Planning for change? As the PM’s woes worsen, there’s an amused bureaucratic buzz around Canberra that asks if Peter Shergold, the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, has redeemed himself by overseeing an APEC program which allowed Rudd to strut around and look like the experienced world leader as he did. Admiration is being expressed for whoever got Rudd into the action. No doubt there will be plenty of suitable vacancies for a public servant of such sound judgement after the election.

World exclusive: Peter Costello actually stands for something. Dollar Sweetie will revisit Dollar Sweets and the IR battleground when he launches the book Fair Choices: Flexibility and negotiating power in the work place by author Paul Monk and the Institute of Public Affairs later in the month.

Priorities. The Queensland Liberals still owe Australia Post 100 grand from the state poll, have about eight federal seats at risk, but top their priority, it seems, is the Gold Coast City Council. The short statures Liberal Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman, has been walking tall after being IDed as a future federal star recruit in a weekend media story. Why would he move? After the election, he’ll probably be the last Liberal left in a position of power in the nation?

The campaign online. Prime Media’s site federalelection.com.au is raising a few eyebrows in the wonk community. It’s generally understood that it is prohibited by law to register a business name with the word “federal” without a high-level sign-off or exemption. It seems strange that in a federal election year someone in the bureaucracy would let a commercial enterprise do this. On another front, the ALP is demonstrating just how far ahead of the Government it is with online campaigning. Their Howard Facts site come up high in Google searches when you key in the words “federal election”. The Libs are nowhere to be seen.

You might say that… John Howard has talked to his family. They seem to take a harder line than even Francis Urquhart’s. Elizabeth Urquhart admitted: “Nothing lasts forever. Even the longest, the most glittering reign must come to an end someday.”