The ALP’s GST policy, to be released by Rudd this coming Thursday, is going to include an exemption from GST for “female sanitary products”, that is pads and tampons. Although the words “rollback” are not going to be mentioned, the ALP also intends to exempt a few other household items from the GST.

My son and his friends are trying to enrol by Wednesday… it’s impossible. Cannot get through to the numbers.

That kid who cracked the Government’s internet p-rn filter has got a blog – in the first post (scroll down) he analyzes the Government’s NetAlert Internet Safety initiative and confirms in a credible form that it is a load of garbage that’s really not gonna help kids at all… it contains tonnes of brilliant stuff about what a politically motivated waste of money it is and what would really work.

At 8am Sunday the breaking news section of The Australian website carried the headline ’10am PM visits the GG.’ This news was (a) in the future, and (b) was not being carried by the ABC. Perhaps it is conventional for the PM to visit the GG at 10am in such circumstances, or perhaps The Australian has a press release no-one else has.

What’s the story with the seat of Longman?! I returned from Canberra recently to change my electoral roll details and what was Longman has been changed to Fisher! What’s the story there, there is a whole tranch of grey and other voters who are expecting to vote for Mal Brough but do not realize that the redistribution has gone through and will be in for a rude shock when they find out on election day that their member has changed to the Hon. Peter Slipper.

The Herald Sun has published a fake article crafted by an internet hoaxer from the Fred Thompson message boards: Someone didn’t do their research!

Patricia Petersen, karate black belt and “s-xpert” will be running against Tony Abbott again.

How many companies are delaying handing out the Workplace Factsheets until the last minute? I received mine (in the mail) on Friday 12 October – according to the Workplace Authority they need to be distributed before the 20th!

What’s even more interesting is the mess Mr Xenophon leaves behind. Just last year he was elected promising an eight year agenda in SA’s Upper House. His strong personal support saw more than 190,000 South Australians vote for him – so many that the ‘Accidental MP’ anti-drug campaigner Ann Bressington, who was in the supposedly unwinnable 2nd spot on his ticket also got elected with his left over quota. The trouble is, there’s a “party” led by Bressington who only got 32 first preference votes across the entire state – and who just a few months ago was questioning whether she would stick it out for the full eight years. No wonder there are a few voters in Adelaide feeling a but betrayed by the affable Mr X. And then there’s the tricky constitutional question of who will fill his casual vacancy in the Upper House. John Darley, the former Valuer-General who was in the absolutely unwinnable third spot on the Xenophon ticket looks like he’ll be warming the red leather for the remaining seven years of Mr X’s term. But Mr X should be ok .. if he’s successful at his tilt at Canberra, the anti gravy-train campaigner will be eventually be entitled to both a Federal and State Parliamentary pension, as well as getting the income from his law firm that continues to operate in Adelaide. The millionaire politician with the common touch.

Melbourne’s RMIT has put staff in Building 11 in extreme danger. Last week a 30+ year old airconditioning system was removed from the building and a substantial amount of dirt and dust fell on the staff in the office. Staff were contacted at home last night to be advised that the materials that fell on them contained asbestos.