The PM should not delay. The Reserve Bank has joined with the commercial banks in giving the Prime Minister the best possible reason to get his re-election bid over with as soon as possible. Earlier in the week Labor had to worry about Westpac boss Gail Kelly jacking up interest rates. This morning it’s the Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Philip Lowe talking as if his lot are about to proceed with forcing them up.

I am no great believer in the wisdom of the Reserve to make the right judgment about what is necessary to control inflation. Their last attempt turned out to be a case of monumentally wrong timing when they misread completely the coming global financial crisis, but doubt about the correctness of likely action by the Bank is of no help to Kevin Rudd. He is virtually powerless to stop it and the consequences of another percentage point rise in mortgage rates would severely dent public confidence in the Government’s credentials as an economic manager.

Far better to get an election out of the way as soon as possible which means the first Saturday in July. Dust off the reports of the Hawke Government’s campaign that started with budget bills still before the Senate and get on with it.

Dropped like the proverbial. With the trial held in secret it is impossible to know what Stern Hu did and did not do when negotiating iron ore contracts for his employer Rio Tinto. What we do know is that the Rio Tinto spinners have shown an unseemly haste in disassociating the company from their employee while his fate is still being decided. Leaking the stories about their own internal investigations clearing themselves while leaving doubt about Mr Hu should be a warning to all that Rio is not a nice lot to work for.

For my part I tend to be on the side of Greg Sheridan who wrote a spirited attack on the Chinese criminal justice system in The Australian this morning. “Stern Hu’s confession in a Chinese court to allegations of bribery,” wrote Sheridan, “has exactly the same moral and forensic credibility as the confessions captured journalists make in Taliban custody. The confession itself tells you absolutely nothing about Hu’s conduct. If I had been in a Chinese jail for nine months and had the prospect of earlier release with a confession or later release without one, I’d confess to anything. It’s probably as near to a plea bargain as you’ll get in the Chinese system.”

Even if Rio Tinto knows something to the contrary, a decent employer would have waited until after the verdict was delivered before encouraging the speculation that after Mr Hu is put in the slammer, as seems inevitable, his salary will be cut off.

And so it’s back to normal. State elections and a political debate were of some interest for a day or so but things have returned to earth. Here’s the list of the most read stories on the newspaper websites this morning:

Hobart Mercury – $30K crime spree sentence

Adelaide Advertiser – Threesome request ends in choking

Sydney Daily Telegraph – How Lara’s life became dog’s breakfast

Melbourne Herald Sun – Tiger on the brink of ruin

Brisbane Courier Mail – Where Qld’s biggest earners live

Sydney Morning Herald – M7 horror: driver may have pulled over to use his phone

Melbourne Age – Unlucky Melbourne soccer fan an overnight sensation – four years later

The Australian – China sends a message, and we tremble and obey

The West Australian – Insurers taking cars on the spot

I regret to say that that journal of record the Northern Territory News does not provide us with one of those most read summaries but I would be very surprised if this did not lead the way if it did:

Northern Territory News – NT miners set to ride ‘shag bus’