As new director Geoff Field is off jet-setting again, Nick Parmeter is in to hold down the fort and keep you informed. Looking back on the past week, here’s the top stories you should keep an eye on.

Kicking off the week, on Monday, Gladys Berejiklian brushed off Victorian State election results as a distraction ahead of March Poll. Scott Morrison doubled his lead as preferred PM over past two weeks with a 4-point jump, but the coalition’s primary fell for a third poll in a row, leaving the coalition at 45 to Labor’s 55.

Moving to Tuesday, Independent Cathy McGowan has introduced a private member’s bill to establish a federal anti-corruption watchdog. First test for coalition as a minority government. Supported by Labor and the crossbench but Finance Minister Mathias Corman claims the proposed legislation is problematic. Towards the end of the day the proposition was held back and has been treading water since.

On Wednesday, massive storms causing torrential downpour resulted in the heaviest day of rain in 44 years for Sydney, running the SES off their feet and causing delays in every mode of transport from the roads to the skies. Parts of North Sydney and the Lower North Shore were among the worst hit, being described as a ‘mini-cyclone’ in some parts. Up north, Queensland had a starkly different image as fires continued to burn.

Wednesday was also a big day for politics, as Julia Banks shock resignation threw Liberal Party in to further turmoil following the heavy defeat of the Liberals in Victoria. John Howard denied on ABC’s 7:30 that the Liberals were in crisis or that the state election was decided on federal grounds. Richard Di Natale suspended for refusing to withdraw comments towards Senator Barry O’Sullivan describing him as a pig, after O’Sullivan made remarks about Senator Hanson-Young.

On Thursday, as Sydney was recovering from the storm, Queensland’s fire risk eased from catastrophic to severe, but that didn’t stop the blazes already raging. Thousands of Queenslanders were evacuated from their homes as firefighters battled up to 140 wildfires.

On Friday, US president Donald Trump cancelled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Argentina, citing Russia’s treatment of Ukraine after Russian forces opened fire on a Ukranian navy boat on Sunday. Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to congress about a Trump skyscraper in Moscow, as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in to the 2016 election.

That was the week.