The latest release of previously secret Cabinet papers, from 2005, show that John Howard and his government were perfectly aware of the dangers presented to Australia by the emerging climate crisis, but chose to bury their heads in the sand.

Parliament in Canberra is in the midst of another interminable break, but it's been a big week in politics, with the departures from public life of Dan Andrews and Mike Pezzullo, Warren Mundine and Noel Pearson crossing swords at the National Press Club, and the tabling of the epic Disability Royal Commission Report.

We live in times when exposing crimes has become the crime, and the illegal activities of elected politicians and unelected bureaucrats go largely without punishment.

As Bernard Collaery’s friends and supporters celebrate the dropping of the prosecution against him, it is still relevant to ask, why were Witness K and his lawyer Collaery put on trial in the first place?

It’s always good to see Alexander Downer back in the news. He gave us endless amusement as leader of the Liberal Party, in which he effortlessly surpassed Billy McMahon as the worst in living memory.