It’s been a week of leadership tension for the Liberal Party: Brendan’s earnestness v Malcolm’s ego. How best to capture the mood?

Through the time-honoured medium of animated fable of course. Here’s what Crikey’s First Dog On The Moon made of the Liberal week that was. (Click on the image to watch)

Meanwhile, the latest Roy Morgan poll puts paid to the growing suggestion, created by agitated oldies and the health insurance industry, that the Budget did the Government no favours. Instead, it shows an old-fashioned Budget bounce of 4.5% for the Government, sending it back to the sort of stratospheric 2PP lead it enjoyed in the early part of the year – 60.5%-39.5%. The poll also shows an increase in the number of respondents who feel Australia is “headed in the right direction”.

The poll was conducted last weekend, after Brendan Nelson’s Budget Reply but before Malcolm Turnbull’s leaked email criticism emerged to wreck whatever momentum Nelson had managed to achieve. Why wait until after Gippsland, Malcolm?