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This week on Pidgin Politics Paula, Margo and Wes try to follow the flow on preferences, which - after weeks of scolding the Greens for allegedly planning to do the same - saw the ALP make a deal with the Liberal party which would see Labor preferences above the Greens in all seats for the low, low price of preferencing the Libs above the Nats in some regional seats that are sure to cause ructions in the Coalition. Why is it okay for Labor to do deals but not the Greens? And what’s going on in the Coalition? Does it matter if the Greens get Labor preferences in the end? We then turn to the revelation that Liberal party MPs have been using their tax-payer funded electorate allowances to pay for “feedback” software - which tracks voters’ comments and intentions - from a company that has donated significantly to the party in recent years. And apparently electorate office staffers have been doing free work for Parakeelia, the company that provides the software, too. Finally we talk NBN - the Labor party is bringing it back to the table for the election, albeit in a hobbled form. In the context of a tight budget argument that playing out at this election, is this the right time to propose more costs? Or if you’re going to back a popular policy should you aim to hit it out of the park and damn the costs? Remember to follow @pidginpolitics on twitter so you can respond to our call-out for questions each week.  And subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher to get the podcast fresh in your listening stream every week.