Mr Abbott blamed the Labor Party for the focus on his persona rather than policies.

"What we are seeing is an orchestrated campaign from the Labor Party to try to play the man and not the ball," he said.

"We saw a classic case of this on the weekend, you had the prime minister tweeting best wishes to me as I was involved in a major community event while you had his ministers out there, in what was plainly an orhcestrated way, suggesting that there was something wrong with a senior politician competing in a triathlon."

Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time

By JOHN M. BRODER

From the ABC

Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce says comments he made yesterday poking fun at the Productivity Commission were meant to be ironic.

In his new role as Opposition spokesman for regional development, infrastructure and water, Senator Joyce has been quick to have a crack at the Government.

But already he has had to qualify his comments.

Yesterday he joked that he used Productivity Commission reports when he runs out of toilet paper.

"These people actually did read the Productivity Commission reports," he said. "I use them when I run out of toilet paper, but they actually use them."

Rattled Rudd in fear, says Abbott
STEPHANIE PEATLING POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

 

KEVIN RUDD is ''rattled'' by the Coalition's resurgence and ''is in fear of his political life'', Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.

The Vatican has denied the Catholic Church covered up a case of a priest accused of molesting 200 deaf boys in the US from the 1950s to the 1970s.

It has been alleged the Vatican ordered a church trial of Father Lawrence Murphy be stopped, after the priest wrote a letter to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - now Pope Benedict.

Arthur Budzinski, 61, says he was repeatedly molested at the St John's School for the Deaf in suburban Milwaukee 40 years ago.

His daughter Gigi says it has had a huge impact on the whole family.

From the ABC

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has denied Barnaby Joyce was forced to stand down from the finance portfolio after being white-anted by some of his own colleagues.

Senator Joyce was sacked from the Opposition finance portfolio yesterday, with Victorian Liberal Andrew Robb getting the job as Mr Abbott reshuffled his frontbench.

This morning Senator Joyce took another swipe at anonymous Coalition figures who he says have mounted an anonymous briefing campaign against him.

"Obviously it's disappointing when you have colleagues who are anonymous," he told ABC2.

Former Federal Treasurer Peter Costello has declared the Coalition is back in the political game under Tony Abbott's leadership.

The Opposition Leader has dumped Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce from the finance portfolio, replacing him with Victorian Liberal Andrew Robb.

Labor has attacked the move, saying Mr Abbott lacks economic credibility for not dumping Senator Joyce sooner, while the Coalition says the Government should feel threatened.

‘Everything will be shit’ including the BBC if David Cameron becomes PM, says Stephen Moffat

 

By Rachel Helyer Donaldson

The boss of one of the BBC's biggest shows has launched an extraordinary attack on the Conservative party, saying that a win for David Cameron's party would see the "brilliant" BBC turn to "shit".

10 states line up to sue over health bill, Florida AG says

 

(CNN) -- Ten states plan to file a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new health care reform bill, Florida's attorney general announced Monday.

 

Don't believe a politician who tells you the worm is a harmless distraction, or a TV toy they ignore.

In the words of Greg Turnbull, a former adviser to both Paul Keating and Kim Beazley: "The worm they regard as completely unscientific mumbo jumbo - except when it supports you."

Viewers who tuned in to today's lunchtime debate got a contest that on one side at least, pandered to the worm.

Did you notice Kevin Rudd's opening gambit?

Retired general: Gays made Dutch weak in Bosnia

WASHINGTON — A retired U.S. general says Dutch troops failed to defend against the 1995 genocide in the Bosnian war because the army was weakened, partly because it included openly gay soldiers.

Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott traded bitter blows on health policy as the last Question Time until May descended into chaos.

Six MPs were ejected as debate raged between the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader over which side had better health credentials.

Mr Rudd and Mr Abbott have now agreed to go head to head on the issue at the National Press Club next Tuesday.

The stoush started when the Government attempted to ambush Mr Abbott by suspending Question Time in order to make Mr Abbott outline whether or not he would support Labor's hospital reform plans.

Steve Fielding, the Family First senator and creationist identified as more stupid than an earthworm by visiting English evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, appears to have taken the classification literally and gone underground.

For days Canberra's ABC radio afternoon shift announcer Genevieve Jacobs had spruiked the senator's appearance on her bravely oxymoronic ''Pollies Without Politics'' segment.