Clive Palmer announces a tilt at federal politics (and new cruise ship plans), Twiggy Forrest has another crack at Wayne Swan and Bill Shorten becomes an internet sensation.

The Labor government’s lost the authority and audience to deliver a compelling, influential message – and has handed the ability to dictate the national debate to the Opposition in the process.

Singapore names an orchid after the PM, Rudd shines on Weibo, Nine scores a rare victory.

If there's an engine room of political power in Australia, it's cabinet. And like most engine rooms, it's hidden out of sight, its operations little understood by the rest of us.

It seems everyone's got an opinion about the Reserve Bank of Australia at the moment, with a swarm of Labor-aligned special interests ganging up to tell the central bank how it should act on interest rates.

Political power in Canberra has become harder than ever to effectively use, so who's got the skills, popularity and support to wield it best? We're currently counting down the Top 10 most powerful and influential people in Canberra. Here, Bernard Keane presents the shortlist.

It's flack against flack as PR legend John Connolly sues Libs polling king Mark Textor over an errant 140 characters.

The Stop the Loss Coalition -- which includes churches, The Salvation Army and activist group GetUp! – hopes the ads will encourage Julia Gillard to strengthen her poker machine reform legislation by adopting a $1 bet limit and/or a pre-commitment scheme.

Ray Hadley celebrates 30 years in radio, Janet Albrechtsen dusts off The Latham Diaries, Alan Jones spruiks for his buddy James Packer.

Veteran ALP spin doctor Bruce Hawker has admitted he's unlikely to work on Labor's next federal election campaign after playing a starring role in Kevin Rudd's disastrous leadership challenge.

It's been an emphatic victory for Julia Gillard in the leadership ballot held by Labor this morning, with the prime minister defeating Kevin Rudd in the caucus vote 71 votes to 31.

The family that campaigns together, stays together. And so it's been in the brutal ALP leadership battle, with Kevin Rudd sending forth his wife Therese Rein and daughter Jess Rudd to help drum up people power in support of his extraordinary comeback tilt.

Kevin Rudd stepped up the leadership battle this morning, taking a swipe at Julia Gillard over promises he claims she made in the hours prior to the 2010 midnight coup, and labeling the race for the Australian prime ministership as a matter of trust and confidence.

Mark Textor is the most domineering, divisive pollster this country's ever seen – and the most powerful. Even his Labor adversaries admit no-one on their side of politics can match him.

The show has moved on and so should Kevin Rudd, Labor frontbencher Simon Crean said this morning, adding that Julia Gillard should initiate a frank discussion with the Foreign Minister, and consider sacking him.

ABC managing director Mark Scott has stood by the broadcaster's dumping of former political reporter Glenn Milne. Scott says Milne's case is entirely different to that of re-employed journo Peter Lloyd, who lost his job when he was arrested for drug possession in Singapore.

Controversial columnist Glenn Milne was dropped from the ABC's Insiders program last year because he was a high editorial risk, according to the broadcaster.

The state of politics today is like making love with no satisfaction at the end, says billionaire business tycoon Lindsay Fox.

Julia Gillard may have been thinking about Rupert Murdoch when she told Channel 7 last night that leadership tensions in the ALP were endlessly fascinating to some, but there was no need for a leadership vote.

It isn't such a bad thing for Julia Gillard – and her newly-imported communications guru John McTernan – that yesterday's much-hyped speech to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce has been overshadowed by leadership speculation and Gina Rinehart's Fairfax raid. Soaring oratory it wasn't.