With Geoff Field away, Max from the newsroom joins Nic to unpack this week’s big stories.

The news this week was dominated by one name, Barnaby Joyce. On Monday, Malcolm Turnbull outlined the reasons behind his so called #bonkban, which arose due to Joyce’s affair with former staffer Vicky Campion. Joyce continued to remain in the headlines throughout the week, compounded by an interview he gave with Campion to the Sydney Morning Herald where he asked the media to leave his personal life alone.

In other news early this week, George Christensen created controversy when he posted a picture of himself holding a gun with what some deemed a threatening caption. By Tuesday Christensen had backpedalled on the post, arguing that it was just a joke, and his detractors lacked a sense of humour.

In world events, the news out of Syria continues to shock. On Wednesday it was revealed that the Syrian government had upped its bombing campaign in rebel held areas, killing hundreds of civilians. The United Nations has condemned the attack as a violation of human rights.

Donald Trump also occupied his usual position in the headlines, as he attempts to deal with the fallout from the Florida school shooting. He has proposed a raft of options to deal with the crisis, including opening currently closed mental health facilities, increasing background checks, banning bump stocks, and raising the age at which you are able to purchase guns to 21. He also leveled blame at violent video games and movies, which he argued were contributing to the shocking levels of gun violence in the US.

Back home, In what is barely newsworthy at this point, Sydney Trains had their regular meltdown, with a power outage causing delays of up to 45 minutes for some commuters, further contributing to the terrible year for our transport network.

And the week ended where it began, with Barnaby Joyce’s position under a further cloud as the National Party reveals that they have received an official sexual harassment complaint against the Deputy PM. While the particulars of the complaint have yet to be detailed, this news will ensure that the ongoing Barnaby Joyce saga will continue well into the next few weeks.

Photo: Newspaper headlines shown side on in a stack of daily newspapers by Brian A Jackson on Shutterstock