A new Essential Research poll has the Victorian election too close to call. And in NSW Labor faces a huge swing - though perhaps not as bad as expected.
November, 2010
Murray Murmurings: postcard from Mildura
Many of these family farmers have had it tough for years, knocked around by the drought, commodity prices dropping, exchange rates increasing and the whims of consumer tastes, writes Simon O’Connor, the Australian Conservation Foundation’s economic adviser
Qantas staff ‘brilliant’ in a really dire emergency
If there is one incident top of mind for Qantas and other A380 operators today it is the Air France Concorde disaster of July 25, 2000, when debris punctured a fuel tank on takeoff from Paris and it crashed with the loss of all 109 people on board and killed a further four on the ground.
Westpac’s Labor insiders go to work in Canberra
Westpac has turned to two former Labor staffers to represent it in Canberra as the heat comes on to regulate the banks.
Good timing or did Packer get the inside running on Ten deal?
When did James Packer know of the buyout proposal? It was, as we have seen from his buying, extremely market-sensitive. Was this inside information?
The Brumby Dump: family help centre struggling to meet needs
A centre that helps some of Victoria’s most vulnerable families with parenting issues is understaffed and underfunded, writes Swinburne journalism student Russell Davis.
Locals’ response to new detention centres — not in my backyard
The decision to hold 1900 people in Inverbrackie and Northam appears to have provoked only one response — not in my backyard.
wankley And the Wankley goes to … the Daily Tele’s mobile radiation shield story
Wherever he was on Thursday, Stephen Fenech’s ears must have been burning, but it wasn’t because of harmful electromagnetic radiation from his mobile phone.
Up close and personal with Margaret Andrews
Author Benjamin Law is all for public debate. He’s all for feisty discussion. But the bizarre confrontation in the queue for a book signing with Margaret Andrews, wife of government minister Kevin Andrews, at this week’s national conference for Family Relationships Services Australia took the cake.
Gottliebsen: why BHP’s Potash bid failed
BHP Billiton has failed in three major corporate thrusts. Each time it has made serious mistakes, writes Robert Gottliebsen of Business Spectator.
US dope referendum to get rolled
Just minutes ago, it looked like California’s referendum to legalise and tax marijuana, the “most widely used illicit substance in the world”, was heading for a defeat, writes freelance writer Luke Miller.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: The banks’”because they can” pricing
Crikey readers have their say.
Morning Market Report: Markets continue climb
The S&P 500 climbed above the 1200 level for the first time in two years a day after the Federal Reserve announced its $600bn quantitative easing plan.
Daily Proposition: Daily Proposition: listen to an album that Drones
I’ve been listening to Drones frontman Gareth Liddiard’s Strange Tourist for a couple of weeks but I don’t think I really appreciated it until I happened to be listening to it in the recovery room after a recent operation on my knee. When I came to in the post-op room the pain was excruciating, but the docs […]
Media briefs: ABC foreign affairs … Qld’s new papers … Seven packed with Rafters …
In today’s Media Briefs, ABC outlines bureau changes, Quest launches new Sunshine papers, Channel Seven almost gets a Wankley for their Packed to the Rafters coverage, the government is listening to social media and more…
Political snippets: Will Qantas rue missed warning?
Qantas will not be able to argue that there was no warning about the engine damage that sent its Flight QF32 limping back to Singapore yesterday.
Video of the Day: The Michael Jackson haunted house
Michael Jackson is back … in haunted house form! This innovative Thriller light show, which must have cost a pretty penny, is a spectacular sight to see — but we wouldn’t want to be the neighbours.
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours
Race out the door at Herald Sun. The day after the Melbourne Cup, the Herald Sun has apparently told its sports department that two racing reporters will be made redundant. Managing editor Peter Blunden is a huge punter so you wonder if he would support it. Simon Pristel, meanwhile, hates racing and the fact the paper […]
Crikey Says: Crikey says: did we mention Lachlan Murdoch?
When it comes to concentration of media ownership in Australia, the more things change the more they stay the same.
album reviews 
Gareth Liddiard, Strange Tourist — dark and grinding
Strange Tourist consists of Gareth Liddiard accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, singing long songs with clever lyrics documenting the political and the personal. It’s not an album that you necessarily enjoy but it is nevertheless rewarding, writes Tim Dunlop.
Yahoo declares: the internet would have passed Prop 19
Marijuana legalization bill Proposition 19 was voted down at the midterm elections, but a survey conducted by Yahoo claims wider web users are more sympathetic towards smokeable greenery and would have passed it with a 55% majority.
US midterm elections 
Measuring the midterms ‘enthusiasm gap’
This year’s US midterm elections arrived without the fanfare and razzmatazz of the 2008 Presidential election. Measuring the ‘enthusiasm gap’ is tricky and varies from state to state but provides some interesting results, write Nate Silver.
