Cory Bernardi's leaving? Phhht. So's the Gold Card, and MPs weep

A pall settled across Parliament House. MPs might come and go, but the Gold Card was supposed to go on forever.

Cory Bernardi, seeking a mysterious majority, throws a tantrum

The altitudinous Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi, who fears a move towards bestiality if the 21st century is allowed to have its head, is striking out alone, seeking like-minded companions - a space he has inhabited for his entire political career.

Trumbull: Is there any greater insult for the PM?

• SATIRE

It's been a challenging week for the Prime Minister – will the humiliations ever end?

Drawing a line in the whitest of sand

More than 1200 square kilometres around Shelburne Bay near the tip of Cape York Peninsula, including the only untouched area of pure-white sand dunes in Australia, has been handed back to the Wuthathi Indigenous people

The highlights, lowlights and lowlifes of Parliament 2016

It was the year a freshly recycled Liberal leader, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, took his Coalition to an election and suffered a near fatal gutser. Herewith are some of the awards for achievements – both above and mostly below the call of political duty in 2016.

Rotten fruit: Australia's politicians fail those who feed the cities

Most weekends I flee the big city and drive for hours through country districts, streaming through forests, across wide plains and alongside coastal scrub, soothing my way back to where I came from long ago.

Superglue? Screaming? Call that a protest?

As a protest, it was pretty lame, if loud and, for the demonstrators, satisfyingly disruptive.

Counting your chickens a poor idea when they're headless chooks

This shambles was perfectly predictable and it makes you wonder about the quality of smarts in the government.

The Senate: Hinch finds it's no place for sensitive old men

• COMMENT

Forget the quaint view that the Senate is a retirement home for fogeys.