Similar to a civil union, this automatic recognition of overseas gay marriage does not exist anywhere else in Australia.

If it passes through the Upper House, the bill will automatically recognise same-sex unions that have taken place  overseas without the need for couples to re-register their relationship with the Tasmanian government.

Some Liberal party hardliners refused to recognise overseas same-sex unions, claiming the debate was part of an “incremental”  left-wing agenda to re-define the Marriage Act.

Liberal MPs Rene Hiddings and Michael Ferguson tried to introduce an amendment that would ensure that the definition of marriage would remain as being between a man and a woman,  but it was struck down 21-3.

The bill passed in Tasmania’s Lower House and will now go to the Upper House for further discussion.

It is unknown when the bill will come to a vote, but some say it could be as early as next Thursday.

Wilkie calls for conscience vote

Tasmanian Independent Andrew Wilkie, yesterday called for a Parliamentary conscience vote on gay marriage, stating that he reserves the right to refuse to help either major party form a minority government.

Wilkie told The Age, ”I reserve the option of backing no party or parties … I note that in the last few months the Labor government has been neither stable, competent nor ethical, and I’m yet to be persuaded that the opposition can do any better.”

The National Convenor of Australian Marriage Equality Alex Greenwich applauded Mr Wilkie, calling him a “true independent”.

“It is uncertain if marriage equality would be achieved with a conscience vote”, said Greenwich, “but it is certain that without a conscience vote the issue will not even be properly debated.

“A conscience vote will allow the large number of Labor and Liberal MPs who support equality to better represent the majority of Australians who do too.

“If the other independents truly wish to see Parliament become more than a rubber stamp for the major parties they will also follow Mr Wilkie’s lead and start promoting a conscience vote.”

Mr Wilkie said that if he decided not to support either party he would not do anything to risk stability, nor block supply, stating he would vote on the merits of legislation which both parties would have to negotiate with him.

This is not the first time a debate on same-sex marriage has occurred in Parliament.

In 2009, a Senate committee inquiry on a marriage equality bill put forward by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young received more submissions than at any other Senate inquiry in history, including 11 000 submissions in support of gay marriage.

Despite this, the bill was barely debated and was summarily voted down.

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1. “Big Australia” is going to happen whether we like it or not.

The concept of “Big Australia” was floated for a while by both parties (more so by Labor) but was quickly dropped when it didn’t poll well.

Even if we halt illegal immigration (which by the way, I don’t know why “stop the boats” is even on the agenda given that “boat people” make up about 1% of our “illegal immigration problem”), our population is growing, not slowing.

Certainly this growth has been helped along by political incentives like the baby bonus and education subsidies that came as the result of the Intergenerational Report and if Tony has his way this trend is unlikely to cease or slow once paid parental leave is implemented.

The government has a responsibility to plan for this inevitability, regardless of whether it is going to sell well. It is lunacy and down right neglectful not to build the necessary infrastructure crucial for supporting future generations.

2. We need to create real incentives to keep people out of capital cities by creating mini metropolises in rural areas that don’t just support labour but lifestyles.

Rather than the fly-in-fly-out style of labour intensive mining towns, why not create a town you can move your family out to?

Towns that are supported by shopping centres, quality educational institutions, hospitals, and daycare centres – so you have the bonus of creating jobs and supporting local economies.

Rural towns are crying out for people and until recently, the government has done sweet-eff-all about it.

You can sell almost anything if you do it the right way but Labor has chosen to prioritise the opinion of inner-city hipsters over the needs of rural Australians.

Why can’t we create incentives to attract employment to rural areas?

If we can incentivise people to join the Army by paying for their tertiary education, can’t we do the same for teachers? Doctors?

Or at least create economic incentives like tax breaks for people who choose to move to rural communities for work?

Mini-metropolises are the only way of luring people away from capital cities.

3. Australia has roughly the same land mass as America and yet less than half of our land is occupied.

And for all those people arguing  “but that land is uninhabitable, it’s all arid desert” – I have two words for you:

Las Vegas.

I have another two words for you:

Hoover Dam.

That America has such a vastly diverse geographical culture, and so many towns all over the continent is because behind every small town, was a politician, and a population that understood the need to create local infrastructure to support long term population growth.

Wouldn’t it be great, for Australians to be as excited about traveling across their own continent as they are about traveling across the US and experiencing all the rich diverse cultures of local communities?

Creating new in-land cities could do as much for our tourism industry as it could for employment.

Though there are some stark differences between America and Australia – until the last few decades the US was a hub of manufacturing, but as businesses moved offshore, employment in local communities dwindled, and we have yet to see any real solutions for post GFC recovery.

In Australia we at least have the benefit of being a major exporter of coal, wool, zinc, tin ores, beef, barely and raw sugar.

Whilst I never thought  we’d be declaring a war against Flipino bananas, Katter is right – we certainly need to be doing more to support local farming.

4. We need a nation wide NBN to make it viable to do business from the country and to support the myriad of industries it would benefit.

I agree with Malcolm Turnbulll – that the government shouldn’t necessarily be at the centre of the economy, and he’s right, 48 billion dollars is an awful lot of money we shouldn’t have to pay – we should wait for market forces to tell us when it is the right time – but unfortunately Australia has been waiting for years, with no result.

WHY? Because the Liberal party created an environment conducive to letting one company run a monopoly on phone lines in this country – and if that isn’t a clear as day example of putting government at the centre of the economy then I don’t know what is.

Telstra should not be allowed within ten yards of the NBN!

The best possible outcome for broadband in this country is fulfilling the Labor promise of finally dismantling Telstra, and allowing other phone companies to enter the market by buying up different parts of the NBN, creating real and lasting competition.

This outcome is good for creating jobs, as well as keeping prices low for consumers.

This week I have heard an awful lot of bitching about how  Katter, Oakeshott, Windsor and Bandt are selfishly holding the government to ransom – that they care more about the people in their electorate than they do the rest of Australia.

It got me thinking that I really wished more MPs were “behaving” like the three Independents and one Green – (who I must admit, appears to be doing little more than once again rolling over for Labor without making any demands, but that’s a blog for another time).

If anything, this hung parliament has indicated the important role local MPs can and should be playing.

I don’t think it is selfish that these men are trying to ensure that their little-known electorate’s are taken care of -  rather they are fulfilling their responsibility.

So often the needs of the party, the needs of the MP, or the needs of “the people” (a vague term that seldom benefits anyone)  overrides the promises made by local MPs to the people they are elected to represent.

In his blog, Rob Oakeshott claims that prioritising party needs over the electorate should be tantamount  to treason.

He emphatically reminds us that the concept of a Parliament has been around a lot longer than the political party and a hung parliament was never really seen to be a problem until the concept of the political party arrived on the scene:

“The term “hung parliament” implies that voters want power to rest in the hands of a majority political party, rather than with the Parliament. Yet in the upcoming Australian election, voters will elect 150 local members, who will have promoted themselves, as night follows day, as local MPs who will be voting in their electorate’s and their nation’s best interests. No other issue, including their party’s agenda, should matter. Indeed, it should be seen by local electors as borderline treason if a local MP votes against the best interests of their electorate or country and votes against these pre-election promises, due to some self-interest or political party interest.”

If you haven’t already read it, this blog should be compulsory reading for all politics students, anyone with political or journalistic ambitions, anyone who wants a prosperous future for this country, anyone who thinks that our government has lost its way, anyone who thinks – should read his blog.

I may be a sucker, but Oakeshott speaks and writes like a statesman and I am glad we finally have someone new on the scene who seems to be a driving force for good.

I don’t know why it is so bloody hard to sell big ideas in this country, and I don’t know why the concept of a “unity government” has been so monumentally scoffed at or deemed so politically impossible – if they can make it work in the UK, they can make it work here.

All I know is every MP should be holding the government to account the way that these four men have been – even if it is at the cost of political expediency, not just because you chance upon some power, but because MPs are tired of constantly leaving their electorates bitter and disappointed.

I’m also a little tired of how the Liberal party seems to be copping most of the blame for neglecting rural areas.

Though the Nationals have avoided direct criticism for neglecting their local communities, they certainly have a lot to answer for.

While I do feel a little bit sorry for Barnaby Joyce & the public spanking he had to endure at the hands of Windsor, (a scolding I believe was uncalled for and completely unprofessional, but again – that’s a matter for another blog),  it only serves to highlight the neglect that rural Australia has had to endure at the hands of the Nationals.

I hope this election has served as a reminder to regional and rural Australians that “major party” does not necessarily equate to “best man for the job”.

If this result is anything to go by, I suspect the National Party’s days are limited.

If the Liberal party is smart, they will distance themselves from the Nationals over the coming years and work closely with the Independents who are working tirelessly for their community.

Things I would like to see achieved at this election:

1. If they can’t just come right out and legalise gay marriage, I at least want a conscience vote in Parliament.

2. Real investment in addressing mental health and suicide prevention, including the creation of preventative mental health care centres designed to keep people out of hospitals, as well as unionising Social Workers and OTs to represent them in Parliament and educate GPs as to their value.

3. A National Broadband Network for rural as well as inner city areas.

4. The complete dismantling of Telstra, and creating opportunities for new companies to buy up parts of the NBN, creating a real and lasting competition.

5. A more attentive welfare system including a DOCS overhaul.

6. Fairer treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.

That is all for now. I will add things to the list as I think of them.

“How far we all come. How far we all come away from ourselves. You can never go home again,”

Over 10 years ago I moved from a small city in NSW by the name of Armidale, to the City of Melbourne.

I had been there from birth through to 18. It was a massive choice for us, but one we are all glad we made.

We moved due to my father’s business commitments and the thrill of a new chapter in our lives. I had been unable to get a job and was working for myself.

Looking back, life in the evolving world was becoming increasingly difficult to live in rural communities.

The family had also joined the internet a few years prior to leaving and were getting very involved, albeit on an hourly rate.

We started on 36.6kbps and had just been able to upgrade to 56.6kbps in the year 2000. The Internet has been my family’s future – something that would not have been possible with sub-standard rural broadband.

So before Christmas down to Melbourne we went, head-first into the hustle, bustle and speed of a Capital City.

I remember the pace of everything amazed me.

We could connect to broadband internet, I could get into a doctor that day and not weeks. Mail took days not weeks, shops had stock of things. The food in cafes and restaurants was amazing and the produce in supermarkets was fantastically fresh AND CHEAP!

It was clear in the first month of being in Melbourne just how much the cities had to offer. It wasn’t just big buildings, it was facilities, it was services and it was money.

I relished this and have gone on to love Melbourne and all I am able to make of myself here.

Recently however I was required to go back home. I hadn’t been home in 10 years and was excited to see how the place had moved on.

It hadn’t.

Sure, they had a new shopping centre and a Hungry Jacks, but everything else was in dire need of a coat of paint (I don’t think there had been one since I left) and a breath of fresh air.

Less than 1/3 of the shops were occupied in the East End Mall – a once newly renovated area of the bustling city centre which held all the new businesses; leaves and litter blustered past  shopfronts with ‘for let’  signs in the windows, the same ones that had been sitting there for years.

The prestigious Richardson’s arcade in the main shopping district – is now empty.

It’s the same story everywhere; there are patches of life here and there but Armidale is no longer a hive of activity.

It’s like the town is dying and screaming for help and it’s doing it with a faded Bicentennial ’88 sign on its council chambers.

A lack of shopping isn’t a major concern to me though; it’s just an obvious boil on a body that’s not well.

What is more of a concern to me are the diabolical health services.

The stories that were told to me (I didn’t even ask mind you) of misdiagnosis, indifferent and incompetent staff that either don’t know if they should or don’t know how to perform tasks and if you need to see a specialist, well that’s a near two hour drive to Tamworth.

It really hit home just what a mess health care is up there, when a friend of mine needed to get an MRI recently. There was a two to three week waiting list and a two hour drive to Tamworth. To top it off, who was going to drive him for two hours to get there? He wasn’t able to drive due to the condition that he needed the MRI for.

The icing on the cake however is the diabolical communications infrastructure.

Mobile phones on anything but Telstra get three bars at best.

Data is slow; ADSL 1 is available but can’t go to all homes , so telcos sell wireless “solutions” instead.

Wireless of course works about as well as the phones do, so if you aren’t on Telstra, it’s back to the days of dialup speeds.

In the end it’s fair to say, the country welcomes the NBN with open arms.

So what has this got to do with the Independents?

All of this represents the neglect that rural centres have endured for years. It’s the neglect that got the Independents the massive swings in the first place.

It’s the neglect that the Independents work bloody hard to minimise.

Sure it’s not just one person’s or the government’s fault, however since the infrastructure is not there, it is always a case of shoulda, coulda, woulda around local councils, state parliament and federal parliament that gets us precisely nowhere.

So what does the soon to be Government need to do with the Independents?

It needs to make living outside of a capital city not only attractive, but viable. We need services that are similar if not the equal to those in the city.

They need a proportionate amount of doctors for the population. We are sick and tired of have our few remaining doctors work so hard they get burnt out and leave.

They need broadband to make it viable to do business from the country and to support the myriad of industries it would benefit.

They need the quality of life that the cities enjoy.

We all need people to bring their lives to the country.

Only then, when the reasons for not making a tree or sea change are removed, will it be attractive to move out of the cities.

Make it a no-brainer decision and a cinch to live in rural areas and they will come.

I have a feeling once the population spreads out from the hives that are the cities, everyone will be happier.

I certainly look forward to the day that I can consider going home and stay there.

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While in theory a hung parliament finally gives some bargaining power to the Independents and the Greens, it also gives the opportunity for the libs to publicly belittle the Labor party, pretending there is a mandate for a Liberal victory.

Tony Abbott’s “victory by proxy” speech was gloating, and far far premature.

In reality, the only mandate we have achieved with this election is the precedent of ousting party leaders – in the government and in the opposition.

Australia has voted – and we said “meh”.

Just stop for a second and think about this moment three years ago: we had Kevin07, Howard losing his seat in Bennelong to Maxine McKew, the Kyoto Protocol was finally signed, The Apology; it is just staggering that this has happened.

Firstly, Governments ALWAYS get a second term. Rudd’s popularity was through the roof not so long ago – and by this measure the Coalition should never have been this competitive.

There are a few reasons I think contributed to this outcome:

1. I think the decision to fight a negative campaign was a huge mistake – for both parties.

From the very beginning it was a giant race to the bottom of the barrel, and voters hate dirty campaigns. I think the Greens fought admirably under the circumstances; there’s a lot to be said for positivity in action and there is no irony that the party who gained the most from this election was the one preaching love and equality.

2. It was Labors biggest mistake not ditching the web filter and getting rid of Stephen Conroy when they had the chance.

The NBN and the internet filter went hand in hand and it didn’t take long for people to put together that it might be a lot easier to censor a broadband network owned by the government.

3. I’m sure this has been repeated a thousand times on twitter, around dining room tables and offices, nonetheless, I can’t help but think that if Gillard hadn’t knifed Rudd in the back, and if Malcolm Turnbull hadn’t been replaced, we would have had a fairer campaign, and more decisive election result.

4. Moreover, change was an imperative that Julia failed to implement after telling Australia that the Labor party had lost its way.

In an unprecedented leadership spill, we saw no real change in policy or action – it only reinforced the betrayal, not just of a Prime Minister, but of his people as well.

5. Most importantly  – no matter how many times our politicians denied it, it turns out that gay marriage proved to be the issue that just wouldn’t go away.

In the three seats which were letter-boxed by marriage equality groups, Sydney, Melbourne and Grayndler – Melbourne fell to the greens, whilst the other two are running a close second. Julia Gillard’s betrayed her principle and the will of the majority of Australians by paying lip service to George Pell, Family First, and the conservative right.

Countless Labor representatives came out in support of gay marriage, and behind closed doors some Liberal party members questioned their party’s stance – but yet the atheist Prime Minister, and the Liberal party rogue who continued to poke Tony Abbott with a stick refused to stand up on the issue.

There are a few things I would like to be made conditional to forming government:

- A conscience vote on gay marriage

- A more humane alternative to the treatment of asylum seekers.

- Scrapping the internet filter.

- A compromise on the NBN.

- A guarantee that work choices is truly dead and buried and won’t miraculously be resurrected  after three months in power.

I’ve been up for almost 13 hours now, I’m up to my eyeballs in caffeine and I’m losing all grip on reality so I’ll keep it brief.

I’m not sure if this result is the best example of democracy in action, and certainly this was the finish the campaign didn’t deserve – but certainly it’s oddly fitting that we still have no idea who is in charge.

(If nothing else, there will be a few good “will of God” Steve Fielding jokes to last us for a while).

Insert obvious evolution joke here.

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In any case, it’s only a matter of time before the predictions for the election result will descend into silliness, TV presenters will interview each other and dead air time will be filled with personal stories about the atmosphere at the polling booths, which electorates are serving vegetarian sausages, who had the best grub, which ones had the maddest family first members.

As unapologetic media whores we thought that we would get in on the action.

Tonight on twitter we will be hosting a forum on the election commentary.

Subjects include:

- The expert who gets it most wrong early in the night
- The first commentator to correctly call the result
- The most self-deluded party supporter
- The most honest admission of failure
- The silliest analysis of a result
- The most repeated cliche
- The weirdest candidate

So join us for a political roller-coaster at:

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Predictions so far:

According to the Morgan poll which was conducted LAST NIGHT (God, some people are a glutton for punishment), Labor is set to win the popular vote (51% cf. 49%), but Gary Morgan says a Hung Parliament is still the most likely outcome.

“On election eve the Morgan Poll shows that despite the ALP winning the popular vote — with a reduced majority (51%, down 1.7%) in national vote, — the ALP is likely to lose at least 10 seats”, says Morgan.

“(Another 4 seats are in the balance — Longman, Greenway, Lindsay and Brand) — creating a hung Parliament with the balance of power in the hands of Independents and Greens.

“Labor’s primary vote is substantially lower than at the previous Federal election (39%, down 4.4%) so Green preferences are crucial — and given the ‘soft’ nature of the Green vote an L-NP win is not out of the question.

“The Green vote has come back, although still at a record high (11.5%). This may be real — a real reflection of the electorate’s response to neither major party supporting an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and both parties taking a strong stand on illegal ‘boat people.’ And as we said yesterday there is a strong likelihood that the Green vote will not be as strong on Election Day.

Here is a break down of the numbers

Visit the Roy Morgan website for more information.

It felt like we’d never get here.

I don’t have an awful lot of advice to dispense today other than to say, from the bottom of our hearts – please PLEASE, for the love of god – think before you cast your vote tomorrow.

Consider what you want the future of this country to look like.

Consider that this time around, maybe neither of the major parties can offer us what we are looking for.

Consider that the only hope of getting any real action on issues is to give power to minor parties (like the Sex Party, or the Greens, the Democrats, or the Liberal Democrats).

Consider the only way for the minor parties to hold a balance of power in the Senate is to stack seats.

Consider also that Family First is not really a minor party – they already have the ear of the government, after all, and the Coalition.

Just consider.

That is all.

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I wasn’t sure why I did, but in hindsight I realise I was looking for something – a way to get inspired again, to try and put my finger on what (else) has been worrying me about this election campaign.

Ever since Julia Gillard took her seat on the Q&A studio a few weeks ago I have been wrought with anxiety. There was a sense of urgency that night, and has been this entire campaign – for what I couldn’t say because it feels as if this country has stagnated.

We’re not moving forward. We’re stuck in quagmire of rhetoric.

This year we lost a Prime Minister.

Not because we wanted to, and not because he deserved it.

I certainly don’t think we can truly say we understood why at the time.

Some of us say he deserved it, some of us mourned the loss of a leader who was trying his hardest to keep his head above water.

In the middle of one of the most economically vulnerable times in Australia’s history, our Prime Minister was usurped, stood down – not by the will of the people but by the will of some of the caucus, and one woman, who wanted it more than he did.

We witnessed a lynching.

And then we were told that the country was headed in the wrong direction.

Boat people were blamed (even though they make up less than 1% of the immigration problem).

So was the mining industry – even though they are one of our most valued resources, without which Australia would not be a global trading power.

So was the deficit – even though both parties recognise the need for stimulus, for the budget to go into deficit and for government loans.

So was company tax – even though company taxing doesn’t effect profits, or the prices of groceries.

So was the internet – even though a firewall won’t protect the thousands of children that are hurt or abused by family members and close family friends every year.

For an election that we are told is one of the most important in Australia’s history – neither party seems to be very enthusiastic about distinguishing themselves.

Certainly our new Prime Minister isn’t offering us anything different than the man she claimed she replaced in order to move Australia forward.

And then it dawned on me just what was bothering me:

Our politicians are at war, but no one will come out and lead.

We have two candidates screaming at us that the end is nigh but neither of them is offering a solution, just empty words, that sound exactly the same.

I want to be proud of this country.

To paraphrase Kevin Costner from Swing Vote:

“Australia deserves a Prime Minister who is bigger than their speeches – the kind we read about in school. A big thinker – a giant.

“Someone who has a good sense to get in front of our problems.

“Someone who has the wisdom to lead us to a place where we are at peace with ourselves and the world.

And for the record, I want both of our candidates to know, (In the words of Kathy Bates from Primary Colours):

“I am so fucking disappointed in you.

You know better. Suck it up.”

These two candidates have more opportunity to create change in a single second than the rest of us will have in a lifetime and they are screwing it up by not asking the right questions.

If this is one of the greatest countries in the world, than why are we still beholden to a Monarchy?

We should be talking about becoming a Republic, and reforming the political system.

We should be asking why Australians work harder and longer hours yet still can’t afford to take care of our families?

We should be asking what infrastructure are we going to create to support the inevitable population growth?

We should be asking, if we are one of the greatest countries in the world, how come so many of us can’t afford to live here?

If we are the democracy our candidates say we should believe in, how come marriage is defined as a right belonging to only certain kinds of people?

But for the sake of single votes, these questions are met with silence for the sake of some polling number on a computer screen.

Well we are not just numbers in an equation, and I refuse to be told that how I vote doesn’t matter, if they’ve already got the outcome stitched up.

More than any other time in history, this election has nothing to do with the Australian people and everything to do with the privilege of politicians who are desperate to ensure the safety of their lifestyle, tucked away in their ivory tower in Canberra.

Australia is in dire need of political reform.

We need candidates who actually stand for something, who are proud to distinguish themselves, who are prepared to stand on principle, not two cowards whose only concern is for the happiness of the conservative and religious lobby groups.

They don’t get to decide this election.

We do.

The best possible outcome I believe we can hope for this election – is a hung parliament.

It is the only way we might get some progress on the things that matter.

Health care.

Education.

Gay marriage.

Becoming a republic.

Fundamental political reform.

I’m not sure how much progress we can make in one election, but the only way we can make a difference, is by stacking the seats of minor parties to give them better bargaining power.

The Australian Sex Party.

The Democrats.

The Liberal Democrats.

The Secular Party.

The Greens.

Think about it when you go to the polls on Saturday.

The only way we can get Australia out of this political quagmire is to vote for a party who can make a difference.

Vote one – Australia.

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In an ordinary election I would be appalled, nay outraged!

The nerve of that man – how can he dare to call himself a reporter?!

But this is no ordinary election and Mark Latham’s conspicuous presence at Julia Gillard’s press conference in Brisbane this morning indicated another riveting plot twist in the soap opera that is the campaign trail.

Mark Latham ambushed Julia Gillard at a Brisbane press conference this morning, and asked her why the Labor campaign complained to Channel 9 about his presence at the station; (Latham is currently producing a segment for 60 Minutes).

Gillard denied having knowledge of any complaints and wished Latham the best of luck in his journalistic endeavors.

Rumour, speculation and conspiracy theories are as intrigal to the election campaign as over-simplification, rhetoric and outright lies that plague political events and the journalists that are forced to report on them.

From Tanner’s suspicious resignation, Rudd’s (until recently) noticeable absence, Rudd’s recent command of  a Brisbane press conference, to the unnamed leaker in the ranks – people have long suspected and privately hypothesized about Julia’s secret past.

On a slow news day whispers of political scandal are a valued commodity between journalists, and the politician-turn-reporter’s unwelcome presence this morning (while professionally appalling) served only to perpetuate suspicion and intrigue about just what Julia Gillard may have done to offend so many important figures in the Labor party.

Gillard and Tanner are old rivals from way back when they worked together in the Socialist Forum whose sole purpose, Crikey’s Andrew Crook reported, was to “cleanse the ALP of the last lingering vestiges of old-style command-and-control”.

It was rumoured that Gillard was unwilling to negotiate with modernisers Tanner and Kim Carr who were at the time aligned with a rival faction that was less willing to break with Labor’s past.

What kind of sordid history exists between Latham and Gillard we have yet to discover – the two worked closely together selling the controversial Medicare Gold program in the run up to the 2004 election.

In hindsight I wonder what Julia Gillard did to avoid any fallout from Latham’s unceremonious exit from the Labor party.

Whilst it is obviously shocking to me that Mark Latham would even consider attending this press conference in a professional capacity as a journalist – (ignoring the obvious conflict of interest, and 60 Minutes’ unsurprising lack of ethics) for me it is utterly fascinating – an almost guilty pleasure!

So sexy, so malevolent, one can’t help but get sucked in to the drama and intrigue.

It wasn’t just that he exposed the Labor party’s alleged complaints that Latham was now working for Channel Nine, it was that he was so willing to bide his time before asking Gillard anything at all.

He stalked, he watched, he loitered – hoping to attract the curiosity of every camera, microphone, dictaphone and notepad.

It was so creepy you couldn’t help but gaze-on – like a car crash, unable to look away from the tedious, jaw dropping, edge-of-your-seat (no pun intended) political action.

Who knows if the full story will ever come out, but Latham (and I’m sure he didn’t act alone) seems pretty hell bent on keeping her mysterious past on the agenda.

The only question is will we find out before Australia goes to the polling booths in two weeks time?

I suspect that we will, and I suspect that it will be Laurie Oakes and not Latham who finally breaks the story.

The pieces are slowly coming together and it’s only a matter of time before we will get to see the full picture.

Hopefully not too late that we can’t change our mind.

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While Laurie Oakes marvels that the new Julia sounded an awful lot like the old Julia,  Claire Connelly wants to know what on earth they did with Kevin 1.0?

It occurs to me that sometimes being too good can backfire.

Pipe down, before you think I’m growing a big head, I am referring to a one Kevin Rudd and the comments he made today in support of the Labor party (note: not Julia Gillard).

Mr Rudd was ruthless when he addressed the media in Brisbane this afternoon, where he said he honestly believed that Tony Abbott “is not up to the job of being prime minister of Australia”.

He did it all, and it was almost magical.

He gracefully acknowledged his family had been through a tough time, he bowed his head, smiled for the cameras and said he no longer wanted to be “a big ball of anger” and that he was back-on-board to support his party (so long as it didn’t impede his surgical recovery where he had his raging bile duct gallbladder removed) because he “did not want Labor’s legacy to be destroyed by Mr Abbott”.

For the first time since he even took office Kevin Rudd looked Prime Ministerial.

“Why – oh why did it take him this damn long to get into character?”, I thought.

And then – this happened:

“There is a real danger at present because of the rolling political controversy about myself that Mr Abbott is simply able to slide quietly into the office of the prime ministership,” said Rudd.

He had to do it didn’t he? He had to take it a step too far.

This one quote, was re-quoted and replayed for an entire news cycle by countless newspapers, online websites, radio disc jockeys and television presenters, in a story about Kevin Rudd making a last minute comeback, swooping down from his mighty soap box to save the very person responsible for his own demise from defeat because she just couldn’t bloody make it on her own, (fade in Raiders of the Lost Ark theme song).

This (not so well-meaning gesture) ended up doing more harm than good because Kev was too good, too smart, too eloquent -  too sassy.

For a minute everyone stopped wondering what happened to the “new Julia”, and found themselves asking “what the hell happened to Kev 1.0?”

Did the surgeon forget to put his ego back after sucking all the bile out of his system?

When they got in there did they discover that his body had integrated the Little Book of Calm?

Was he still high from the morphine?

The internet was buzzing – and why not?

People were bound to be confused – with Kevin on his game, and Julia so far off her game that she was playing snakes and ladders while the rest of us played chess, it was only a matter of time before people began to question who ought to be leading this party, (again).

It was the come back we’ve been waiting for – and I wanted to believe him.

I wanted to imagine Abbott squirming in his smitedness, and I wanted to praise Rudd’s performance, a little bit arrogant, a little bit mean,  with a subtle knowing under current designed as a silent gesture to his one-time deputy as if to say “this is how the big boys do it” – proudly taking credit for saving the Labor party from an almost inevitable death-by-numbers.

But the only thing that statement made me think of was Julia Gillard’s political thuggery.

It was his choice of words.

The phrase “slide quietly into office” – any other phrase would have done the trick but his language was so deliberate and so easy to interpret.

Rumours abounded the twittersphere about back-room deals and his appointment to the UN being conditional on him campaigning for the taxpayers party that will pay for his lifetime pension.

Online comment trolls scoffed that it was awfully rich of the guy who couldn’t even last a full term telling us that the other guy isn’t worthy of the Prime Ministership – sparking an endless shopping list of every epic Labor fail since the last election.

And without having to do anything at all Tony Abbott got a whole day’s worth of good press by simply doing nothing.

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