About

Wes, Paula and Margo are back this week for week four of the campaign, still puzzling over what parts of the week were gaffes and what was actual strategy. We start by analysing both of the major debates hosted at the National Press Club by Chris Uhlmann. First the Treasurers’ debate, which saw Treasurer Scott Morrison and his shadow, Chris Bowen, debate who had spotted the biggest black hole, and secondly the Leaders’ Debate on Sunday, which saw both Bill Shorten and Malcolm Turnbull struggle to convey who they actually are. We then turn to the media coverage of the election thus far - why are we still seeing the photos of the bus, the pre-arranged grabs and the pressers we can all get from the wires when we have veteran journalists on the trail? Why aren’t we seeing more seat specific coverage? Who cares if the PM faved your tweet? In our policy section we discuss Labor’s backflips this week which saw both the school kid’s bonus and opposition to the assets test on pensions axed as the Shorten team’s bluff was called and they had to account for their savings. Isn’t this conservative financial tactic 101? Why didn’t Labor plan for this announcement? Finally we turn to our reader question, which is this week from @pauldarcey who asked: @margokingston1 @pidginpolitics How about, Is it time we moved away from a 2-party system to a more multi-party parliament? Remember to follow @pidginpolitics on twitter so you can respond to the call out next week. And subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher to get the podcast fresh in your listening stream every week.