A lot of movement in this week, with the focus on counter-terrorism measures, potential Australian military involvement in Iraq and the concern over Russian troop movements in the Ukraine moving Foreign Minister Julie Bishop up to third, Defence Minister David Johnston up to sixth and Attorney-General George Brandis up to 11th. The Greens’ strong opposition to any military deployment moved their leader Christine Milne into the top ten. Independent MP Andrew Wilkie was also vociferous in his criticism of the Government’s moves to provide assistance to US operations in Iraq.

Meanwhile the Opposition has supported everything so far, with no movement at all in the list for Foreign Affairs spokesperson Tanya Plibersek or Defence spokesperson Stephen Conroy. Deputy PM Warren Truss seems to have mainly moved up the list for allegedly nodding off.

The repeal of the mining tax seemed to have little effect on overall coverage, with the resulting freeze on superannuation increases getting more interest, but still not much. Taking thousands away from money you won’t see for 20 years or more seems a much easier sell than increasing your fuel price by a cent or two or paying $7 to go to the doctor. The last main mover was Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews, who pulled out of the controversial World Congress of Families conference the day before he was due to speak.

Crikey Political Index: August 28 – September 3

Political chatter stayed at a pretty low hum on talkback where local issues tended to dominate, although Prime Minister Tony Abbott received plenty of support for both counter-terrorism measures and military support in Iraq.

Talkback Top Five

PUP Leader Clive Palmer is still cranking over 10,000 social mentions a week, while almost all comment on terrorism or Iraq seems to focus on Tony Abbott, with Julie Bishop under a tenth of his mentions and David Johnston nowhere to be seen.

Social Media Top Five

There have already been claims that some younger people are starting to “de-digitise” their life to restore a basic level of privacy. Will the hacking of private accounts of actress Jennifer Lawrence and others accelerate that?

Comparison of media mentions