The cost of having your ticket clipped. Evidence that anyone who puts their superannuation money into one of those retail funds run by insurance companies, banks and the like is costing themselves a fortune, has been provided by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. The government body has just released its annual super bulletin, which compares results for corporate funds, industry funds, public sector funds and retail funds. The APRA figures show clearly that the retail funds — the ones that take their fees as a percentage of the money they manage — have performed far worse than the not-for-profit sector managers.

A Springborg mistake. Queensland Liberal National Party leader Lawrence Springborg just could not contain himself yesterday when the Newspoll came out showing him in front. He just had to start skiting about how he would win this month’s election. Premier Anna Bligh should be delighted at her opponent’s optimism. A pre-requisite for Labor rallying in the closing stages of this campaign is for voters to think that she really is in danger of being beaten.

Crikey Queensland Election Indicator: Labor 68% Liberal National Party 32%.

Missing the salacious detail. I must be reading the wrong newspapers, but I found very little that was lecherous or lustful in the reports of yesterday’s Coalition party room meeting. And there’s nothing arousing or appealing to sexual desire when Nick Minchin frowns and lectures journalists about “salaciously … trying to play up what I believe are not differences” as he did this morning. I reckon s-x should be kept out of political reporting, especially when it involves he whose leadership ambitions I refuse to mention. The good old fashioned “beat up” is the fitting description for this treatment of the so-called story by the Oz: