Seven years since losing his seat in ignominious circumstances, Tony Abbott has returned from his long penance in the wilderness of Sky News and CPAC to become the latest president of what remains of the federal Liberal Party. He was elected unopposed after Alexander Downer withdrew.

At the time of publication, the final numbers from South Australia's state election aren't yet finalised, which hasn't stopped various people from claiming they've made history, and making sweeping predictions for the political future of the nation.

The federal opposition reached a new level of dysfunction last week, with the departure of wannabe-leader and vintage gas guzzler enthusiast Andrew Hastie from the shadow cabinet to the backbench, where he can join Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in creating as much trouble for Sussan Ley as they wish, without fear of censure.

Congratulations, Sussan Ley, who has become the first federal Liberal leader with two X chromosomes.

Sussan Ley has been elected as the leader of the Liberal Party – the first woman to have led the party since it was founded in 1944. 

In 1996 the American intellectual Noam Chomsky wrote, 'The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum.' Professor Chomsky has now lost the ability to speak, but his words continue to ring true.

The eyes of Australia turn this week to the electorate of Dunkley in Victoria, historically the site of the Frankston riot and just down the road from where Harold Holt disappeared. Now it's the location of an all important federal by-election.

Despite promises of reform when the Albanese Government was elected, Australia’s political donation laws remain unchanged, which is why it took until last week to find out who was donating in the last financial year, via the AEC's Transparency Register.

The Coalition has produced a policy! Don't get too excited – this policy is recycled, and not in a good way – in fact it's radioactive. Like Robert Menzies, John Howard and Tony Abbott before him, Peter Dutton wants to legalise nuclear electricity generation in Australia.

Trump Fatigue Syndrome (TFS) has been defined by American Professor, John Rennie Short, as ‘a depressing sense of watching the same drama over and over again.