Senate Estimates descended into 'Yes Minister' territory last week when the vexed subject of AUKUS came up, following the revelation from deputy PM and defence minister Richard Marles that Australia's best case scenario was now that we would receive three second-hand submarines from the USA during the transition stage of this very expensive project, possibly between 2032 and 2038.

Anthony Albanese's government has no functional opposition, but an Australian socialist utopia seems as remote as ever. Would Ben Chifley recognise Labor in the 21st century? What happened to the 'betterment of mankind'? The party which once existed to serve the interests of the working class now seems utterly beholden to the military industrial complex, big miners and the gambling industry.

In the same week that Donald Trump and his pet Republicans went to war against their own poor huddled masses with the passing of his Orwellian Big Beautiful Bill, Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong ventured to Washington to meet the man Trump once called Little Marco.

David Shoebridge, the Greens' defence spokesperson, has criticised the $375 billion investment in nuclear submarines under AUKUS, suggesting a new Australian defence path and advocating for free dental as part of Medicare, along with measures to address the climate crisis.

The Australian Greens are calling for the $73 billion AUKUS nuclear submarine deal with the UK and the US to be scrapped in favour of ‘building constructive relationships with our regional neighbours’, while spending the money on Australians’ needs instead.

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker and Mullumbimby’s own, David Bradbury, is showing his latest film The Road to War, an excoriating examination of the AUKUS defence agreement, at the Uniting Church at 6pm on Friday, August 30.

In a matter of weeks, everything has changed in the endless struggle for political control of the United States. After cruising towards victory for months, despite all the crazy things he's said and done, Donald Trump is now flailing, and Kamala Harris has transformed from being an underwhelming VP to the most exciting candidate for president since Barack Obama.

With the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States now a convicted felon, what does it mean for Australia if Donald Trump returns to the White House, and what are the ramifications of our major military ally drifting into authoritarianism?

The euphemisms were flying when Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles announced last week that an extra $50 billion would be spent on our military over the next decade, and that $72.8 billion of already announced spending would be redirected.

In what's been a busy week in Australian federal politics, ScoMo finally announced he would be leaving the parliamentary building, just as Albo undid one of his predecessor's signature policies (or land mines) by reworking the Stage 3 tax cuts, creating hysteria among Liberals and the mainstream media, and some relief for those Australians earning less than $200,000 a year.