Six months after gaining control, the consortium bidding for Qantas will, increase the cost of the frequent flyer program by 50%. A ticket worth 100,000 points will cost you 150,000 points.

Rumours abound that the new editor of the Manly Daily has been parachuted in to reclaim Manly and Pittwater, which are both held by independents, for the Liberals. Rumours that the new editor, Kathy Lipari, has a connection to one of John Howard’s staffers. Since her arrival the independents are getting no media and the Libs are getting daily puff pieces accompanied by Rob Stokes and Michael Baird appearing bare-chested on the beach.

Nowhere in the reasons for the appointment of Ian Macfarlane to the Woolies Board was there any mention that the former RBA Governor was also the Chairman of the RBA’s Payments System Board for the past eight years – something that a company responsible for a substantial chunk of all payments made in Australia might have been expected to value.

The acronym for the Department of Finance and Administration is DoFA – except within the Department, where the Secretary, very well aware of how it is read, insists that the Dept refer to itself as “Finance”. Even better, however, is the acronym for the Minister of Finance and Administration – generally known as the MoFA. Which is sort of convenient, in a way, because that’s how he’s referred to around the Department in any event.