Who ever
would have thought the Australian Women’s Weekly would end up at the centre of
political controversy? That’s exactly what’s happened in Tasmania.

The
Hobart Mercuryreports today:

A cosy two-day interview with Premier Paul
Lennon and his family at their historic Broadmarsh home has been scrapped from
the February issue of the Australian Women’s Weekly. The magazine’s editor, Deborah Thomas, confirmed at the weekend that the
feature article on Mr Lennon at home would not be included in the next issue,
due out tomorrow.

The Tasmanian Government is playing down
the withdrawal of a feature article on the Premier from the Packer-owned
magazine, but the opposition parties have questioned whether the pre-election
feature was connected to the PBL-Betfair betting exchange deal, the ABC reports.

The Tasmanian Liberals are chasing details of
government discussions with the Packer-owned company under article
freedom of information laws.

Controversy over Lennon’s $10,000 upgrade
at PBL’s Crown Hotel just before the announcement of the Betfair deal continues
to rage.

The latest developments give Lennon further
reason to head to the polls earlier and put other matters on the agenda. And
that’s what all the hints from Tassie say he’s doing.