Labor’s internal battle for Norfolk Island. There is an ALP stoush in Canberra between Bob McMullan and Jon Stanhope over their political futures. Both are vying for the position of administrator of Norfolk Island, and awaiting on the outcome of the election. The left of the ALP are hoping that Stanhope wins the day, but will have to contest with a growing agitation in the right that their representation has been shunned.

The Greens’  SA dynasty. The Greens’ lead Senate candidate in South Australia is Penny Wright. No one seems to be willing to reveal that she is the wife of the Greens’ state parliamentary leader, Mark Parnell. A political family dynasty is about to be created with no public knowledge.

David Jones moves forward with rebrand. First it changed media agencies, then it changed CEOs, now it has changed its creative advertising agency, and soon will David Jones change its public “face” Miranda Kerr as well? It’s been a turbulent few months for David Jones and it might need to start afresh? Its new spring 2010 catalogue featuring Kerr has a massive David Jones logo that takes up about half the page. Noticeably, there is no mention of the catchcry “there is no other store”. It is a major branding change for DJs.

Ongoing IT bungles at ATO. It seems that the bungled IT overhaul at the Australian Tax Office has affected the most vulnerable in our society: students and those receiving social security payments. Tax returns received via E-Tax are not being processed or are being done manually. Whirlpool forums are buzzing with annoyed taxpayers (more than 55 pages in one thread alone. No response received by the Tax Office. Anecdotally, there has been a huge spike in complaints.

Doggone, our quarantine is lax. I have just returned from overseas and when I unpacked I found that I had inadvertently brought into the country foodstuffs that were prohibited. Perhaps the sniffer dogs at the airports need retraining?