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.

Ms. Bishop exercised her right as deputy Liberal leader to claim the treasury prize, and becomes the first woman to hold the treasury portfolio on either side of politics. Meanwhile, the Opposition Leader has dumped Bronwyn Bishop, Jo Gash and Pat Farmer from the shadow ministry.

Malcolm Turnbull has always known what he wants, and why. He eased into the leader’s chair on Tuesday with an authority that immediately put the Government on notice that things were now going to be very, very different for it. On Turnbull’s team things will be very, very different, too. And not just because he’s leader.

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.

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 situation in New South Wales is similar to the state of affairs when Jeff Kennett came to office in 1992. For years, Victoria had been an economic basket case. Did Kennett respond, as Barry O’Farrell has done, by ignoring policy and presenting a small target? He did not. Instead, he and his supporters prepared to govern.

There is no evidence to show that the donations to the Liberal Party influenced any decision making by then-Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone or encouraged any of the politicians to contact her about the case. But the revelations raise questions about the appropriateness of political parties accepting certain donations.

Malcolm Turnbull is largely divorced from the Howard era. Coming into parliament only at the 2004 election, Turnbull was not present for the early successes, only the later failures. The intriguing test is where Turnbull takes the party. How will he reinterpret Liberal beliefs? How will he unite the conservative and liberal traditions in the one party?

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.