I love experiencing new things. It opens the mind to possibilities and potential that otherwise may lie unfulfilled. On Monday I had two such opportunities, which was a wonderful way to start the week.

The first was to take my first spin in a Tesla car. Regular readers would know I don’t think much of the Elon Musk business model. It’s unsustainable and heavily dependent on taxpayer subsidies but I was very impressed with the car.

This is the week that could break one of our political leaders.

A by-election usually provides the voters with a chance to kick the government where it hurts most - in the ballot box!

Only once in the past hundred and seventeen years has a government actually won a seat off the opposition during a by-election.

But like almost everything about the recent political environment, these elections are different to politics-as-usual.

It is a contest between two political leaders who have both alienated their traditional support base.

Sometimes the political and media cycle is hard to explain. One can repeat the same thing over and over and over again with little traction but then, just when you may have given up hope, a spark catches and the issue becomes of immediate interest.

We saw that this week when the media and the major parties suddenly became interested in population policy and immigration.

After years of denying there was anything worth talking about, it suddenly became a very important discussion. Commentators raised the matter of visa exploitation whilst others actually started to question the number of immigrants and their impact on Australia.

With parliament not sitting, I have been captivated by the discovery and rescue of the Thai boys from a caving expedition. Initially I was incredulous that they were even found alive after being stranded for more than a week. Now the improbable rescue of these young men has me cheering from the sidelines.

The difficulty of that rescue was highlighted by the death of a former Thai navy seal who was among the first to put himself forward. It just shows how dangerous this process is and the amazing courage of all those involved…including the boys themselves.

After several years of abstinence I got back on the Q&A wagon this week. It was a bit like revisiting your home town after some time away…not much seems to have changed.

There was a left-leaning fill-in host who I thought did a pretty good job, an assortment of left-leaning panellists, a left-leaning audience …and me.

There are some days when I sit down to write this column and I scarcely know where to start. Rarely is it due to a lack of ideas; more often it is about how many important areas need to be covered.

Just this week, the World Health Organisation decided that a man wanting to be a woman isn’t suffering from a mental condition but the person playing too many video games is. As one pundit on Twitter commented “Imagine the impact this will have on the NDIS.”

Another ring has been added to the circus of modern politics this week. The political wrecking ball known as Clive Palmer re-entered the fray with a new party and even more grandiose promises (aka BS) than his last failed foray.

Politics doesn’t need another personality cult. It needs a few adults who are prepared to advocate for consistent principles and values. Our nation needs predictability not populism and policies that will strengthen families, foster free enterprise and rebuild civil society.

Over the long weekend, a visitor to our home spoke of an incident that highlights the very worst of the nanny state.

Mum, Dad and their 18-year-old daughter visited their local liquor store to purchase a couple of bottles of wine to bring to our place for dinner.

Choices have consequences. It’s a simple message that sensible parents share with their children and that everyone will eventually learn for themselves.

In a sign of emotional immaturity, where a poor choice is made, some will seek to deflect blame onto others. They will rationalise and justify whatever they can to avoid responsibility themselves.

Last weekend I attended a dinner to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). It was a tremendous event befitting of this amazing organisation which has done so much for so many Australians.

The RFDS was started by the Very Reverend John Flynn, OBE, DD. As a Presbyterian Minister, he initiated the Australian Inland Mission to minister to the spiritual, social and medical needs of those in the Outback.