The world’s newspapers are reveling in the fact that finally there’s something interesting to report about Australia (that isn’t Pauline Hanson).

“Australia ‘next PM’ drunk in strip club?” — Times of India

Rupe masterminds Rudd strip-led election victory. Rupert Murdoch has done his part to ensure the ouster of Australian prime minister John Howard, who’s been toiling as the sad prison-island’s leader since time immemorial. In a canny feat, Murdoch sent New York Post editor Col Allan out to Scores with Kevin Rudd … [who] got reprimanded for manhandling strippers and got booted. For Australian men, this is like scoring the winning goal of a soccer match or shooting the biggest kangaroo or something. He will now receive nearly all of the heteros-xual male vote. How can we tell it’s a counterintuitive and sophisticated campaign to manage the election? The trip to Scores happened four years ago and is just being revealed now—in Murdoch’s papers. Good work, Rupe! — Gawker

“It’s Page S-x! Post editor led clean-cut pol on strip night of shame.” Portly New York Post Editor Col Allan was blamed yesterday for leading the “Capt. Perfect” of Australian politics into lap-dancing temptation – a drunken debacle that has set off a political tsunami on the other side of the world … Rudd didn’t just ogle the t-pless tarts, the bombed “bloke” was warned by the bouncers against touching dancers and for “inappropriate behavior,” the Aussie papers reported … For Murdoch, reports that Allan corrupted Rudd come as Murdoch, who is in the process of buying The Wall Street Journal, is trying to allay concerns that he will turn The Journal into a broadsheet version of the fact-challenged Post. It’s also another black eye for Allan, who is no stranger to Scores and who was accused in April by a former Page Six staffer of receiving “s-xual favors from women provided by the club in a private room.”  — Corky Siemaszko, NY Daily News 

New York Post too dignified to acknowledge the whole sordid affair. In tabloid tradition, the New York Post fattens itself on the sordid and the outrageous. S-x scandals, political scandals, and the unseemly lifestyles of the rich and famous in Manhattan are the paper’s traditional beat. But the Post‘s appetite for naughtiness knows a limit: If Post Editor in Chief Col Allan is one of the principals, then the story isn’t news… Potential heads of state who entertain themselves in such a fashion while in New York almost guarantee themselves a berth in the Post if the paper finds out about it. But today’s edition of the Post breathes not a word about the Rudd-Allan night out. Obviously Post editors and reporters knew about the event: The Sunday Telegraph, which broke the story, like the New York Post, belongs to genocidal tyrant Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, so the Post couldn’t have been uninformed about the news flash. As a participant, Allan had to have known about the incident, and he knew the story was coming. He confirmed to the Sunday Telegraph that he and Rudd had had drinks “at a gentlemen’s club and he [Rudd] behaved like a perfect gentleman.” — Jack Shafer, Slate

“Rudd fears strip club polls dive” — The Scotsman

“Labor leader caught in lap-dance club scandal – but does Australia care?” — The Times

Rudd: no longer tedious. Mr Rudd has adopted what is known in Australia as the footballers’ defence; he admits going to the club while on official visit to the UN’s New York headquarters but maintains he was so drunk that he had no recollection of what happened — although he has denied unsourced reports that he groped a stripper. While he has been steeling himself for a drop in popularity because of the revelations, political forecasts indicated that the electorate would be prepared to overlook this one lapse by a leader whose sober habits border on the tedious yesterday. — Bernard Lagan, The Times

Kevin Rudd laid bare. The revelations tarnish the image of Mr Rudd, a committed Christian, ostentatious family man and bookish former diplomat. — Kathy Marks, The Independent

Suddenly saucy. His youthful appearance, spectacles and blond quiff have earned him the nicknames Tintin and the Milky Bar Kid, but the man hoping to become Australia’s next prime minister was shown to have an unexpectedly racy streak yesterday. — Nick Squires, The Telegraph

Thank God for Queensland. [Rudd’s] shame was ameliorated after half a dozen politicians were swiftly forced to admit their own past indiscretions. The confessions came thick and fast … In Queensland, a state with a reputation for hot-blooded, blokey culture, ministers were almost falling over themselves to come clean about past shenanigans. — Nick Squires, The Telegraph (UK)

Have your say. British politicians may be unlikely to own up to similar escapades but in the City of London it is almost de rigueur to entertain clients at the capital’s fleshpots. Have strip clubs become socially acceptable or should Mr Rudd have apologised? — The Telegraph (UK)