ABC host sailing close to the wind. Which ABC radio host in a capital city put to air stories on two separate days last week about residential high-rise development in the inner city, without telling listeners she actually lives in the area? No declaration of interest by the host in the slightest way. The stories, which included interviews, sailed very close to a breach of ABC editorial policies and code of conduct.

Biography for Emerson’s ex? The ALP is sweating on rumours that Craig Emerson’s former wife is keen to unload about the woman who is now PM. There are desperate efforts being made to make sure that any angst is bottled up until August 22, and then for a biographer to be given the job of presenting the failed relationship “in context” in a sympathetic biography.

The not-so-missing Higgins candidate. A Liberal Party campaign volunteer in the Melbourne seat of Higgins was overheard telling a potential early voter late last week that there was no Labor candidate in the seat, when of course Labor’s candidate is Tony Clark, a Vision Australia manager who got publicity alongside the Kooyong Labor candidate last week as both candidates happen to be blind. It might have been an idea for someone to let the Liberal campaigner in on the secret, so that she wasn’t blindsided.

NBN comes at a premium … NBN tender submissions are due this Friday for key pieces of the back office business systems. Feedback is that the systems and functionality being requested by the NBN are seen as “Rolls-Royce” with all the bells and whistles. It doesn’t make much sense when it is a wholesale-only model and could be rolled out cheaper.

… and keeps you warm. Why is no one comparing broadband penetration rates verses winter temperatures? Colder climates have greater broadband penetration. Australia has strong broadband penetration relative to its climate.

Sending pilots offshore. There’s a pilot meeting on August 23 at the Sydney Rowers club at 1pm to discuss “off shoring” the pilot workforce from Australia to foreign shores by one of Australia’s ‘leading’ low-cost airlines.