The Opposition finally got on the front foot yesterday with its politically canny education rebate policy that trumps Labor’s uniform allowance. One wonders, though, if the Liberals might have been better announcing that policy before the campaign was called, when it would’ve got more clear air – policies announced during election suffer a devaluation from being caught up in the clutter of the campaign and suffer from a “well they would say that wouldn’t they” attitude from voters. The other thing I’d have changed was dropped the bit where Christopher Pyne spoke about learning music.

Did the Opposition under-cost its education rebate yesterday? Almost certainly. Does it matter? Not a jot. Policy costing in election campaigns is a mug’s game that Oppositions can never win. Accurate social policy costings require a Byzantine process based on large numbers of parameters, some of which change significantly if other parameters change. Without the actual up-to-date funding models used by the Department of Finance and the Budgets areas of relevant line agencies, getting it right is tremendously difficult. Labor partly addressed the problem in 2007 by building in a 10% buffer in its costings of some policies.

Now they’re doing to the Liberals what Nick Minchin used to do to them. But does it reflect at all on the Opposition’s economic literacy or readiness for Government? No way. Judge the policy itself, not the costings.

Whatever you thought of his performance, Tony Abbott was right to go on Hey Hey rather than The 7.30 Report. Why? Even the zombie format of Hey Hey rates higher than Kerry’s Corner. And 7.30 Report viewers got what they always get, Dead White Male Journalism in which two middle-aged blokes – one in the role of Inquisitor-General, the other being interrogated – play out the same old game in which the former tries to get the latter to admit the bleeding obvious and the latter refuses. Politicians and journalists might watch it and consider why both professions are regarded with something approaching contempt by the punters.

Nice production of Much Ado About Nothing mounted by Sky yesterday, switching from a Prime Ministerial speech to Kevin Rudd having an anodyne conversation with a talkative local school principal, then coming back to the studio to debate whether their decision to switch over to Rudd showed Rudd was a “distraction”. John Hewson insisted that Rudd had spoken to the principal in order to distract from Julia Gillard and Cheryl Kernot (it was obviously failed leaders’ day at Sky) claimed Rudd “knew exactly what he was doing.”

For a moment, Sky teetered on the brink of disappearing into a vortex of endless self-analysis, but luckily Sky’s reporter on the spot came on to berate Rudd for refusing to answer questions after the former PM had said before the event he wouldn’t be answering questions.

No campaigning from the leaders today as they will both be travelling to Murwillumbah for the funeral of Private Nathan Bewes. Other campaigning will continue, but don’t expect any big set pieces.