The New South Wales election saw a swing not only in seats but in broadcast coverage for Premier Mike Baird, ahead of PM Tony Abbott this week in both television and radio, with NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley coming not far behind in third following Saturday’s vote. Baird is unlikely to drop far in coming weeks as his pledges for electricity privatisation, infrastructure, and jobs remain in the media spotlight; and with the coalition’s ‘L Plater’ campaign against Foley in mind, it’s unlikely he’ll surface much here until he earns a full license.

Queensland MP Billy Gordon and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk are the big movers this week, after Gordon failed to disclose his extensive criminal history and, after new assault allegations emerged, was fired from the Labor Party. He is deliberating his position in state parliament.

As Deputy PM, Warren Truss gave good radio with his announcement of new flight security rules for Australian aircraft, following the fatal Germanwings crash. Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop fell out of our top five as funding cut rumours fell to the wayside, while mounting budget rhetoric keeps Treasurer Joe Hockey in fourth place as we head closer to its release.

Finally, Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen ricocheted into our top 20 discussing a possible bank deposit tax, while the Federal Government metadata laws passing the Senate saw Attorney-General George Brandis getting some more practice at explaining exactly what metadata is.

Crikey Political Index: March 26 – April 1

Talkback focussed on state politics as the election came and went.

Talkback Top Five

 

With ‘the onion’ incident happening nearly three weeks ago, the PM retains first place on our social index as discussions turn to other (possibly more eye-watering) matters.

Social Media Top Five

 

As the recently-announced successor to Jon Stewart in The Late Show, Trevor Noah was bound to come under scrutiny. It’s just a shame he didn’t go through his Twitter feed and delete all those bigoted posts from yesteryear before then. Or is it?

Comparison of media mentions