State (and local!) politicians dominate, as you would expect this week, with Kevin Rudd down to a lowly eighth. The new premier of NSW neck and neck with the PM on media mentions this week after he snuck over the line by 25 seats and the Labor Party immediately fell into the self-obsessed infighting that largely got them to this position in the first place. John Robertson is an interesting image to present to NSW punters under these circumstances, but I’m sure they know what they’re doing… don’t they?

While the naturally risk averse O’Farrell contemplates dealing with all those Hunter, Illawarra and Western Sydney MPs desperate not to be oncers, the Queensland conservatives, being the funky-hipster-rule-breakers that they are have stepped outside the parliament altogether to get the popular Brisbane Mayor Campbell Newman to run as de facto Opposition Leader without a seat — well it worked for Rudy Giuliani, didn’t it?

Big increase for Tony Abbott, and Bob Brown makes the list as well this week after the protest about the protest, many talkback comperes trying to steer an increasingly narrow course between righteous indignation and what many of their older listeners would call plain old bad manners.

You could remember the mesmerising beauty of her youth, the decent acting of her middle age, her work to destigmatise AIDS or the many excesses of her personal life…but overall a pretty impressive effort for a life spent almost entirely in the spotlight.