Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is seeking legal advice after Independent MP Zali Steggall called him a “racist” in Parliament last week. This was in response to his call for a blanket ban on Gazan refugees. However, Labor suggests the Liberal leader’s controversial call was made without thinking it through.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris has arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a day before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Ms Harris was greeted by her running mate Tim Walz before meeting supporters at the airport hanger. The pair boarded the newly unveiled ‘Harris-Walz’ tour bus. The vehicle is travelling to Rochester, where the duo are expected to deliver remarks at a campaign event.

Sky News host Caroline Di Russo says the Sussexes “non-royal, royal tour” of Colombia looks “a bit rudderless”. “Today the Sussexes are finishing up their … non-royal, royal tour of Colombia,” Ms Di Russo said. “Which follows hot on the heels of their non-royal, royal tour to Nigeria … the Colombian tour, however, has looked less refined, more contrived and frankly a bit rudderless.”

Sky News host Caroline Di Russo discusses the auction of King Charles’ first bank note run where they raised more than £900,000 for charity. “Some of King Charles’ first bank notes have gone to auction, they have sold for an eye-watering price,” Ms Di Russo said. A charity auction sold the bank notes with the King’s face and low serial numbers which ended up raising more than £900,000.

Writer and Broadcaster Esther Krakue says anyone with an “ounce of sense” could see Prince Harry being questioned for the “sins of the British Empire” amid his tour of Colombia. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have continued their tour of Colombia but are facing pressure to apologise for the Royal Family’s role in the slave trade. “Anyone with an ounce of sense could have seen this coming from a mile away,” Ms Krakue told Sky News host Caroline Di Russo. “King Charles has many times … been asked to either apologise for slavery and for the sins of the British Empire or pay reparations. “Unfortunately, Prince Harry and Meghan have found themselves in a situation where they’re being used as pawns basically.”

Writer and Broadcaster Esther Krakue says Prince Harry’s criticism of Elon Musk shows he is out “of his depth”. Prince Harry has taken a veiled swipe at Elon Musk when discussing digital responsibility at a conference in Colombia. “This is another thing that clearly shows Prince Harry is out of his depth,” Ms Krakue told Sky News host Caroline Di Russo. “When you live in an echo chamber, it’s really easy to make these sorts of mistakes and really not see the wider implications. “He clearly has very little knowledge of previous riots in the UK.”

Sky News host Steve Price says energy advocates are calling out energy companies over charging households for sending electricity back to a grid at capacity. “A hidden tax … being wacked on households who have switched to solar,” Mr Price said. “Energy advocates say it is madness, they are accusing energy companies of trying to charge people for generating their own electricity.”

Sky News Senior Reporter Caroline Marcus discusses a senate hearing on AI where a Google representative was interrupted by Google’s chatbot in their opening statements. “A senate hearing into artificial intelligence has been interrupted by a chatbot,” she said. A Google executive Lucinda Longcroft was giving her opening statement when she was interrupted by Google’s AI, who she said was ‘stepping in to be responsible’.

Sky News Senior Reporter Caroline Marcus says Kamala Harris is “closing in” on Donald Trump in a number of swing states. “The Democratic National Convention will be taking place this week where Kamala Harris will formerly accept the party’s nomination,” she said. “The most recent poll for the New York Times shows Harris is closing in on Donald Trump in a number of swing states.”

Broadcaster Lucy Zelic says it is “intellectually lazy” to brand Opposition Leader Peter Dutton as racist for his comments on Gazan refugees. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was accused of being racist by Independent MP Zali Steggall after calling for an end to Gazan refugee arrivals. “Zali Steggall is being incredibly intellectually lazy,” Ms Zelic said. “To just start getting out this wand now and brandishing everybody a racist. “I’m so sick of going down that path. “Let’s have a debate about it, but stop resorting everyone to labelling everybody constantly.”

Sky News contributor Sam Crosby slams energy companies over their “outrageous” ‘sun tax’ costing those with solar panels money for sending energy back to the grid when it is overloaded. “This is so genuinely outrageous … it just makes my blood boil,” Mr Crosby said. “All these people have done the right thing … signed up, they have put solar panels on their roof thinking they were going to get a feed-in tariff … then they get told, in some cases many years later, oh no, actually you are going to have to pay us to do this.”

Sky News contributor Evelyn Rae weighs in on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton calling for an end to Gazan refugee arrivals in Australia, questioning why “Arab nations” are not taking them. “We don’t have the capability to investigate thoroughly or properly whether these particular people coming into our country pose a threat to our own children and our own nation,” Ms Rae said. “The biggest question here is why are the Arab nations not taking them. “Are they a threat? Are they deemed to be a problem?”

Energy giant AGL has stepped up its transition away from coal and gas as it struck a deal to buy an Australian big battery and solar farm developer. The energy provider revealed it has 800 MW of new grid-scale batteries in operation, in testing or under construction. AGL on Wednesday reported its better-than-expected annual profit to $711 million.

Although US President Joe Biden has claimed a Gaza ceasefire is now closer than ever, former Lebanon ambassador Ian Parmeter claims that Israel and Hamas are not as “optimistic”. “The bigger issue it seems to be at this stage both Israel and Hamas are not nearly as optimistic about the outcome of these talks as President Biden has been,” Mr Parmeter told Sky News Australia. “The other factor is that the Biden administration putting pressure on all parties has to be very careful not to take action which could actually put the very delicate talks at risk before they resume in Cairo this coming week. “There have been several Israeli strikes in Gaza, but also in the West Bank and also in Lebanon which certainly won’t do much to heighten the atmosphere for the talks.”

Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood joins Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn to discuss the banks’ profits for the 2023-24 financial year. Australia’s biggest bank reported a two per cent fall in cash profit down to $9.8 billion. The bank released its 2023-24 financial year results on Wednesday, flagging that higher cost of living is increasing home loan arrears.

The rise of x-ray-guided operations has raised concerns for health professionals who are now being exposed to more radiation at work. The game-changing procedures have reduced the need for serious surgeries, improving health outcomes for many Australians with heart problems and other diseases. “There are multiple steps that the hospitals take to reduce the exposure, however, a certain degree of exposure is inevitable,” said Interventional and Instructional Cardiologist Dr Samer Noaman.

The extension of Sydney’s metro will open on Monday morning. Sydney Metro’s extension is Australia’s biggest public transport project. The new line will run between Sydenham and Chatswood.

Sky News host Rita Panahi has slammed “very high-profile athletes” who came out “defending” Rachael Gunn’s “shambolic” break dancing performance at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. “A lot of bureaucracy has embarrassed itself in the past week,” Ms Panahi said. “We’ve had multiple very high-profile athletes … coming out and defending this absolutely shambolic breakdancer Raygun. “If they weren’t so in that bubble they would recognise what has happened and recognise defending that, trying to bully Australians into remaining silent and not laughing at that, they would see how absurd that is, but they didn’t.”

Sky News host Rita Panahi has called out mainstream media’s “thermonuclear levels” of gaslighting and deliberate disinformation ahead of the US presidential election in November. “When Donald Trump called the media the enemy of the people I never imagined the bulk of the mainstream media would work tirelessly to live up to that tag," Ms Panahi said. “But here we are, and from the fine people hoax to the Russian collusion hoax to the Kamala is a great and visionary leader delusion, the gaslighting and deliberate disinfo has been turned up to thermonuclear levels. “

Sky News host Rowan Dean says billionaire Gina Rinehart made some “interesting comments” after the Olympics. “Talking about the funding and basically saying … with too much funding is going into bureaucracies … rather than the athletes themselves,” Mr Dean said. “She’s basically responsible for the success of our Olympic athletes.”