Labor is headed for a crushing election defeat under Julia Gillard, but Kevin Rudd wouldn't do much better.
Baseball bats: TONY Abbott has a clear lead over Julia Gillard as preferred prime minister for the first time since July last year, as Ms Gillard's personal support collapses and Labor's primary vote languishes at a seven-month low. Voter satisfaction with the Prime Minister has plunged to its lowest level since August last year.
No saviour: ONE in four voters is "more likely" to vote for Labor at the next federal election if Kevin Rudd is the prime minister but the net electoral gain if the ALP changes leaders is marginal.
Dennis Shanahan writes: LABOR has run out of options.
Battler pitch: The AFR reports Prime Minister Julia Gillard will forgo her harbourside residence of Kirribilli for a hotel room in Rooty Hill next week as she embarks on a five-day blitz of western Sydney to try to lift Labor's plummeting support there.
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Gentle reminder: The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has warned staff of the need to remain apolitical ahead of a possible change of government later this year. In a recent edict, those at the department were reminded they served the office of the prime minister, not the prime minister herself, and of the need for professionalism at all times. They've also been warned of the dangers of loose talk around Canberra that might reflect poorly on the department.
Tough times: Fairfax's staffing woes continue with Sun Herald columnist Jessica Wright taking some time out after her recent stoush with Liberal Cory Bernardi. Wright told Capital Circle she was taking three months off for personal reasons. There is no word yet on her replacement. Fairfax metros recently lost Phil Coorey and Michelle Grattan, while Lenore Taylor and Katherine Murphy are departing soon for The Guardian Australia. Bernardi has threatened to sue Fairfax over a Jess Wright story claiming he failed to properly declare links with "a right-wing, pro-tobacco group fighting gun controls". Bernardi said he'd never been a member of the organisation. It's understood the parties could be close to settling the matter.
Days of governing: Capital Circle loves an anniversary - any excuse for a celebration! On Sunday it was exactly 12 months since Julia Gillard killed off Kevin Rudd's attempted leadership comeback. And today it's exactly 200 days until the election. Someone bake a cake!
Hungry Joe: Speaking of cakes, we're told Joe Hockey is nudging 110kgs as his radical weight loss campaign continues apace. But it seems the hungrier Joe gets, the meaner he gets. It was a punchy Joe Hockey who fronted the media in Launceston yesterday, declaring "Labor is a joke", and dismissing Lara Giddings as "a Premier who doesn't know how to run the state". Tell us what you really think Joe. And someone give that man something to eat!
Look at us: Senators were playing up yesterday as the oft-neglected red chamber became, by default, the focus of political debate. With the House of Representatives in recess, journalists were forced to turn their attention to Senate question time. And the opposition knew it. Liberal Eric Abetz turned on a motion of no confidence in the government after just four questions. Labor's Penny Wong hit back. "Everybody watching knows that this motion is nothing more than a grandstanding stunt, a tactic by those opposite because there is no question time in the Reps."
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Today: Julia Gillard is in Sydney for meetings and a boardroom lunch. She has no public events scheduled.
Tony Abbott is visiting Townsville and Rockhampton.
The Senate sits from 12.30pm to consider the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Bill, and amendments to maritime powers and veterans' affairs legislation.
Senate question time commences 2pm.
Health Minister Tanya Plibersek is in Tasmania where she'll launch a children's healthy eating program at an Ottoway engineering firm.
Industry Minister Greg Combet is in South Australia where he'll discuss the government's blue collar jobs plan.
The Senate's Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee will hold a public hearing on a bill to establish a framework of standard regulatory powers for commonwealth agencies.
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New rules: LABOR has vowed to legislate a "public interest test" to vet media company owners amid a widening political row over the upheavals at the Ten Network, even as cabinet holds back from deciding the detailed reforms.
Lawyer up: The Daily Telegraph reports the federal government is close to finalising proposed media changes, including its consideration of a tort that would allow people to sue each other for privacy invasions.
Gonski anger: CATHOLIC schools have warned that Julia Gillard's school reforms lack detail, use ill-defined terms such as "excellent education" and risk burdening principals with more red tape that may soak up extra funds to meet an "expanded regulatory environment".
COAG paralysis: The AFR reports former NSW Liberal premier Nick Greiner has warned that the Council of Australian Governments is "grossly overburdened" and criticised the federal government's handling of the Gonski review of school funding.
Probe needed: SEX Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick has called for a broad Productivity Commission inquiry into childcare.
'No serious': A PROFESSOR who used research grants to pay for massages is set to win compensation after his dismissal was ruled as being harsh.
Concession: The SMH reports the Coalition will consider compensating big companies that are part-way through expensive refits to reduce their carbon price liability when the carbon tax is abolished, according to shadow treasurer Joe Hockey.
Optimistic: THE Joint Strike Fighter will be a spectacularly good aircraft that will outclass anything Australia will encounter in the region, according to the commander of US air combat forces in the Pacific.
Drones: The AFR reports the Gillard government is expected to buy advanced unmanned spy planes to respond to concerns that a foreign power could view Australia's largely remote $380?billion oil and gas fields as an "easy target".
New fight: The SMH reports union leader Paul Howes has likened nanotechnology to asbestos and called for more research to ease fears the growing use of fine particles could endanger manufacturing workers.
Shenanigans: A UNION deal delivered Labor preselection to a former country mayor for the Gillard government-held central Queensland seat of Capricornia despite his rival, a factional ally of Kevin Rudd, convincingly winning the rank-and-file vote on the weekend.
Plea: The Daily Telegraph reports Ellen DeGeneres and PM Julia Gillard are set to meet during the talk show queen's visit and gay marriage will be on the agenda.
Ease up: THE man favoured to succeed Ted Baillieu as Victorian premier has publicly backed his leader to remain in the job.
Wilderness: SENIOR Labor figures in NSW are concerned the stench of alleged corruption gathering around the former state government could hand Barry O'Farrell three terms in office.
Nice earner: The Canberra Times reports dumped ACT Liberal Gary Humphries should be entitled to a lifelong pension of about $80,000 a year when he leaves the Senate in September.
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Dennis Shanahan writes: LABOR'S long and slow recovery after the disastrous impact of the carbon tax has been lost as the government's polling trends back down pushing into the election year.
Judith Sloan writes: THE conduct of employer associations in Australia has damaged the economy.
Gary Johns writes: THE first thing a victorious Tony Abbott should do is trim the size of government.
Nick Cater writes: A BED at $531 a night is a little on the steep side, even for Canberra, but then human rights-compliant correctional centres don't come cheap.
Peter Hartcher writes: The US system of problem-solving, otherwise known as national politics, is not working.
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