Last week Australia had a glimpse of what life might be like under Prime Minister Pauline Hanson, via two speeches, one in Canberra and one in Townsville.

The latest federal leader of the Nationals, Matt Canavan, appeared at the National Press Club last week, but anyone hoping for some substance behind the spin left disappointed.

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.

The first appearance of a federal opposition leader at the National Press Club in three years saw Sussan Ley showing her personal side and eating humble pie, as she tries to find a way to bring a fractured and bruised Coalition back from electoral disaster.

Beyond his growing Melbourne base, Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt has never inspired the same passion as the sainted Bob Brown, but his appearance at the National Press Club last week showed that unlike many modern politicians, he hasn't given up on the vision thing.

Last week, Simon Holmes à Court and Clive Palmer presented two very different visions for the future of independent politics at the National Press Club in Canberra. They're both wealthy men, and interested in influencing the next federal parliament via the election of independent candidates, but that's where the similarities end.

Last week the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, made his tenth appearance at the National Press Club as Labor leader. Peter Dutton hasn't spoken there since 2021, when he was the minister for defence.

Last week's intense focus on whether or not federal Labor was going to revisit its negative gearing policies to deal with the housing crisis (no chance, according to the PM) did a great job of distracting from some other major stories.

With the PM away in Tonga at the Pacific Islands Forum, and the Liberals talking about defunding signature ALP policies so wealthy people can pay less tax, Greens leader Adam Bandt took to the National Press Club stage last week to suggest a very different way of dealing with the nation's financial problems.

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.