Terrific election conversation on Nine's Sunday, featuring MK, the Bully's Garry Linnell and crikey's Christian Kerr, all shotgunned by the ever-elegant Jana Wendt. Wonderful to see new voices and faces cutting through into the broadcast punditry mainstream (3 x great big spunks, at that.)

The agenda-setting money quote for this week's campaigning came from MK, I reckon:

MARGO KINGSTON: I'm just saying there's lots of passion. You only had to see George Brandis brutalise Mike Scrafton in the Senate inquiry this week to know there is passion. It's just both leaders are tightly controlled but the passion is breaking out all over. We're actually seeing after a very disciplined Liberal Party, where the moderates have accepted defeat, we're actually seeing a public split at the beginning of an election campaign. It is extraordinary. We have Malcolm Turnbull's people in Wentworth saying to people on the street, 'Don't worry, I know you hate Howard but Costello will be in soon.' Meanwhile Costello is being dragged in by Howard to say, 'I won't stand.' Why? Because the marginals hate Costello whereas the core wants Howard out and Costello in. So you have this wonderfully intriguing little wedge being played on the two fronts.

Watch the PM/Treasurer - not to mention would-be moderates like Turnbull et al - squirm over the future-leadership issue all this week, I'd say.