Federal parliament has returned from winter break with a frenetic start to the second half of the political year. There were days of commentary and squirming over ‘melon-gate’ and, with Labor planning to make a deal with the Coalition to pass gambling reforms, there are still doubts about the government’s ambition in its second term. Tom McIlroy, Krishani Dhanji, Josh Butler and Sarah Basford Canales, from Guardian Australia’s Canberra bureau, answer questions from listeners and readers