Sky News host Caleb Bond says the clean energy and emissions reduction projects being built in Australia will be “hideously expensive”. Former competition tsar Rod Sims says embracing an ad hoc “Made in Australia” approach to net zero transition by 2050 could “destroy” Australia’s chances of becoming a clean energy superpower. “I wonder why that might be” Mr Bond said. “Probably because the stuff that we will make here in Australia will be hideously expensive and no-one will want to pay for it. “We will have spent all that time and money trying to build this stuff that ultimately won’t get used.”

The Australian’s Media Writer Sophie Elsworth says the ABC faces a problem in which they push agendas which are “always one way”. The ABC ombudsman has supported comments made by 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson in an interview with an Israel Defence Forces spokesman, where she rejected claims the killings of World Central Kitchen aid workers were a “mistake”. During the interview, Ferguson told IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner that she did not accept that seven aid worker deaths – including Australian Zomi Frankcom – were unintentional. The public broadcaster received 52 complaints about the 11-minute television interview with Ferguson that aired on the ABC’s flagship political program on April 8. “You never see them going on there and pushing conservative views,” Ms Elsworth told Sky News host Andrew Bolt. “Unfortunately for the ABC, they just can’t stop this because it’s so widespread here. “I don’t think they really want to do much about it.”

Casino operator The Star's former chief executive Robbie Cooke was the major witness giving evidence today at the Bell inquiry into The Star's suitability to hold a casino licence in New South Wales. Mr Cooke says he felt like he was "under attack" earlier this year, when The Star's special manager, Nicholas Weeks, arranged a private meeting with three law firms to discuss the casino's licence to operate. In response to discovering this private meeting was going ahead, Mr Cooke sought legal advice and exchanged text messages with the chairman David Foster, where they agreed to "prepare for war". It was also revealed a whistleblower complaint against Mr Cooke played a part in the board’s decision to oust him. Mr Cooke’s departure came amid worsening relations between The Star and the regulator, which sought to find whether the company was doing enough to reform its business practices which exposed it to criminal activities such as money laundering and fraud.

Nationals Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie says Treasurer Jim Chalmers needs to “reign in” on government spending. Ms McKenzie joined Sky News host Sharri Markson to discuss the latest on the inflation rate. “The average mortgage you’re having to pay another $24,000 a year just to make ends meet,” she said. “Food’s gone up ten per cent, electricity in excess of 16 per cent, and I could go on. “What Jim Chalmers needs to do in this next budget is actually reign in government spending so that Michele Bullock can actually do the right thing on interest rates.”

Sky News host Liz Storer says electric vehicle owners should “keep an eye” on their cars after one caught fire and exploded in a Sunshine Coast shed. The car caught fire and exploded on Tuesday night, and firefighters extinguished the fire but the car reignited early in the morning on Wednesday. “If you do buy one of these just make sure it doesn’t explode like one did very recently,” she said. “I believe it was just last night on the Sunshine Coast.” “So keep an eye on it when you just park it in your garage, maybe I don’t know, have a CCTV camera or an alarm that’s going to go off on your keychain if and when the thing does explode because that does happen and there’s no guaranteeing it won’t happen to your $250,000 Ford EV.”

Sky News host James Macpherson says “it is good to be the king” slamming Queensland Premier Steven Miles over his separate private jet flights to the same locations with the police minister. “We have got to talk about Queensland Premier Steven Miles, last week Steven Miles announced tough admission reduction targets,” Mr Macpherson said. “This week, Steven Miles and his police commissioner caught separate private jets to the same function. “It is good to be the king. “It is also good to spare no expense when you are the people’s representative.”

The Australian Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan says there is a “huge problem” with the radicalisation of “teenage young men from a Muslim background”. “Our official education system tells them that the country is rubbish, it’s colonialist, it’s racist, it’s heteronormative, it’s sexist, all the rest of it and we’re surprised when they don’t believe in the place,” Mr Sheridan said. “This is a huge challenge for the national security agencies. “We’re a long way from working out how we deal with social media in this, and we’re a long way from having the kind of ethos and national morale that would attract people to our national story.” Mr Sheridan sat down with Sky News host Peta Credlin to discuss national security in Australia.

Sky News host James Morrow says the Albanese government is throwing “all sorts of money” at “white elephant projects”. “We know there is already going to be all sorts of money thrown at what frankly I think are, really, white elephant projects here in terms of this Made in Australia project,” said. “If these were going to be profitable industries, these investors would be investing in them already. “What else is Chalmers going to throw at the economy? “The way we get interest rates down … is to cut spending, show restraint, and cut back on the regulations holding the economy back.”

Sky News host James Morrow says the interest rates are remaining “sticky” as Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ is set to reveal the next federal budget. “This is the thing, we have seen rates … remain what the economists call sticky,” Mr Morrow said. “They had thought a lot of this was just pandemic related and supply chain related. “But the thing is once you get wage inflation in, it is very hard to get rid of that in the economy. “The big challenge of course is what is going to happen in the budget.”

Sky News host Chris Kenny says One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson has been busy today feeding the homeless population in Queensland. “She has been cooking up fish and chips today, Pauline, helping the homeless people,” Mr Kenny said. “From the pictures we ran today they looked pretty bloody good, too.” One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is serving free food to homeless people in Queensland from her new mobile van as part of a bid to shine a light on Australia’s housing crisis. Mr Kenny is joined by One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson to discuss her fight against homelessness.

Woodside Chairman Richard Goyder has survived a protest vote against his re-election at Wednesday’s annual general meeting in Perth. The long-serving executive has been under fire in the weeks leading up to today’s event, with several large investors. These included Australia’s second largest superannuation fund Aware Super who withdrew their support for him. Sky News Perth reporter Crystal Wu says “this re-election would likely be Mr Goyder’s last ten-years in this role by 2027. Ms Wu said, “today he secured a lot of support from the shareholders – 83 per cent of shareholders voted for him.”

Director-General of Security Mike Burgess says it takes “considerably more resources” to take on online threats. The head of ASIO is asking the big social media platforms to help keep Australians safe online. “Technology is not above the rule of law," Mr Burgess said. “Right now, we are as busy as we have ever been in our 75 years of history. “We need their help, I think it is a reasonable ask; I’m looking forward to that conversation."

Sky News host Liz Storer has praised X owner Elon Musk for using his platform to “drop bombs” on Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Ms Storer’s remarks come as the X owner challenges the Australian government’s takedown order of graphic footage. Elon Musk wrote on X, ‘Our concern is that if ANY country is allowed to censor content for ALL countries, which is what the Australian “eSafety Commisar” is demanding, then what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet?’. “How good is this platform when you’ve got the author and finisher, Elon Musk himself, literally dropping bombs on the Australian Prime Minister,” Ms Storer said. “He’s saying, you really want to allow a government to dictate?”

North Richmond resident Christine Maynard has unleashed on the Victorian government over a local injecting room and the “ghetto” effect it has caused. “This government refuses to listen to the people who live through this,” she told Sky News Australia. “We were told by Dan Andrews that he would never put an injecting room in Victoria. “Look what we have on our doorstep. “He then turned around and said that he would never allow ice in there and we see ice addicts like zombies all the time in our community.”

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess says encryption protects terrorists, spies, saboteurs and "abhorrent criminals”. This comes amid the expansion of end-to-end encryption by tech companies in recent years and their plan to continue this in the future. Mr Burgess also acknowledged encryption as a “good thing” that “protects privacy”. “I am not calling for an end-to-end encryption ... I’m asking for the tech companies to do more," he added. “The gap In ASIO's ability to lawfully intercept the use of encrypted communications by terrorists and spies is such a concern, particularly in the current security environment. “I’m calling on big tech to establish lawful access solutions that can be applied in very tightly controlled and targeted situations.”

Independent economist Chris Richardson explains how the slight decrease in inflation will affect Australians. The March quarter inflation rate fell less than expected to an annual rate of 3.6 per cent. “They weren’t pretty – they were higher than expected,” Mr Richardson told Sky News Australia. “The IMF regularly says governments should help their central banks fight inflation and to do that, they need some combination of winding back spending or increasing taxes. “I’m hopeful, very hopeful, that we don’t raise interest rates anymore, but I would not be hopeful that we are cutting interest rates in Australia anytime soon."

President Javier Milei has proudly announced in a televised address Argentina's first quarterly fiscal surplus since 2008. The surplus, exceeding 275 billion pesos in March, marks a significant achievement for the libertarian leader's "shock therapy" approach in battling the country's triple digit inflation. The surplus represents 0.2 per cent of the nation's GDP for the quarter. "We're going to give everything to pull this country out of the hell we inherited," Milei said during an address on Monday. Milei warned of the tough economic challenges ahead for the Argentine people. "To us, inflation is a robbery and the fiscal deficit is the cause of inflation. Therefore, the zero deficit is not only a marketing slogan to this government but an order," he said. "Therefore, don’t expect any public spending." He also praised their resilience as the government aims to achieve a zero deficit. "There isn’t any other alternative than surrendering to the feet of a people who decided to abandon slavery and take a long way through the desert to the promised land."

Former Brexit leader and GB News host Nigel Farage says Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial “isn’t a crime” but an “accounting misdemeanour”. Donald Trump is accused of falsifying business records to conceal a payment to keep an affair secret. Mr Trump denies the allegations and rejected claims of wrongdoing in other cases against him. “The opening arguments are that a couple of women were paid off using Trump organisation money, to which I have to say so what,” Mr Farage told Sky News host Paul Murray. “That isn’t a crime; it’s an accounting misdemeanour. “Why is this in court?”

Sky News Political Contributor Chris Uhlmann praised Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to “reaffirm Australia’s deep, deep friendship with Papua New Guinea”. These comments come as Mr Albanese walks the Kokoda Track with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape. Mr Uhlmann told Sky News Australia the importance of “remembering those Australians and Papua New Guineans who fought,” he added. “There are certain parts of our history which are really important to give credit to.” Mr Uhlmann also stressed the timing of the visit “when we’re seeing China on the rise in that neck of the woods”.

Sky News Business Reporter Ed Boyd says the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to keep rates on hold for the “foreseeable future" following the latest inflation figures. Mr Boyd’s remarks come as the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Wednesday that the annual inflation rate dropped to 3.6 per cent in March. “The Reserve Bank needs to get inflation down to its target band of two per cent to three per cent, and right now, with inflation in the March quarter at 3.6 per cent – it’s a bit higher than they would like,” Mr Boyd said. “They are obviously going to need to keep interest rates elevated for a longer period of time. “So inflation today is a little bit more than expected, which basically means the cash rates at 4.35 per cent. “Expect the RBA to keep interest rates on hold for the foreseeable future.”