The week began with an historic trade agreement between 12 Pacific-rim countries, including Australia.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest deal in 20 years, involves some of the world's biggest economies including Japan and the United States.
Negotiations were finalised by Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb.
"I'm very proud to be associated with this very complex and ambitious agreement."
And while the deal has been widely praised, it also disappointed.
Chairman of Canegrowers Australia, Paul Schembri, is unhappy with the level of sugar exports the US is willing to accept from Australian farmers.
"What this shows more than anything else, is that the Australian sugar industry has come up against that huge wall of protectionism for the United States agriculture, paticularly the sugar industry. So an economic uplift, but a lost opportunity as well."
Other concerns were that consumers could end up paying more for medicine.
Minister Robb assured this would not be the case - a guarantee, Opposition Senate leader Penny Wong says, that must be upheld.
"We will hold Mr Robb to that assurance. It is one of the issues we've been concerned about for some time. We made it very clear this was a red line for Labor."
The Nauruan government vowed to process all claims for asylum within the week and said detention its island is over.
This means freedom of movement for detainees but Daniel Webb from the Human Rights Law Centre argues curfews are not the problem.
"The issue is not so much that they are trapped behind a fence, it's that there is no life for them beyond it on Nauru. And worse, there are some serious safety issues."
Many were skeptical of the timing of the announcement.
It came just days before the High Court heard a challenge to Australia's role in offshore processing on Nauru, where advocates argued Australian law does not give the Federal Government the power to imprison people in other countries.
Treasurer Scott Morrison said the hardline policy is working.
"Our border protection regime has been incredibly successful, it has saved lives. It has ended the terrible cost that was being incurred. "
The High Court case involved a Bangladeshi woman who was brought to Australia over serious health concerns during her pregnancy.
The woman faces imminent return to Nauru along with her 10-month-old baby, a move condemned by Labor leader Bill Shorten.
"She should get the medical treatment here in Australia, anything else is a travesty of justice."
And there are reports the government are planning to resettle refugees from Manus Island in the Philippines, in a supposed a multi-million-dollar deal
But there's been no confirmation of the claims.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton refused to go into the details of the talks, but spoke of the need for collaboration when it comes to resettling refugees.
"Obviously, we want to try and provide where we can a regional arrangement and you are seeing the need for a regional approach in Europe at the moment. No one country can resolve the issue when you have millions of people moving across borders. And we have had bilateral discussions with other countries, including the Philippines."
The Government committed to a 1.3 billion dollar defence contract to build high-tech armoured vehicles for the Australian Army.
The Hawkei, designed and built in Australia, will secure more than 200 jobs nationwide and could have the potential for export for use by other countries.
Defence Minister Marise Payne said that could lead to more manufacturing jobs in Australia.
"So let's hope that as we move into effective production we can engage internationally on that as well, which of course will bring further benefits to production areas."
While Bill Shorten says other defence contracts should also be awarded to benefit to the local jobs market.
"We believe it should be the case for the LAND 400 vehicles, armoured vehicles. We think that should be the case for our frigates and very importantly our submarines."
The first vehicles could roll off the production line within three years.
Share
