Gillard’s IR test: first Qantas, now nurses. Stand by for another bruising Qantas-style dispute, this time involving Victoria’s 32500 public sector nurses, who are fighting cuts in nurse-patient ratios and a plan to introduce lower paid “assistants” to do some of their work.

Prepare, too, for a public battle between opposition leader Tony Abbott and former industrial relations minister Peter Reith, who wants the Coalition to toughen its stance on strikes and industrial disputes. You can expect the first blows to be landed tonight, when Reith is on the panel for Q&A. — Paul Barry (read the full story here)

What are Keating, Howard and Rudd up to? It’s probably not surprising how regularly our old leaders pop up in the media, especially when they’ve got a book to sell or some leadership speculation to quash.

Here’s a rundown of the movements of our last three prime ministers … — Tom Cowie (read the full story here)

‘Sorry to you’: Bolt blasts blog moderation. Conservative crusader Andrew Bolt has slammed the moderation of comments on his blog as a “dangerous state of affairs in a democracy”.

Over the weekend Bolt, who was named The Power Index‘s most powerful Megaphone earlier this year, announced to his blog readers that “for legal self-protection, I am not able to moderate my blog any longer. All comments must go through our moderating team”. Bolt used to moderate the blog himself, with assistance from his wife Sally Morrell and other News Limited staffers. — The Power Index (read the full story here)