Time I showed my face

Political drama had my attention fixed on TV all day. The bungling Australian Labor Government has been in disarray for a long time, and today Prime Minister Julia Gillard was cornered - by one of her own Ministers - into throwing the party leadership positions open.

It was generally expected that her predecessor, Kevin Rudd, himself rolled as PM by Gillard and her supporters in an earlier mid-term coup, would win the day. But his backers miscalculated the numbers - and he himself bottled it - leaving Gillard unopposed in Caucus and back in The Lodge without a vote being needed.

Be that as it may, she has little or no chance of leading Labor to victory in the next Federal Election, due in September. The conservative Liberal-National Coalition, led by one Tony Abbott, will be back in power. That's the mood of the country, believe me.

In all the excitement, I failed to venture outdoors for a blip, which is why, when it fizzled out, I put my head under the new Abukra I bought earlier in the week. My old Akubra is 11 years old and, though it has a good bit of wear in it yet, I felt justified in treating myself to a new one.