The Media Monitors' Top 20

The PM practically doubled media coverage from just under 9,000 mentions last week. Wade Featherstone.

The PM practically doubled media coverage from just under 9,000 mentions last week, helped in part by reporting on his Australia Day address to the nation. Kev smiled benevolently as 70’s popstar Leo Sayer pranced around the stage after taking his oath of citizenship — he just felt like dancing.

Not much change for the top five this week, but Lindsay Tanner comes in for a blinder in the top 10. The Government placed more fingers in the dyke holding back the pervasive GCF and defended pumping in $4 billion to buoy commercial property values.

Warren Truss makes some impact this week as the Nationals demand answers for the blow-out price of diesel fuel — the ACCC promised to put its teeth back in, just in time for some harsh words with those naughty people in the oil industry.

TW	Move	Position	Politician	Press Index	Radio Index	TV Index	Internet Index	Raw total	INDEX
1	0	PM	Kevin Rudd	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	*17,537*	1,000
2	0	Premier	Nathan Rees	142	305	61	305	*4,261*	203
3	2	Opp Leader	Malcolm Turnbull	191	196	212	126	*3,008*	181
4	-1	Cabinet	Julia Gillard	96	119	168	278	*3,331*	165
5	-1	Cabinet	Wayne Swan	177	198	113	108	*2,517*	149
6	32	Cabinet	Lindsay Tanner	54	259	173	36	*2,458*	131
7	7	Premier	Anna Bligh	167	129	59	41	*1,442*	99
8	-1	Cabinet	Peter Garrett	68	68	24	164	*1,691*	81
9	-1	Backbench	John Della Bosca	100	150	8	65	*1,467*	81
10	-4	Cabinet	Stephen Smith	69	81	108	30	*1,155*	72
11	13	Premier	Colin Barnett	58	96	66	21	*1,017*	60
12	8	Premier	John Brumby	74	70	49	37	*932*	58
13	*	Backbench	Tony Kelly	52	85	31	38	*932*	51
14	-4	State Minister	David Campbell	64	62	24	35	*768*	46
15	*	Upper House	Theo Theophanous	40	87	49	10	*796*	46
16	2	Premier	Mike Rann	68	64	18	26	*698*	44
17	-1	NSW Opp Ld	Barry O’Farrell	20	69	8	34	*692*	33
18	*	State Minister	Rob Hulls	43	33	29	15	*453*	30
19	36	Party leader	Warren Truss	27	53	2	6	*387*	22
20	-8	Backbench	Barnaby Joyce	39	21	3	13	*269*	19

It’s still a bit pedestrian on the talkback front — NSW Labor remains prominent in discussion for all the wrong reasons. Colin Barnett came back from his holidays to face the music as BHP Billiton closed its Ravensthorpe nickel mine — the WA Government was accused of being asleep at the wheel and ill-informed about the closure.

Rank	Politician	Talkback
1	Kevin Rudd	115
2	Nathan Rees	111
3	John Della Bosca	88
4	Colin Barnett	63
5	Barry O’Farrell	57

What a difference a break makes — Jelena Dokic returned as the great hope for women’s tennis in the Australian Open, and bowed out after a hard fought quarter final to Russia’s Dinara Safina. Fortunately Melbourne Park is strictly out of bounds for father Damir — although his mad and occasionally disturbing ranting can still be heard from Serbia.