The anarchy of the market is writ large in the housing sector throughout Spain. In the years before the GFC, the country experienced a housing-construction boom fuelled by the same debt-ridden loans that had thrown the country into crisis. There are now around 8.4 million empty houses in the country, and the coast is dotted with ghost towns made up of apartment blocks that have never been lived in. Meanwhile, around 3 million people in Spain are sleeping rough.

Increasing casualisation and precarious employment across many sectors of the economy mean that more and more women are being pushed into positions of vulnerability. Given that around one in three women experiences sexual harassment in the workplace, this is no small deal.

Last week, Clive Palmer sat down to lunch with Christopher Pyne to discuss a potential compromise on university fee deregulation. The meeting happened on Pyne’s forty-seventh birthday, which the pair celebrated over a cake just big enough for two, after which Palmer sang the Education Minister 'Happy Birthday'.