Australia’s parliament teems with people, so the place can sometimes feel like a living, breathing, organism. As Australia’s 46th parliament ground through its final week, at the tail end of three punishing years of fire, flood and plague, it was like the organism felt pain.
The week began with public expressions of mourning. Colleagues shared tributes to the late Labor senator Kimberley Kitching. The foreign minister, Marise Payne, one of the most buttoned up operators in contemporary politics, crumpled and wept. Fellow stoic the shadow foreign minister, Penny Wong, offered Payne tissues.
