The Prime Minister today defended the trip as in the national interest, and received some unlikely support today from Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, who said now was the time to talk to world leaders in the wake of the global financial crisis. But Liberal frontbencher Eric Abetz said this morning: “Kevin747 seems to be a very good little tagline for him. It’s, unfortunately, indicative of what he’s been doing in recent times.”

Although the primary vote did not change outside the margin of error of the latest Newspoll survey, taken on the weekend, the Coalition did register its best performance since the election with a primary vote of 38 per cent, up one point, compared with Labor’s 42 per cent, down two points. The two-party-preferred support was back to the levels of mid-July, with the Coalition on 45 per cent and Labor on 55.

A dull, drone-like dependability masks the political and policy fire and brimstone within Kevin Rudd. He wanted to make the voter transition from the dull but reliable John Howard to himself seamless. Now, 10 months later, we are stuck with - you guessed it - dull but mostly reliable.

Kevin Rudd’s week-long visit to New York to address the UN General Assembly will mark his second visit to the US this year. Labor has been in office for about 300 days and the new Prime Minister has spent 50 of them overseas. Former prime minister John Howard spent 18 nights overseas in his first year.

Kevin Rudd will use his visit to the United States to meet a variety of economic officials, which he believes will be crucial in helping Australia deal with the fallout from the US turmoil. The prime minister has come in for criticism for his decision to head off on the three-day visit when the Australian economy is on a rollercoaster of its own.

Labor’s substitute for WorkChoices, which it calls Forward With Fairness, is no counter-revolution. In a way, it’s more an attempt to make WorkChoices more efficient, the sort of prescription that John Howard might have gone for had he not been overwhelmed by the desire to leave behind a profound ideological mark.

A Melbourne jury had that morning acquitted four people of terrorism charges but convicted six others after a trial spread over seven months. Now the Attorney-General was calling the Canberra press gallery together to crow about the convictions. They were, he said, “the most successful terrorist prosecution this country has seen”.

The federal Health Minister’s remarks indicate the Rudd Government is thinking of using financial disincentives to drive doctors to relinquish their monopoly on procedures which can be done safely by other professionals, such as delivering babies, issuing repeat prescriptions and wound management.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his Government’s mission was “for Australia to be the most Asian literate nation in the western world”. Mr. Rudd told the OzAsia symposium in Adelaide that the future of Australia was “tied to the most dynamic region in the world”.

The Rudd Government is concerned that taxpayer-funded relief from the Exceptional Circumstances scheme is being collected by farmers who had saved money in Farm Management Deposit accounts. The accounts, introduced by the Howard government, give farmers tax breaks if they put money aside in good times ready for later use.