School is out for NSW Parliament as the last sitting week for the year came to an end.

This week saw all hands-on deck as the country rallied together with unprecedented catastrophic fires tearing down the east coast of Australia.

With the Federal and NSW Parliament not sitting this week there wasn’t much policy news to report. However, as the old saying goes… while Parliament is away the politicians will play.

The long-awaited report by a cross party joint select committee, chaired by the Hon Natalie Ward MLC, on Sydney’s night-time economy has recommended scrapping the ‘lockout laws’ in all areas of the CBD except Kings Cross.

One of the biggest headlines of this week was that, on Monday, there wasn’t any. This week, national newspapers united for an unprecedented press freedom campaign.

The start of the week saw the Berejiklian government teaming up with federal counterparts to inject $1 billion into getting critical drought-busting projects built.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pitched this budget as one that can be sold “all the way to the election”. To this end, the Treasurer set out a clear five-point economic plan for the Government.

The Andrews Labor Government today handed down a big spending Victorian Budget 2018/19, targeting regional Victoria and Melbourne's growth areas - parts of the state where the election could be won or lost later this year.

Setting out his election manifesto to voters, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten last night used his budget-in-reply speech to put forward his vision of a fairer and more equal society should Labor be successful at the upcoming Federal Election in May.

Tonight, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg handed down his first Budget, setting the stage for the Federal Election which could be announced as early as the end of this week.

On Saturday 23 March, Premier Gladys Berejiklian led the Coalition to a third term of government in NSW.

The buzz in Canberra over the weekend was unavoidable for most Australians. Friday produced a new Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, and Sunday saw the formation of what most are calling a ‘next-generation’ Cabinet.

Earlier today, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet handed down the 2018-19 NSW Budget, the Government's last ahead of next year’s state election.

On Tuesday, the Government was forced to back down on its much-heralded Fire and Emergency Services Levy reforms after it discovered that it had been relying on inaccurate data.

It seemed as if the Government had a media release for every occasion this week, with policies announced for issues as diverse as animal conservation (Monday), parliamentary entitlements, revenge porn and social housing fraud (Tuesday), and Millers Point asset sales (just about every other day).

Designs for the third stage of WestConnex were unveiled on Monday, revealing plans for a tunnel beneath the inner west suburbs of Leichhardt and Rozelle.

The most significant announcement of the week was the finalisation of the Government’s poles and wires asset recycling agenda.

The week really began for the Government on Sunday evening, with Treasurer Dominic Perrottet revealing that the 2017-18 State Budget will be handed down on 20 June.

Opposition Leader Luke Foley even managed to take a trip up north! Admittedly, he was touring flood affected areas around Lismore, not on holiday. His reason for not visiting sooner? He "didn't want to be tripping over emergency services workers."