If both parties can come to agreement it raises the prospect of a bipartisan report that for the first time in the country’s history recommends the introduction of legislatively mandated caps on campaign spending. The model that has committee members most interested is the “cap and gap” system used in Canada.

The Labor-commissioned review of the Howard government’s work-for-welfare reforms also calls for single parents looking after a disabled child to be elevated to a $38-a-week higher pension payment. Under the current welfare-to-work rules, single parents are forced off the pension and on to the dole to look for work when their youngest child turns eight. The report recommends this should be changed so parents can do some training to get better jobs.

Here’s a rare look into the world of campaign financing in Australia. It comes in the form of an offer document to the corporate sector being circulated by Labor HQ in the interests of raising money for the party. And on any measure it’s Kevin Rudd who’s up for sale.