Come back, Kevin, enough is forgiven. Let me stop pussy-footing around. There will be a Labor leadership change. And most probably Kevin Rudd will be drafted. And if I’m proved wrong and Julia Gillard stays on until the next election? Well listen to the song in my next item that her colleagues will be singing on election night.

The loyal defenders. Craig Emerson, Penny Wong and Greg Combet had the dubious honour this morning of getting out to defend the indefensible.

  • “Her job is safe because she is a leader with gutsy determination,” Trade Minister Emerson told Sky News, adding there was “zero” disquiet within caucus over Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s decision-making.
  •  Gillard came to the view that the standing of the parliament had reached the point where she needed to act and she did. “We don’t have trial by politicians in this country, but that had to be balanced against what was occurring in terms of the reputation of the parliament,” Finance Minister Wong told Network Ten.
  • For Climate Change Minister Combet on ABC radio the two scandals involving backbencher Craig Thomson and the Speaker Peter Slipper were “distractions” that needed to be cleared up. It was frustrating the issues were overshadowing the government’s hard work and strong reform agenda. “To be frank, I’m fed up with it,” he declared.

If the trio really mean what they said, I recommend they form a musical trio and, with just a few alterations to the lyrics, record this as the new Labor caucus theme song:

The biggest loser. Tony Abbott might be laughing now but his demeanour will be more sombre when the joke ends. For he, we should note, is every bit as unpopular with the masses as the woman Kevin Rudd should replace.

Where are they living? There must be an awful lot of parents still with their ageing kids at home. Figures from the Housing Industry Association out today show that a declining number of them are buying their own. New home sales in March fell to their lowest level for a decade.

What’s six and a half million between economists? Just the extra number of people throughout the world that the International Labour Organisation estimates will be out of work this year compared with last.

Some news and views noted along the way.

  • In memoriam: After years of health problems, Facts has finally died.
  • Sachin Tendulkar goes to bat in the Indian upper house
  • I didn’t get the 50 million, says Sarkozy
  • Outlawing s-x for teenagers
  • A warning: it’s risky to do the dirty on your dentist
  • Get thee to a nunnery.