Thanks to years of political inaction, Australia is one of the few countries in the world not to have a New Vehicle Efficiency Standard. The European Union, New Zealand and China have one. Even the United States has a standard, which means new cars in Australia use 20 per cent more fuel and create 20 per cent more pollution than their American counterparts. With the Albanese Government about to introduce legislation to correct this situation, the Coalition is busily dusting off the 'war on utes/the weekend' rhetoric.

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.

Peter Dutton's ongoing quest to bring the worst elements of American politics to Australia reached a new low this week with his social media post urging Woolworths to stop 'peddling woke agendas'. This was in response to the supermarket giant saying it would no longer be selling Australia Day merchandise, along with Kmart and Aldi, due to declining sales.

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.

Does the resounding defeat of the Voice referendum on the weekend show that Australia hasn't changed much since the bad old days, or have things just become much worse?

The logical conclusion of a philosophy which views anyone on welfare as a bludger and anyone poor as fair game was on horrifying display as Robodebt Royal Commissioner Catherine Holmes AC SC revealed her 1,039 page report to the Australian public on Friday.

Last week Peter Dutton ramped up his rhetoric against the Voice in a freezing torrent of negativity that would have done Tony Abbott proud.

Corruption takes many forms, and has become more refined since the days of brown paper bags. In Australia, we have lobbyists, interests and politicians, with the traditional dividing lines between these three now all but invisible, and numerous examples of people moving from one position to another, and then back again, as they prioritise personal gain over what's best for the country.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers' second federal budget in seven months delivered a surprising surplus, some support for battlers, and the usual appalling devil in the detail.

Later this year, all Australians of voting age will be asked to have their say on whether the Constitution should be altered to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.