As melon-gate raged, Albanese quietly cut deals in parliament. The PM should make some noise this week | Josh Butler

With gambling, the news bargaining incentive and NDIS reform all set to pass, the PM needs to get the focus off fruit and on to policy Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Last week’s melon-gate controversy was a pretty unedifying spectacle for everyone involved. There’s much more important work to be done in this parliamentary week, with a logjam of long-awaited reform landing all at once. But beyond the immediate – disability, media, gambling harms, and a looming fight on immigration – it will give a glimpse into how the major parties plan to combat the rising populist rage from the right. At its best, parliament can be a place where Labor and the Coalition put aside petty squabbles to find common ground, fix problems and make good change in the interest of Australians. Of course, parliament has been far from its best in recent times, but in three key areas – the gambling advertising reforms, the news bargaining incentive (NBI) and NDIS reform – the major parties are working constructively. Anthony Albanese and Angus Taylor met several times last week on those policies, each of which are to make their w