De Giorgio says it is very clear Anthony Albanese is “starting to feel the pressure” after his backflip on stage three tax cuts. Anthony Albanese continues to face the heat for breaking his election promise and changing the stage three tax cuts. “He’s lost all credibility – no matter what he comes out and says now, people are going to question whether or not he’s actually telling them the truth,” Ms De Giorgio told Sky News host Sharri Markson. “Labor is imploding, and Anthony Albanese is extremely worried by this. “In the end – he is the leader – he is the face of the Labor Party, so when something goes wrong, the blame is going to be on him, he has to wear it.”

Former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce has labelled people who radically seek green energy as a “cult that sits behind the so-called energy plan”. “80 per cent renewables by 2030? It is mad – it is like training your horse to eat rocks,” Mr Joyce told Sky News Australia host Andrew Bolt. “You just about got it broken in and it dies of starvation. “It just doesn’t work – physics wins every time. “You can’t keep turning off your power plants and think you are going to have power – you should always make sure your replacement is up and running first. “If you want zero emissions, there is only one way to go and that is nuclear.”

Stepmates Studios’ Mark Nicholson says the “wheels are off the wagon” for the Labor government in the new year so far. “It’s delightful to watch ... there is something sick inside me that’s just enjoying this now,” Mr Nicholson told Sky News host Chris Kenny. This comes as Anthony Albanese faces the heat for breaking an election promise and changing the stage three tax cuts. “This is exactly what we want from a Labor government – it’s just like Rudd and Gillard, the knives are out. “It’s horrible for the nation but it’s so good for entertainment.”

The ASX 200's record high on Thursday “didn’t last very long”, says Sky News Business Reporter Edward Boyd. “Market opened lower this morning, really falling from that record high it set yesterday,” Mr Boyd said. “All sectors were in the red, with tech stocks the worst of the bunch. “The selloff was really triggered by Wall Street, which closed lower overnight after the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell ruled out cutting interest rates in March. “ASX finished the day down 1.2 per cent.”

Former NSW treasurer Michael Egan has died aged 75, Daniel Keneally avoids jail sentence, the government boosts public school funding by $3 billion, AIS advises tougher concussion protocols for community sports, the ADF assesses its counter-drone options, the US Federal Reserve hold cash rate at 5.25-5.5 per cent. See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

Economist Leith Van Onselen says Australia has been in recession per capita “for three consecutive quarters” due to “extreme population growth”. “In the year to September, last year, which is the national accounts data is the latest data we have got, The Australian economy actually went backwards 0.3 per cent in per capita terms,” he told Sky News Australia host Chris Kenny. “The overall economy grew by 2.1 per cent basically because of extreme population growth. “It didn’t grow fast enough to keep up with the population which grew by 2.4 per cent. “Real per capita household’s disposable incomes actually fell by 6 per cent in the year to September … it is a very weak economy now.”

Block, the owner of the ‘buy now pay later’ business Afterpay, is set to sack more than 1,000 staff members in an effort to rein in costs. Some of these job losses are expected to hit Australia. Block paid $39 billion for Afterpay a little over 18 months ago. The redundancies follow a sharp reduction in sales using ‘buy now pay later’ – with questions raised about its use and efficiency in global markets. Payment Services Managing Director Brad Kelly sat down with Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood to discuss the company’s sudden decline.

Half of all Australian adults are expected to try their luck at Thursday’s record $200 million Powerball jackpot. Ord Minnett Senior Private Wealth Advisor David Lane sat down with Sky News Australia to discuss what the logical and safest thing would be to do with the potential winnings. “Some of the best advice is to not rush and do anything,” Mr Lane said. “Don’t be rash with your decisions. “The best advice for that one winner of the $200 million would be to certainly seek financial advice from a financial advisor, think long term, and think about diversifying.”

Republican strategist Colin Reed says it would be a “mistake” to completely write off Nikki Haley as the Republican nominee. “The polls show her down right now but they're a couple of things going in her favour,” he told Sky News Australia. “Number one nobody has ever faced Donald Trump one-on-one in a Republican primary. “Now it’s just one-on-one and that an entirely different ball game because anybody out there who wants somebody other than Donald Trump, they’ve got one home to go to and that’s Nikki Haley. “The second is there is still three weeks to go, three weeks in politics is dog years … so anything can happen. “If everything was a foregone conclusion why bother to have the election, stranger things have happened, she’s a talented candidate. “It would be a mistake to completely write her off.”

Recent polling from Bloomberg and Morning Consult shows Donald Trump is retaining a healthy lead over Joe Biden in seven swing states. The survey polled residents in seven key states: North Carolina Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The poll showed Donald Trump holding his strongest lead over Biden in North Carolina by 13 per cent points followed by 12 per cent points in Nevada. Republican strategist Colin Reed has discussed the latest polling with Sky News Australia. “These numbers were pretty eye-opening because these are states that many of which President Biden carried four years ago and when he did it was by the narrowest of margins,” he told Sky News Australia. “So it's got to be something the White House and their allies are concerned about because the election is drawing near.”

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Khan have been sentenced to 14 years in jail for the illegal selling of state gifts. The verdict was handed down in an Islamabad court, which includes a ten-year disqualification from holding public office. It is a week before the country heads to the polls for the national elections. On Tuesday, the former Pakistan leader received a ten-year jail term for selling state secrets. Mr Khan's team are denying any guilt and says they will be appealing the decision.

There has been an update on the live sheep export vessel which was en-route to the Middle East before it had to return to Western Australia. The federal government ordered the ship to divert last week after the Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea. The Department of Agriculture released a statement on Thursday responding to reports that some of the animals had to be offloaded because of a range of health reasons. They’ve said no animals have so far been offloaded and there are no reports of health and welfare concerns. WA Farmers President John Hassell says the federal Department of Agriculture has made a “major failing” of the situation. “They’ve known for nine days what could have gone on, they haven’t been able to categorically say, ‘this is our preferred course of action’ until yesterday, and I think they finally done that,” he told Sky News Australia. “But the vessel’s been sitting around for four days in the process – I think that’s pretty disappointing.”

Political commentator Ben Shapiro has defended Elon Musk as “definitely not an anti-Semite”, although described the tech billionaire as “Trumpian” in the way he uses X. Mr Musk faced criticism after he endorsed a post saying Jewish communities have been pushing "dialectical hatred against whites" – although has since apologised and visited the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp. “For people who are sort of jumping on various Twitter comments to suggest that he is (anti-Semitic), I would suggest that you look at the full corpus of everything that he’s had to say on anti-Semitism, on Israel, on what’s going on in the world post-October-7, it’s very hard to come to that conclusion," Mr Shapiro told Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan. “And one of the things that I’ve said about Elon is that … he can be Trumpian in the way that he uses Twitter. “That he sort of puts out whatever he’s thinking in the moment, unedited – that’s one of the benefits, it’s one of the drawbacks – very often he will then come back and sort of fill out exactly what it is that he meant to say. “Which is what happened in the case of that particular tweet.”

Independent MP Dai Le has raised concerns for those dealing with “mortgage stress” and energy bills. Ms Le’s comments come as the Albanese government announced changes to the stage three tax cuts. “There are people kind of dealing with that whole energy bills that are coming up – including mortgage stress as well,” she said. “The cost of energy has gone up, rent has gone up, grocery the price has gone up. “How, with the announcement of this proposed stage three tax cuts – how will that alleviate those factors?”

Independent MP Dai Le says hearing the news the government has come up with proposed changes to the stage three tax cuts is “welcoming”. Ms Le’s comments come after the Albanese government announced changes to the stage three tax cuts which will take effect in July. “We don’t know the details yet in terms of how that will really assist those that are struggling at the moment with high energy bills, high rent,” Ms Le told Sky News Australia. The Independent MP says it is “good” to be discussing it. “We must not lose sight of the increase in energy prices as well.”

Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek says the tax cuts are “better targeted to people” on middle or low incomes. “That would otherwise miss out,” Ms Plibersek said. The Environment and Water Minister says the Albanese government is making sure that “more than ten million Australians get more of their home pay in their pockets with a tax cut”. She says the government has a “very full tax agenda”. “We’re not just doing the cuts to personal income tax.”

Independent analyst Evan Lucas says the Reserve Bank raising rates further looks “quite ridiculous” because inflation is falling at the “fastest rate” since the end of COVID. The Reserve Bank of Australia will meet next week for their first meeting of 2024 to decide on the official cash rate, which currently sits at 4.35 per cent. “There is every sign now that raising further from the IMF said last week looks quite ridiculous,” Mr Lucas told Sky News Australia. “You’ve got retail sales falling 2.5 per cent … inflation is falling at the fastest rate since the end of COVID. “So all of those things would mean, yes, we are locked in, and even with the stage three tax cuts and the debate around it, the gradual impact of them will be marginal.”

The US Federal Reserve has left its official cash rate on hold for the fourth straight meeting. The country’s central bank decided to keep rates at its 22-year high between 5.25 and 5.5 per cent. There was speculation they may cut rates after an easing of inflation to 3.4 per cent. However, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says it would be premature before inflation drops to its two per cent target range. Powell said he wanted to see “more good data” before rates were cut.

Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan discusses Taylor Swift with Ben Shapiro, asking the conservative commentator if he is a “secret Swiftie”. Ben Shapiro told Piers Morgan his “great hope” is a potential marriage between Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce could spark a “baby boom” among Swifties. “She gets married to Travis Kelce, they have lots of babies, and a bunch of young feminist women decide that actually marriage is not the worst idea, and they get married and have a bunch of babies,” Mr Shapiro said. Mr Shapiro maintained he is “definitely not a secret Swiftie” after Mr Morgan put the question to him. “I am a rap legend, so, frankly, that’s not even my bag, yo,” Shapiro replied.